Friends from Roosevelt. The Cast.

My pals, buddies, friends that I haven't seen in over 40 years but still think of as my best friends. Who are they? Only one of them you'll probably recognize, but all the names in the cast of characters are significant because they've made an impression on me in some important way. If I left someone out let me know!

ROOSEVELT PALS

Joseph Tascarella
Tommy Gallo
Anthony Guasto
Howard Stern
Michael and Carmen Macaroni
Milton Little
Steven Adler
Larry Mallow
Bruce Monlose
Philp Tifenburg
Justin Green
Kenny Lemmon
Jerry Dikowitz
Felice Barasch
Stephanie Webb
Wendy Coffen
John Sadowski
Teddy Nagle
Eric Gale
Freddy Osfeld
Robbie Karger
David (Phlem) Flax
Sheldon Shwartsbrott
David & Steven Fenster
"Joe" from Pied Piper Ice cream truck
Gail Feldman
Joseph Piscatelli
Dennis Accavelli
BillyLiquori(sp?)
Alan London
Mike, David and Elliot Speiselman
Tommy Policy
Warren Dugan
Harry Morrisey

MILTON LITTLE

So, I sat next to Milton in Mrs. Vought's 2nd grade class. Mrs. Vought was a red haired woman of about 100 or so. That's how she appeared to me back then. Pleasant enough. Patient. She began teaching our class the "times tables." Drag. I would space out because I was bored. I found out the hard way that if you missed anything, it would be hard to maintain a momentum. That's what happened with the damn times tables (math in general). Thank God for Milton Little. Milton was a handsome kid with a great smile who Howard Stern later on dubbed "the smartest kid in school." He was right. I would stretch my neck way over to have a look to see what Milton was writing down for his answers on his times tables. Sometimes he would hold up his paper when the teacher's back was turned. Occasionally he would tutor me.
I would always make sure that Milton was on my Dodge Ball team. The both of us were pretty heavy slammers and it was like clash of the titans if we were on opposing sides. We had a gym teacher Mr. Johnson who was like a real life G.I. Joe and would really work us kids hard sometimes. Robbie Karger fainted in class while being punished. We were all made to stand at attention and down he went.
One thing that bugs me to this day is that Milton was the ONLY kid in the school that could outrun me. I can remember us racing a couple of times (vividly) in the school yard. We both would take off like we were shot out of cannons going neck and neck and then, Milton would just somehow turn on the nitrous and he would sprint past me at the last second. Amazing! He was a person that left a lasting impression on me. I knew that he would do well later on in life.