INTERVIEW WITH PAUL HART

Carolyn: Paul, I want to find out who you became.  Let’s start with what you did after graduation?

Paul: I remember hanging out in the parking lot and talking & joking with everybody. We were trying to figure out what parties we would go to and when…

Carolyn: Paul, Paul, Paul, I didn’t mean literally after graduation, I meant big picture, what have you been doing these 40 plus years since graduation?

Paul: Oh.

Carolyn: Let’s start with college and the rest of the 70s.

Paul: I went to Plattsburgh University or as we used to call it PU. Besides myself, there was Dennis Flanagan, Dave Goldstein, Bobby Albert, Grace Keegan, Garrett King, Don Sartorius , Bill Lourie, Neal Corkery and Bob Newman. I majored in fun, with a minor in Economics. Didn’t take college too seriously. My father called me Mr. Minimum (nicknamed me that in East Lake, when I had to write a 150-word composition and when he went over my homework, he counted 149 words. So I erased the word can’t and wrote can not. ) And my mom called me a good time Charlie. They were both right. 

Dennis Flanagan, Bob Newman, Dave Goldstein and me in Plattsburgh around 1974.

•  I never purchased a book
• I would routinely go a month or longer without attending a single class.
• We partied on Monday afternoons, like The Who partied on New Year’s Eve.
• Our visitor’s log was a veritable who’s who in Berner 72 folklore.
• We made our own beanbag chairs by putting copious amounts of Cheez Whiz in green Lawn n Leaf bags.

Carolyn: How did you graduate?

Paul:  Luckily I have a hysterically high IQ and was very resourceful.  For example: Senior year I had skipped all my macroeconomic classes and on Thursday bumped into a guy from class, who informed that on Tuesday was my 3 hour oral presentation to the class on The Economic Dynamics of Paraguay. I borrowed a bike and staged an accident in front of the local hospital. I did inflict wounds on myself to help support my phony soft tissue injuries. I was admitted to the hospital and discharged a few days later. 

Since technology was not that advanced in Plattsburgh in the seventies and with people probably not figuring what I was up to, I hobbled into my professor’s office the day before my presentation with a neck brace, crutches and discharge papers from the hospital. I also spoke with a tremendous stutter. (Least proud of that part). The professor agreed to give me 10 days to get my presentation done, but allowed me to do a written report of 75 pages. Then it was like Berner: get an encyclopedia and change the words around. I got a B. (This one is all true).        

Before the seventies ended, I made two cross-country trips, one right after college and one near the end of the decade. Just a good time Charlie, I took any job: drove a cab in San Diego, picked fruit up the California coast, gave blood, and worked as a zombie in a Halloween scary hay wagon farm. I was a very happy underachiever.

Carolyn: What were the 80s like for you?

Paul:  The 80s marked my third cross-country trip and brought me closer to my goal of visiting all 50 states.

Other than that, I would call it a decade of personal crusades. I lobbied long and hard for years trying to get Gary Coleman an Emmy for his work in “Different Strokes”. I believe if I didn’t beat Conrad Baines in a nude Twister tournament, on the Santa Monica Pier, that Gary would have gotten that most coveted statuette. 

The 80s also saw me take a run at politics. I ran for County Legislator in Wuchatawkinboutwillis County in southern Wisconsin. My platform was simple: divert all tax dollars that went to funding education, infrastructure and public safety, to concentrate on breaking the space/time continuum. Part two was to permanently eliminate one of the Ls from the word Llama. 

Carolyn: How did the election turn out?

Paul: While I did not win, I did become an historical footnote, as I am the only candidate ever to receive more death threats than votes.

Carolyn: What did you do in the 90s, ring people’s doorbells and run away?

Paul: Actually in the 90s I finally matured. Got a good job with an insurance company and married my true love Ginny, who happens to be a Berner Grad herself (1973).  She is one of 10 and between us we have about 50 relatives who live within an hour of us. We became the party house (one summer we had 4 gatherings of over 100 people) and that is what our legacy will be.

Most of my brothers, sisters, sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, some nieces, and nephews at a Charity event I host yearly to raise money for children in need.  It also honors Jenna, a niece we lost to brain cancer some years ago. 

One of my nephews and I took part in various KC Barbeque sponsored competitions and actually took a couple of First Place trophies home. Grilling and going in the pool with family and friends is what I like to do the most, and still do today.

On my right is my nephew John with our First Place trophy for Pulled Pork at the Nassau County BBQ competition held at Eisenhower Park

Carolyn: How 'bout the new millennium, how’s that been working out for you?

Paul: Well, I made it to Hawaii and that was last of the 50 states. My niece/nephew total grew to 39 and they are a very big part of my life. I was honored when my nephew Patrick asked me to preside over his wedding ceremony.

Here I am performing the marriage ceremony at my nephew Patrick's wedding

Most of my nieces and nephews at a family wedding

I worked at 7 World Trade Center and was there on 9-11. That kind of changed me forever. I knew 268 of those lost that day. While it made me very afraid of things that I had never even thought of before, I think it also made me realize that life is too short and precious to waste even a second on negative, petty behavior. I owe it to those 268 and I make every effort to pay it forward with kindness and compassion to folks.

One thing the new millennium brought me was Facebook. And I am profoundly grateful for it.  It enabled me to reconnect with so many people. Some were great friends in the past, some were acquaintances and others became friends because of Facebook, and those new old friends may be the best of it. I really feel I have gotten to know so many of the people I did not have a chance to get to know, even through 12 years of school. I was fairly shy back then and this is my second chance. The 60^th birthday reunion was a great example of that. 

Speaking of Facebook, I would love to add a new tradition. We have Throw Back Thursday, so I would like to offer Fun Fact Friday. Every Friday, we each share a fun fact. It could be about ourselves or others we know or a random amusing fact. I will offer a few examples to get things started:

I have never had a cup of coffee and I have never had a bloody nose. Not world changing revelations, just trivial fun facts, which give, further insight into the complex beings we have all become.

To wrap up, I now live in Nassau Shores just a mile and a half from where I grew up on Park Lane. I recently retired and we are traveling about 5 months this year and who knows about next. (We already have 98 cruise days booked).

As I mentioned I have many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. All of them, their friends, and many of my numerous brothers and sisters in law all call me “Uncle Paul”. Wherever I go, in town, in NYC, even sometimes on vacations, it’s not uncommon for someone to yell, “Hey Uncle Paul”.
This summer my oldest niece asked me to be godfather to her baby, and at age 60, that brought me to tears. So I guess that is the short answer to your first question. I have led a very happy, blessed life and I am proud to say that I have become “Uncle Paul”

Ginny and Me in Alaska

-Written by Paul Hart