Brooklyn Today: Oct. 9, 2012
Good morning. Today is the 283rd day of the year. In the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Oct. 9, 1862, Walt Whitman lamented the demolition of an old Dutch Reformed church on Fulton Street near Duffield Street. The church, which had a thatched roof, was built before the Revolutionary War, and held services in both Dutch and English for many years. The building was replaced by a gray stone church on Joralemon Street near Court Street, also now demolished. Whitman maintained that when the original church was torn down, workmen discovered the body of a British soldier, in full dress uniform, who had been buried underneath the structure in haste during the Revolution.
Well-known people who were born today include signer-songwriter Jackson Browne (“Doctor My Eyes”), Maine Gov. Patti LaPage, former baseball player Joe Pepitone, actor Tony Shahloub (“Monk”) and Hall of Fame football player and coach Mike Singletary.
Today at 7:30 p.m. at St. Francis College, screenwriter and novelist Roger Simon will discuss “The Impact of Hollywood on American Politics.” The discussion and lecture will be presented by St. Francis Scholar in Resident Fred Siegel, of the Manhattan Institute. Simon has written screenplays for movies such as “the Big Fix,” ‘Bustin’ Loose” and “Enemies: A Love Story.”