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inadequately maintained graft & crime-ridden
center of corruption & decay. It makes Palo Alto
look like a cross between Disneyland & a Parade of
Model Homes. The Irish & the Italians are slugging
it out for control just like the Irish & the Brahmins
did 40 & 50 years ago. An Irishman sure loves all his
charm when he gets to be an upwardly motivated,
upper-middle class, status-oriented stuffed shirt
guess everyone else, including these battling
Italians do, too. The Brahmins never had any
charm, because they were English to begin with.
The Irish incumbent mayor just wiped out the Italian
city councilman in the mayoralty elections two
days ago. There's a Brahmin in the governor's mansion
& the possibility that victorious Mayor Collins
will oppose him, which should be interesting.

Well, give my best to Madame [?]. She passed thru
here to give the Harvard boys a thrill, before she went to
Beverly Hills. That was just a few days before JFK sneaked
in one afternoon, to dedicate the public housing project
named after him, about 1/2 block down from our bldg.
Jim and the kids were napping & I was at the grocery store
so we missed the whole thing by about 1/2 hr. We really
felt cheated & may yet write a letter to Caroline.

Hope all goes well with Virginias school. She ought to make
Phi Bete!

Love, Marcia