Re: McDonough

["Sean Smyth" <ssmyth@suscom.net>]

Kevin Vahey <k-vahey@attbi.com> wrote:
> Can anyone think of anything that rivals the death of Will McDonough?
> The press TV coverage has been extraordinary and now comes word he being
> waked at the FleetCenter.

Reggie Lewis, easily (though I doubt there will be a casket motorcade for
Will). And what about Joe Moakley?

I think when Bill Bulger dies we'll see a similar outpouring. Moakley,
McDonough and Bulger are really the last links to that old Boston, the city
that was before busing and the universities became more dominant and when
Southie still seemed the political epicenter of the city. Many from the
"silent generation" are now entering their twilight years and the last of
these figures are fading away.

Another reason I think is that people want to hear about something different
than weapons of mass destruction, Iraq and North Korea.

Watching the networks pay their tributes (CBS in particular), it's amazing
that the impact Will had on national media can easily be forgotten. He was
big-time but he was always distinctly Boston.

I can't remember the last time St. Augustine's was packed and it doesn't
even hold that many people. They might have to close off a sizable portion
of Dorchester Street for the crowd alone.