Thaddeus Ashby 1924—2007
Very few of you know the story of how I first came to the island 37 years ago. And not many of you ever met the hard-of-hearing “noisy neighbor” many of you heard speaking loudly, blaring his TV and music from the 60’s, and coughing uncontrollably. Only a handful of my dear, old friends have heard the infamous story of “The Flaming Beginning of Thaddeus and Babsy.”

It involved my protective father having a rather momentous confrontation with this new “boyfriend” (who was old enough to be my father); Thaddeus making a hasty exit from the bedroom of my family home in his French Citroen; the Mazarati “ooga” horn blasting as it shorted out down the street, starting a fire in the motor of this exotic red car that Thaddeus was driving...without his pants on.

While I wasn’t particularly proud of that bawdy movie-material begnning and have rarely spoken of it, I realize now that it was all part of my colorful history and personal growth that got me to where I am now.It is not surprising that this dramatic connection with Thaddeus alienated my family. My recently deceased brother, Jim, never really forgave me.

The reason I mention this story is because, since we se