I still remember the pride and joy of my dad when, in the late winter of 1961, he brought the family to see what was to be our home. The first place in the home he brought us all to was the den, which had a total red brick wall, and in the middle of it, a big fireplace!
Many winter evenings of my childhood were spent in front of that fire, watching the custom color TV pops had created to go in that wall to the right of the fireplace. In 1961, color TVs were a new thing, and it was a big thrill to see shows like Bonanza and Walt Disney’s World of Color in color on NBC. Watching “Tinkerbell” wave her magic wand mid-screen and have those collages of color appear on the TV screen next to a crackling fire in the fireplace had us all in awe.
I spent one winter in East Hampton Village, renting a large room in the home of Roland Eisenberg on Barns Lane. It was a Yankee Barn home with a huge fireplace on the second floor. Roland spent a great deal of that winter in Morocco, so most nights I was alone in front of that huge fireplace with a blazing fire to keep me warm. Although part of my deal was I could use the fire as much as I wanted, in the end, I had to restock the firewood. Still, my friend (via Ben Dollinger), “Whitey,” gave me a great deal (free) replacing it. I just had to stack it!
So, as in all good stories, this one starts on Christmas Eve midnight; I arrived back home from a most special Christmas Eve gathering at the historic Palm/Hunting Inn in EH Village, a short walk from Barns Lane. It was snowing and raw cold in the home, so I quickly built a fire. As most divorced men know, those first few Christmas Eve nights separated from your children, as are all holidays, are tough. Therefore, as the joy of that evening wore off, I thought I’d read a book.
Roland had a collection of famed columnist James Brady, who actually had Roland as a continuing character as himself in a few of the novels! Roland managed and had a small ownership share of the local Blue Parrot Tex-Mex restaurant just steps away from his Barns Lane home. James Brady spent many evenings there, squirreled up at the end of the bar sipping beer (Pacifico’s) and telling stories. In fact, the first paid East End article I ever wrote, I read to James Brady at the Blue Parrot.
I thought I had read all of his books, but that night, as Christmas Eve turned to Christmas Day, I noticed a small white hard-covered book. It had no title or any information on it at all! I opened it up and was surprised to find out it was a special edition James Brady book with a long handwritten inscription to Roland for his friendship and help to Mr. Brady over the years. The amazing thing was the title of this book was; “A Hamptons Christmas!”
I read this short novella about a young girl who goes alone to the family Hamptons home on Christmas Eve to force her divorcing parents to come get her and be together on Christmas Day. Mesmerized, I read straight through to the end in front of a huge crackling fire alone in that big Yankee Barn home. I would pause to walk to the window door of the second-floor deck and look out at East Hampton Village all lit up for Christmas Eve, transforming into Christmas Day. There were snow flurries and the sound of a cold gusting wind. It was for me one very holy night.
In a lifetime, magical things happen at specific times for no predictable reason. Reading that book that night was one of those times. As I read every word, I could hear James Brady’s voice telling the story in my mind. The story built powerfully until the end. I had tears of both sorrow and joy slowly rolling down my cheeks. I then slept in the big chair in front of the fire.
The epitaph to this personal “Christmas Tale” is that the next summer I sat next to James Brady, and over a Pacifico, I told him the story. He was touched and then proceeded to tell me about his next book, a book about the Marines. James Brady was always the proudest of ex-Marines. Sadly, within two years, he passed on January 26th, 2009, just three years later.
