17 Comments on “Give My Regards to President Hoover”

1. Sure. That’s what you want us to think. We know you have the Methuselah gene!

2. In case you’re interested: Class of ’31

   And judging from his class year, this is my best guess as to which John Scalzi he is:
   John J Scalzi (Feb 7, 1909 – Apr 24, 1992) (ssdi.rootsweb.com)
   Parents: Anthony and Mary, both born in Italy – living in Fairfield CT in 1930 (HeritageQuestOnline Census)

3. Forget Hoover, send word to that guy to get into this new “scientifiction” hullabaloo. And, uh, to close his bank account in September.

4. I found a John Scalzi, born 11 Jan 1895 at Familysearch.org

5. It’s a Scalzinator Model T.

   Ford made a limited run and sent them to the future to dominate the clever thirtysomething demographic of speculative fiction writers.

   So far, all goes according to plan.

   He has been overhead saying the following:

   “Come with me if you want to read.”

   and

   “I’ll be back for another OVW book.”

   along with

   “I need your clothes, boots and your bacon.”

6. This is obviously the result of some bizarre time loop in which Scalzi ended up causing the Great Crash of ’29.

7. Scalzarous Long lives!

8. 23 skiddoo!

   Whatever needs to have a 1929 version and a 20X6 version, Homestar Runner style.

9. I found two John Scalzi’s in the 1900 U.S. census:

   John Scalzi, born 1893 in Conn., Home in 1900: Bridgeport, Conn., son of Giuseppe and Toneti (both born in Italy). Also in the household is Mary, born 1895.

   John A. Scalzi, born 1877 in Italy, Home in 1900: Bridgeport, Conn.

   I can send you the census images if you’re interested, John.

   Also of interest, there are exactly 26 hits for the Scalzi surname in the 1900 census. One in Arkansas, the rest in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania (Philly).

10. Speaking of old articles, this is something that we will all need to watch out for: these decades-old articles on Time look just like the new ones [1]. If someone misses the date in the corner (or if there is a software error that misdates it), old news can get circulated as if it is new news. For example, there is one about a court case[1] that is currently circulating around and causing a furor, mainly because people think it is new, rather than from 1970.

    [1] They really should put the date on these archive articles in a large, prominent font instead of the tiny, easily-missed date that they are putting on them now. It’s not like a tiny date is saving them any paper or anything.

    [2] it’s the one here, apparently it is Time’s #1 emailed article at the moment. There are some reports that it was partly due to a software glitch that mistakenly gave it yesterday’s date instead of the correct, 38-year-old date.

11. Zakur:

    The New York ones would be the ones I’m related to.

    tceisle:

    Agreed. It annoys me when I find people panicking about a particular thing that happen six or seventeen or thirty years ago. People need to check dates.

12. The library I work at has a book by John B Scalzi from 1961. It’s about welding.

13. On display in the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford CT is “A Portrait of Signor Scalzi”. According to the label the good signor was one of the most famous castrati of the eighteenth century, so we can assume he was not one of your ancestors.

14. At least, not a direct one.

15. The Georgetown Scalzi also played for the Boston Braves in 1931 (I believe you’ve mentioned him previously on Whatever). He was born 3/22/1907 and was from Stamford CT. After college, he ended up running a baseball minor leage in Connecticut. He died in Sep 1962. His Social Security Number was 097-16-1940.

    His obit from the New York Times, 28 Sep 1962, p. L33.

    STAMFORD, Conn. Sept 26. John A. Scalzi Jr., president of the Scalzi Paint Store and a member
    of the City Park Commission, died today at United Hospital in Port Chester. He had been injured in
    an accident on the Cross-Westchester Expressway on Monday. His age was 55 and he lived at
    21 Ralsey Road.

    Mr. Scalzi, who was a scout for the New York Mets baseball team, was returning from supervising
    a tryout session for the Mets in the Polo Grounds, at the time of the accident. He was a former
    professional baseball player.

    He had been a member of the Parks Commission since 1956, and had served as a member of the
    Hubbard Heights Golf Commission.

    An athlete at Stamford High School, Mr. Scalzi was a 1931 graduate of Georgetown University,
    where he was captain of the football team, played baseball and basketball and was an honor
    student.

    He was signed by the Boston Braves, but an arm injury ended his career.

    Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Fanny Itri Scalzi; his mother, Mrs. Carmella Genovese Scalzi;
    a son, Robert; two brothers, Leonard and Samuel, and a sister, Mrs. Helen McDonald.

16. Also, Georgetown Scalzi played seven games for the Brooklyn Dodgers NFL football team in 1931, and coached football at Manhattan College in the 1930’s. He also did officiating in college football, basketball and baseball in the area.

    Trivial Synchronicity: In 1928, Scalzi Quarterbacked to a 27-7 win over the Fordham Maroons. Later, the other John Scalzi (the writer dude) was editor of the University of Chicago Maroon.

17. # Amateur Genealogist–
    Sorry–That John Scalzi you found isn’t the one John’s looking for.
    That one’s my grandfather, a boxer in the 1920’s-early 30’s in Fairfield County, CT.

    Strangely enough, I found this post trying to find out whether I’m related to John! (I’m not sure–I think there were great-relatives in New York….) I’ve won an auction for an autographed book, and I’m trying to see if we’re related! Wondered for a long time…. Now I’m knee deep in Genology.com!