It was 99 years ago today. My grandfather, Michéle Porco,
the eldest son of Robert and Aquelina was born in Calabria in the southern part of Italy. He ventured to America in 1933 and......(read the captions to learn more) |
| Worked 90 hours a week at a family club in the Bronx where Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonius Monk played... |
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| Bought Gerde's Restaurant in 1952 with his cousins... |
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| Became friendly with the musicians.... |
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| He witnessed the Folk and Blues Revival as it was happening... |
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| He even had business cards.... (Card courtesy Erik Frandsen) |
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| He died in 1992... |
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| In 2010, Gerde's Folk City had a 50th Anniversary concert... |
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| In 2012, he had a bunch of shows at The Gaslight produced in his honor.... |
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| The most recent show was a 50th also... |
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| And then in 2013, shooting began on a documentary on his life and times not because of his cooking but because... he was "MIKE PORCO, NYC's REAL FOLK HERO" |
And everybody lived happily ever after
~Porco
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