Marty,

Don't know how you got my email address -- I'm unfamiliar with your site. However, I noticed the piece on Judy Garland and have this little tidbit, for what it's worth. I remember that one summer, Judy rented a home right at the beach wall in Neponsit. I have a color photo of that house because that spring/summer, when she was booked again into Ben Maksik's Town and Country Club, my cousin Charlie Bennett and I decided to personally welcome Judy to the neighborhood. So we went to the house one morning and I knocked on the door and Liza Minelli answered. I said, "Hi. I'm Alan Steinberg. This is my cousin Charlie Bennett. We're here to welcome Judy Garland to Rockaway." Lisa said, "Hi, I'm Lisa. She's my mother. But she can't come out now." Thinking quickly (she was cute and looked our age), I said, "Well, you wanna come to the movies with us?" ("Raintree County" starring Elizabeth Taylor) She said to wait, shut the door, finally returned smiling. "Mom said I can go!" she said. We waited outside while she got ready, and when she came outside, we escorted Liza to the 142nd Street bus stop, rode a Green Bus to 116th, got off near Westrich's Restaurant, and walked to the Park Theater near the boardwalk. I think movie tickets cost 10-cents each -- I paid for Liza and Charlie paid for himself. We sat in the middle and Me and Liza couldn't stop talking over popcorn, Cokes, and Snow Caps, so the usher -- who'd warned us twice before -- finally ejected us from the theater, mid-film. I remember that Charlie stayed while I took Liza home. Of course, I anticipated her asking me inside, and meeting her famous mom, but she didn't, so I didn't. But she said politely, still smiling, :"Thank you very much, Alan. I had a really good time." Then she went inside. I walked home, excited about my new goal of marrying her someday. But I never saw her again. Of course, I matured and got over her. But I still don't understand why she doesn't call, she doesn't write...

Alan Steinberg (FRHS, 1963)