Printer Friendly Version - Frank Santoro: Telling Tales

The legend of Deep River has spread far and wide—at least if you look at it in the right light. Frank Santoro set out to do just that, and has recorded his findings in Deep River Stories. Photo by Rita Christopher/The Courier

How do Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, and John Kennedy, plus Lawrence of Arabia, General Douglas MacArthur and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia figure in the history of a small Connecticut town? Frank Santoro knows. Frank is the author of Deep River Stories, a new book that not only recounts tales of people and events in Deep River, but also connects them to an impressive roster of historical figures.

Frank will talk about his new book on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Deep River Historical Society, 245 Main Street. The book, 10 stories in all, covers not only the classic Deep River tales of escaped slave Billy Winters, who lived in Deep River for 50 years before his death in 1900, and the XYZ robbery of the Deep River Savings Bank in 1899, but also a number of far more contemporary accounts. The focus on the town is carried beyond Frank’s words: a Deep River artist illustrates each entry.

The book starts with the story of the longtime first selectman, Dick Smith, who died in office in 2016.

“How could you do a book about Deep River in the 20th century and not do Dick Smith?” Frank asks.

In addition, Frank writes about the successful battle with Walgreen’s to have a drug store that complimented the architecture of its neighbor, Deep River Town Hall. For him, it is not simply a story of why Walgreen’s was persuaded to use red brick rather than the yellow brick from which all its other Connecticut stores are constructed, but an example of what citizens can do when they work together.

Frank devotes one chapter to Deep River resident Kristin Zarfos, a physician who successfully challenged an insurance company dictum that mastectomies be performed as outpatient surgery. As a result, President Bill Clinton invited her to his 1997 State of the Union Speech and recognized her by name, acknowledging her successful opposition to what were known as “drive-through mastectomies”—and so Deep River’s connection to Bill Clinton.

Frank writes about how the Pratt-Read Company in Deep River, once known for making ivory piano keys, was transformed into a factory that made gliders during World War II. Some of those gliders were used by the Allied troops in the invasion of Normandy.

“I liked finding out details of what life was like inside the glider factory, for the people who worked there,” he says.

Franklin Roosevelt, Santoro points out, called America “the arsenal of democracy” in World War II and the gliders from Deep River were a part of that arsenal: Check off the town’s link to Roosevelt.

Frank, who is a trustee of the Deep River Historical Society, wanted a book that would bring local history alive both for young people and adults. As a result, he structured the volume with a feature familiar to readers of children’s’ stories: a moral at the end of each tale. The moral for the story of George Read and the ivory trade, for example, takes note of how values change over time.

“What seemed right in the history of the past can be wrong for the history of the future,” he observed of the once-flourishing commerce in elephant tusks.

He ended the volume with another feature he thought would appeal to readers of all ages: a limerick incorporating the themes of several of the stories.

“Some people told me not to; they were in favor of killing the limerick, but I liked the idea and I insisted on it,” he says.

Frank, who grew up in Washington, D.C., spent his professional career as an attorney in Hartford. Now he describes himself as retired—almost. He admits he is still working on one case.

His wife, Jane Cavanaugh, a longtime social worker at Chester Elementary School and later a social worker in private practice, is now retired as well. The couple, with one grown son, has lived in Deep River for 16 years. Before that they lived in Chester for more than 20 years.

This is not the first book Frank has written, though his earlier volume had nothing to do with Deep River history. He co-authored a book on medical malpractice. He thinks he would like to write more, particularly on historical themes, though he has no specific plans at the moment.

Frank has underwritten the costs of the present volume on Deep River. Profits from the book, which will sell for $10, will go to the historical society.

All artists who contributed illustrations volunteered their work. Frank says there were no problems assigning artists to particular stories. All chose the story they wished to illustrate and there were no conflicting wishes.

The artists include: Andrea Isaacs, Virginia Wylie, Janet Edgerton, Rachel Carlson, Lori Lenz, Cindi Stannard, Sophie Spaner, Sarah Gustafson-Spaner, Linda Elgart, Alicia Melluzzo, and Karin Ferrand-Carroll. He also credits Ferrand-Carroll with designing the book and acknowledges the assistance of Rhonda Forristall, curator of the historical society, whom he describes as the “chief of staff” of the project,

And now, are you still wondering about Deep River and John F. Kennedy, Charles Lindbergh, Douglas MacArthur, the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Lawrence of Arabia?

The tsar, General MacArthur, and Charles Lindbergh all owned luxury yachts made by the Electric Launch Corporation (ELCO). Irwin Chase, Sr., of Deep River was for many years, starting in l906, chief marine architect for ELCO.

In addition, in World War II, ELCO modified a craft bought from British Power Boat Company that ultimately became one of the best known boats of the entire conflict: the PT boat. Franklin Roosevelt, who had been assistant secretary of the Navy in World War I, was particularly interested in the development of the PT boat.

It was a PT boat that rescued General MacArthur from Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II. Still, the most famous World War II PT boat of all was the one commanded by President John F. Kennedy, the skipper of PT 109.

And now for T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, who led an Arab uprising against the Turks in World War I. Frank notes that Lawrence is one his own favorite historical figures, as well as being the subject of his favorite movie, the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia starring Peter O’Toole. T.E. Lawrence, then using the pseudonym T.E. Shaw, was both a consultant and a test driver for British Power Boat Company, whose design was the basis of the PT boat, during the years between World War I and II.

And there is more in this tale for the local area. Both the grandsons of Hubert Paine of the British company and Irwin Chase, Sr., of ELCO now live in this area: John Cunningham, a Chase grandson, in Deep River and Jeff Ridgeway, a grandson of Hubert Paine, in Chester.

And so there it is: Presidents Clinton, Kennedy and Roosevelt, Tsar Nicholas II, Douglas MacArthur, and Lawrence of Arabia and their connections, however tenuous, to Deep River, Connecticut.

Deep River Stories by Frank Santoro will be on sale at the Oct. 19 book launch at the historical Society, and then can be bought at the Deep River Library, the Deep River Hardware Store, and Celebrations. It can also be purchased at the Historical Society building, the Stone House, during open hours on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 24 and 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and during the Festival of Trees, Friday, Dec. 8, from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 9, from 5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 19 a 7 p.m. at the Stone House, Deep River Historical Society, 245 Main Street, Deep River. Admission is free.