The Facts: I am an only child, widowed and have no children. I have very specific wishes relating to my funeral and burial.
The Question: Since I have no parents, spouse, children or siblings, who will be in charge of my remains and responsible for arranging my funeral and burial?
How It Works: Generally, a person’s parents, spouse or children have the authority to make funeral and burial arrangements for that person. However, since these people do not exist in your case, you should consider naming an agent to make these arrangements for you.
In New York State there is a statute that allows you to do just that. You may appoint anyone you wish, including a friend, relative or clergy person, to make all the necessary funeral and burial arrangements.
Of course, before naming anyone as your agent for this purpose, you should discuss your wishes with that person to be sure he/she is willing to take on the responsibility of making sure your funeral and burial plans are implemented.
In order to legally appoint someone to control your remains and handle your funeral and burial, you must name your agent in a document titled “Appointment of Agent to Control Disposition of Remains.” I generally refer to the documents as a Disposition of Remains Statement or DRS.
In the DRS, you not only identify the person who will actually be carrying out your wishes with respect to your funeral and burial, but you can also set forth exactly what those arrangements should be.
For example, you can identify the funeral home you want used, whether you want to be buried or cremated, what music should be played at your wake or if you want a religious grave-side service.
You can be as detailed as you wish, going so far as to set forth what food should be served at any post-burial luncheonthat may be arranged and what clothing and jewelry you want to have on when you are buried.
As an alternative to stating your wishes in the DRS and hoping that your agent is able to make the necessary arrangements, you can preplan your entire funeral and burial with the funeral home of your choice in advance.
If you preplan your funeral, you will have the option of prepaying for the arrangements as well.
That way your agent’s responsibilities will be limited to making arrangements for your remains to be brought to the funeral home and notifying the people who would likely be attending the funeral.
Whatever route you decide to take, you should seek the assistance of an elder law attorney to be sure the DRS is properly prepared and executed.
Linda M. Toga provides legal service in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, Medicaid planning, wills and trusts, marital agreements, small business services, real estate and litigation from her East Setauket office.
From left to right, Jan Argentine, Linda Sussman, Ted Roeder, Richard Sever, John Inglis and Inez Sialiano meet to discuss upcoming publications. Photo by Denise Weiss
In 1933, a gathering of scientists took place at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The symposium, which started a tradition that continues today, resulted in the publication of a book.
With that book, CSHL started a publishing arm that now includes eight journals and over 200 books. One of the newer efforts is open to a scientific and worldwide audience for free. Created in 2013, bioRxiv (pronounced “bio-archive”) is a preprint service designed to share cutting edge and unedited biological and scientific information by posting manuscripts on its website.
The service, which has been growing rapidly and is supported by the Lourie Foundation and CSHL, had approximately 400,000 page views and 185,000 downloads in March.
“BioRxiv offers scientists the chance to share their work with colleagues who can make their own, often expert assessment of the work that’s been done without waiting for the often lengthy process of peer review,” said John Inglis, executive director and publisher at CSHL Press and one of the co-founders of bioRxiv, along with Richard Sever, who is the assistant director at CSHL Press.
Indeed, in September 2015, two prominent cardiologists made a public argument, through the New York Times Op-Ed pages, that information in clinical trials, particularly those that may alter the course of treatment for patients, should be made available as soon as possible.
The traditional publication process, which involves preparing data, presenting graphics and sending information to journals for peer review, can take months or more. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Clinic and Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale-New Haven Hospital, suggested that this data should be on a National Institute of Health website or published on a preprint platform, such as bioRxiv.
“A very large number of clinical trials are open and then closed for various reasons,” said Inglis. “They thought it was a good idea and we now have that category.”
John Inglis, photo at left, is the executive director, and publisher at CSHL Press and one of the co-founders of BioRxiv. Photo by Gina Motisi / Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
BioRxiv, which provides a preprint service for scientists in categories ranging from animal behavior and cognition to biochemistry, biophysics, neuroscience and zoology, also recently developed a section for epidemiology. That, Inglis said, is as far as the CSHL preprint service is prepared to go into clinical medicine at this point.
Modeled after a similar preprinting effort called arXiv that is hosted by Cornell University for physics, math, computer science and related disciplines,not only can bioRxiv provide scientists with a way to share information more rapidly, but it can also serve as a forum to share incremental pieces of information or a negative result.
In Gholson Lyon’s case, the preprint service, which is housed in the same building where he works, helped him find doctors around the world.
An assistant professor, Lyon had worked with two boys with intellectual disability and who had unusual facial characteristics. After screening their genes, he searched for others who might have the same undiagnosed condition.
Preprinting on bioRxiv helped him find doctors in Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany and the United Kingdom who had patients with similar symptoms. BioRxiv expedited the pace of scientific discovery, Lyon said.
Steven Shea, an associate professor at CSHL, used bioRxiv because of the slow pace of the review process.
“We wanted [the work] to see the light of day,” Shea said. Shea believes more scientists can and should share their results on the website.
While bioRxiv offers a preprinting service, it doesn’t aim to replace peer-reviewed journals, Inglis said. Rather, it is a quicker step between the bench and the scientific community.
BioRxiv has been growing rapidly, particularly in the last few months. According to Inglis, between May and December of 2015, the rate of submissions doubled. The pace of submissions picked up even before a high profile Accelerating Science and Publication in Biology (ASAPbio) meeting in February.
To be sure, the site still posts a small percentage of the scientific information published in its fields.
Early on, Inglis said some journals resisted preprints. Not only has that number dwindled, but eight scientific publications have become a part of a pilot process that allows scientists to submit manuscripts directly through bioRxiv. He expects that number to climb to 20 by the end of April.
Unlike with peer-reviewed journals like Lancet, where Inglis started his scientific publishing career, bioRxiv does not provide editing or content review services. Each post includes a mention at the top that it is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed.
CSHL makes sure the posts aren’t spam. Before they share the manuscripts with the public, they put them in a queue, where a group of 40 scientists make sure they really are science.
BioRxiv declines submissions that are out of the scope of its publishing interests or that are term papers, theses or unsubstantiated hypotheses, which is fewer than 5 percent of the submissions, Inglis said.
Authors can revise their manuscripts on the site, which has occurred about 30 percent of the time, Inglis said.
A native of Aberdeen, Scotland, Inglis met with CSHL’s former CEO James Watson, who approached him about joining the institution. A few months before Inglis arrived, CSHL had launched its first journal.
When Inglis arrived in 1987, he and his wife Lesley, who has been teaching English as a second language at CSHL for nine years, said they expected to have “an adventure for a few years” and then return to the United Kingdom with their sons, who were in middle school. Adam now lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, with his wife Lizzie and their two sons and Tony and his wife Louise live in Brooklyn.
As for bioRxiv, Inglis sees the preprint offering as an approach consistent with the current cultural environment.
The research community includes numerous “young people who have grown up with the internet and all its possibilities,” Inglis said. “They are very comfortable with sharing in general but also with the embrace of technologies that create community across the boundaries of geography, culture, age and status.”
Discharging homes’ wastewater into sewer systems could keep harmful substances out of our water supply. File photo
Our water supply is pooped.
Hundreds of thousands of homes in Suffolk County run on their own septic systems or cesspools, which leak nitrogen from waste into the soil and, thus, into our groundwater and other water sources. Elevated nitrogen levels are dangerous because they mess with our ecosystem — one effect is promoting algae growth, which decreases the water’s oxygen supply that fish and other creatures need to live and produces toxins and bacteria that are harmful to humans.
Sewers are a more convenient and modern technology for areas with populations at least as dense as Suffolk County. But, more importantly, sewer systems are also a crucial line of defense for our drinking water and the healthy waterways we treasure.
Legislators and community members complain all the time about how Suffolk needs to hook up more properties to sewer systems, but they also say there’s no money to do it. County Executive Steve Bellone’s proposal to charge an additional $1 per 1,000 gallons of water used — and to put those dollars into a special account dedicated to sewering Suffolk — could help.
The funds collected would be used in conjunction with other funding, such as from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $383 million initiative to support clean water infrastructure.
To put Bellone’s proposed surcharge into perspective, that’s $1 for every 50 days of showers for a family of four, based on average water usage numbers from the U.S. Geological Survey. It’s another $1 for roughly every 333 toilet flushes. Add $1 for every 40 loads of laundry in a newer model of washing machine.
For a single-person measurement, each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water each day, according to the federal agency. Those on the higher end of the spectrum, then, would be dishing out $1 every 10 days with the goal of a healthier environment — or just shy of $37 a year.
Reaching deeper into taxpayers’ pockets is not ideal, but there is simply no other way to produce sewer funding of the magnitude Suffolk County needs without asking the public to chip in somehow.
Bellone’s proposal needs state approval before the measure can go onto ballots in November for voters to weigh in. We hope our neighbors would support the surcharge.
Smithtown High School East and Smithtown High School West are ranked in the state’s top 100 schools. File photo by Bill Landon
Districts in New York aspire to have a high school on U.S. News & World Report’s list of the top 100 public high schools in the state. Smithtown did one better. Both high schools, East and West, cracked the top 100 for New York State on the 2016 list, and the top 1,000 nationwide. The list is based on performance on state assessments, graduation rates and how well schools prepare students for college.
“We are very proud of both of our High Schools for making this prestigious list,” Superintendent James Grossane said in an email Monday. “It speaks to the strength of our educational programming K-12 and to the hard work of our students and staff. These honors are also a sign of the support the entire Smithtown Central School District community provides to our schools. Congratulations to our students and staff and thank you to our community for their continued support.”
Smithtown High School West was 76th on the list for New York State and 663rd nationwide, while High School East was 94th in the state and 857th in the country. New York State is home to nearly 1,300 high schools according to “U.S. News & World Report.” West was the 20th best Long Island public high school on the list, while East was 22nd.
Neighboring high schools in Harborfields, Commack and Ward Melville are also within the top 100. Only schools that receive silver or gold medals receive a ranking.
Smithtown is facing potential future financial difficulties, with a declining enrollment and a void in adequate state aid looming, according to district administration, though they have prided themselves in being able to maintain academic excellence despite painful cuts.
“Despite all of the doom and gloom that we’ve talked about, throughout these cuts, the staff in our employ has continued to produce excellence in students,” Joanne McEnroy, vice president of Smithtown’s board of education, said at a recent meeting. “Our programs, although cut, have not suffered. Our students are performing despite this.”
The board of education voted earlier in 2016 to close Branch Brook Elementary School, one of the district’s eight elementary buildings, before the 2017-18 school year, as a cost saving method, much to the dismay of many community members.
Centereach's Sean McGuinness scoops up an infield dribbler. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
With rain coming down, Centereach took to the field against Huntington and the Blue Devils stepped into the batter’s box first for a League IV baseball matchup Tuesday afternoon in Centereach.
Huntington’s Luke Eidle releases a fastball. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington (1-11 in conference play) struck first when, on a Centereach throwing error, Brian Donnelly crossed the plate for the first run of the game.
Centereach’s Victor Corsaro doubled, representing the tying run in the bottom of the inning, and teammate Kyle Cerbone ripped one through the gap to even the score with two outs.
The rain grew steady though, and when the umpire behind the plate charged the infield to cover the ensuing play, he slipped and fell in deteriorating conditions.
“I saw him slip the first time and he warned me about the field conditions, and I said to him ‘we’ve had this conversation before,’” Centereach head coach Mike Herrschaft said. “This field can’t take a lot of rain and you can see how it’s getting slick out there at shortstop.”
Huntington managed to score another run in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead, and the Cougars went back to work at the plate. Centereach (2-10) popped the ball up shallow in the infield and the plate umpire approached the play and fell a second time. The official was slow to get up. After a brief conference between both coaches, the umpires left Nick Corsaro in the batter’s box with his team trailing by one with two outs.
“The umpire called the game because of unsafe conditions on the field,” Huntington head coach Bill Harris said. “Where the field transitions to the grass, he slipped and fell.”
Centereach’s Matt Hirsch hurls from the mound. Photo by Bill Landon
The game was suspended after an inning and a half, so the balance of the game will be completed at a later date.
“I saw him slip the second time and he said he didn’t want to see one of the kids slip and get hurt,” Herrschaft said. “You can’t argue with that, but this is the first time I’ve known a game to be called because of unsafe conditions for the umpires. The kids are wearing spikes and the umpires are wearing sneakers.”
Herrschaft added that both teams will take the mound Friday afternoon for a scheduled matchup and then complete the suspended game for the doubleheader at home.
Centereach traveled to Huntington on Wednesday for game two of the three-game series, but results of that game were not available by press time.
Rocky Point’s Sara Giammarella beats a swarm of players to the ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
The team may be young, but Rocky Point girls’ lacrosse is mighty.
With 13 seconds left on the clock in sudden-death overtime, sophomore midfielder Madison Sanchez scored her fourth goal of Tuesday’s game to give the Eagles what is believed to be their program’s first win over Shoreham-Wading River in school history.
Shannon Maroney makes a save for Rocky Point. Photo by Desirée Keegan
“I thought, ‘I have to do this,’ I put my heart into it, I knew I needed to get it in, and I did,” Sanchez said of the final goal that gave her team the 10-9 victory. “Relief — that’s what it feels like. I’m speechless. It felt really good, especially considering we’ve never beat Shoreham before.”
As her team toppled her to the ground, there was another shining star for the Eagles out on the field being celebrated. Sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Maroney made 20 stops in goal, including one with three seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and another 30 seconds into the three-minute session.
“We were really great on defense and we moved the ball quick on offense,” she said. “We pulled for each other when we needed to. We came through when we needed the ball. We worked really hard today.”
Rocky Point (6-3 in Division II) struggled to win the draw all evening, but when the Eagles gained possession, they made it count. With 13:49 left in the game, Sanchez scored her hat trick goal when she gained possession at midfield and charged up to the front of the cage to put her team up by two, 8-6.
Shoreham-Wading River junior midfielder Sophia Triandafils wouldn’t let her team go down quietly though, scoring at the 12:16 mark and again at 6:27, after Maroney made back-to-back saves, to tie the game 8-8.
“We had sloppy moments on the field,” said Triandafils, who also added two assists. “It’s hard going against a team that has so many athletes like Rocky Point. You give them an inch and they take a mile, and here and there we gave them a few inches and we just couldn’t come back from it.”
Rocky Point’s Madison Sanchez is checked by Shoreham’s Jesse Arline. Photo by Desirée Keegan
The Wildcats (7-3 in Division II) showed their resiliency, keeping within striking distance each time their opponent scored. Triandafils said her team just needs a little more work.
“We have some good glimpses here and there of the team that we could be,” she said. “We have so much potential on the team, and once we put together a full game, I think we can compete with anyone, play with anyone and beat anyone.”
Freshman attack and midfielder Brianna Lamoureux scored her second goal of the game with 39 seconds left in regulation to give Rocky Point a 9-8 lead, but Shoreham-Wading River’s Maddie Farron tied it up to force overtime just 10 seconds later.
The three minutes were almost up when Sanchez found the back of the net.
While the loss snapped Shoreham-Wading River’s seven-game win streak, the win keeps Rocky Point at the top of the league leaderboard, among undefeated Bayport-Blue Point and Mount Sinai and Eastport-South Manor.
Shoreham’s Sofia Triandafils and Rocky Point’s Christina Bellissimo fight for the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
On April 28, Rocky Point travels to Harborfields (6-2 in Division II) at 4 p.m., while Shoreham-Wading River hosts Hauppauge (4-4 in Division II) at 4 p.m.
Although Rocky Point is still without its leading goal scorer in freshman midfielder Brianna Carrasquillo, who netted 34 goals in eight games this season, head coach Dan Spallina is looking forward to where his young team is taking him.
“This group is young, energetic, and there’s such a bond between them,” he said. “As a coach who’s been doing this for a long time, it’s something you can’t bring to the girls. They have to have it on their own, and they do. We’ve been talking about leadership and we’ve been talking about heart and for Maddie Sanchez to take that one-on-one and beat out a girl that should be up for All-American speaks to the type of player that she is. She’s kind of a pass-first kind of girl, but she deserves it. She deserves a win like this. They all do.”
The waste is hazardous, but the accomplishment is healthy.
The Town of Smithtown marked a major milestone this week as it wrapped up its regular household hazardous waste collection event on April 23, clocking in a new record of more than 76 tons of hazardous materials being sent to safe disposal sites.
The event was held with help from Radiac Research Corporation in Brooklyn, which won the contract for the specialized and regulated event through a competitive bidding process, town officials said. Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio (R) said the town paid $15,694 to run the event, but will be reimbursed one-half the cost by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
“The success of our household hazardous waste collection program continues to grow,” Vecchio said. “Participating in a household hazardous waste collection event allows people to clean out their garages and basements, and safely dispose of old chemicals. It also heightens awareness that not everything offered for sale is a good thing to buy and use around our homes and families.”
By the end of the April 23 event, Smithtown tallied 716 families participating, resulting in 152,905 pounds of household hazardous material being collected. The most notable items, the town said, included decades-old bottles of long banned pesticides. Additional materials included oil-based paints, gasoline, paint thinners, waste gases, degreaser, solvents, flammable solids, liquid and solid oxiders, acids, corrosives, miscellaneous toxic liquids and solids, lacquers and various toxic compounds.
The town holds events like this annually to help ensure safe and proper disposal of such hazardous materials. If disposed of improperly, they can be damaging to the environment or to human health.
Smithtown has been regularly hosting such events to residents since 2009. Over time, the town said, the amount of material collected has increased more than tenfold.
“We should all try to minimize or avoid buying toxic products in the first place,” Vecchio said.
The next Smithtown hazardous waste collection event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Municipal Services Facility located at 85 Old Northport Road in Kings Park.
Town Assessor Ron Devine, above, said the state abolished the March 1 deadline to apply for STAR exemption, meaning that residents won’t have to wait a full year to receive their exemptions. Photo by Giselle Barkley
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance will see an influx in state school tax relief applications after the state revamps its STAR program.
The change affects new homeowners, buyers and those building a home in the Basic and Enhanced STAR Programs. Residents who changed their primary residence from last March onward, must apply to the program, through the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, for an approved exemption. Long Islanders who started constructing their homes within the same time frame are affected, according to Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Town Assessor Ron Devine.
Devine said residents who have the program up to the 2015-16 tax year will maintain their exemptions. According to Devine, “anyone who is in the system is in the system.” The town will also maintain its approximate 15,000 Enhanced STAR program holders. These holders will receive renewal letters this fall.
The Enhanced STAR program benefits senior citizens 65-years-old and exempts the first $65,300 of the home’s value from school taxes. The basic STAR program, however, is available for owner-occupied primary residences where the homeowners’ and their spouses’ income is less than $500,000. The program exempts $30,000 of the home’s value from school taxes.
According to Romaine, the change in the application process may only affect 3 to 5 percent of homes in the town. But the supervisor questioned if the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance bit off more than it could chew.
“My big concern is that if they’re not staffed, there’ll be a huge backlog of processing that will occur,” Romaine said during a meeting at town hall. “People won’t get their check on time, and it will put people who are either buying a house or building a house in severe disadvantage.”
But the NYS tax department said this change won’t be an issue. According to the department, it successfully processed 2.4 million tax returns after implementing the initial STAR registration program in 2013. The department typically receives around 150,000 applications annually.
The New York State Legislature passed the law earlier this year to change how towns enforce the program within the state. New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for the new application process for first-time homeowners and buyers in his 2017 Executive Budget. The budget was approved on April 1.
“The STAR exemption is the only property tax exemption funded by New York State,” the NYS tax department said in an email. “Therefore, it’s more appropriate and efficient for it to be administered by the state rather than by local assessors.”
According to the NYS tax department, residents can start applying through the department in the upcoming weeks by calling the department or visiting its website. Although residents once received credits on their income tax forms, holders receiving an exemption will get a check in the same amount as their STAR benefit.
For more information about the STAR program, residents can call the Town Assessor’s office at 631-451-6300. New homeowners can apply for STAR with the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance by calling 516-571-1500 or visiting its website at www.tax.ny.gov.
From left, Judith Greiman, vice president for government and community relations at Stony Brook University, with Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro, Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley, State Sen. John Flanagan and Assemblyman Steve Englebright. Photo from Dan Losquadro
The state and town have teamed up and come up big for traffic safety in Stony Brook.
More than $1 million will make its way to the North Shore with help from its elected officials to fund a traffic safety improvement project on Stony Brook Road, officials announced this week. The money, which came largely through state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), will examine a contentious stretch from Oxhead Road to Development Drive in Stony Brook, to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety as well as accessibility to public transportation.
The community surrounding Stony Brook University has been a longtime talking point for North Shore natives as an area in desperate need of improvement.
“I am proud to have worked with Stony Brook University and the Town of Brookhaven to advance this important project that will improve safety for students and residents alike,” said Flanagan, who secured $1 million for the project. “Creating more walkable communities is a move toward the future and I am happy to have contributed to such a worthwhile project.”
Once completed, the undertaking should herald the construction of a continuous sidewalk along Stony Brook Road; the extension of existing bicycle lanes and the installation of new left turn lanes at the existing signalized intersections; installation of a new traffic signal at Development Drive; and pedestrian signal upgrades, ornamental pedestrian-scale lighting, landscaping and ADA-compliant handicap ramps.
Flanagan’s $1 million, coupled with an additional $75,000 in grant funding that Englebright helped acquire, will hopefully reduce the presence of motorized forms of transportation and create a more united community surrounding the university.
“I applaud the ongoing efforts of Superintendent Losquadro and President Stanley to improve safety on Stony Brook Road and am heartened to see this project coming closer to fruition,” Englebright said. “The state funding secured by Senator Flanagan and myself will make a safer road for walkers and bicyclists by providing sidewalks, bicycle lanes, street lighting and a new traffic signal with pedestrian upgrades.”
Samuel L. Stanley, president of Stony Brook University, said pedestrian safety has been a longtime priority for the 25,000-student campus.
Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R) said the project was a pivotal step in the transformation of the community surrounding Stony Brook University.
“The addition of sidewalks and bicycle lanes will provide an alternative, safe means of transportation for students and residents traveling to and from Stony Brook University,” he said. “As a graduate of Stony Brook University, I take a lot of personal pride in moving this project forward.”
The estimated total cost of this project is $1.6 million, officials said. In addition to the $1 million in state funding — which comes from the New York State Dormitory Authority, through its State and Municipal Facilities Capital Program — and the $75,000 secured through the state multi-modal program, the Town of Brookhaven Highway Department is covering the remaining costs.
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) has been working with the town board to usher in a greater corridor study of Route 25A, which passes through Stony Brook, and said the traffic study project would also help propel the town toward a safer space for foot traffic.
“Safer roads are a great way to promote pedestrian traffic around Stony Brook University,” Romaine said. “This is a perfect example to prove how different levels of government can work together to get things done. I thank Senator Flanagan and Assemblyman Englebright for securing the funding and their commitment to improving the quality of life in Brookhaven town.”
Would you like to know what Ava Gardner had to say about her first husband, Mickey Rooney? Stay tuned.
Despite having passed away two years ago, Mickey Rooney walks the stage at the Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Education and Cultural Center in Stony Brook village. That bit of otherworldly magic is thanks to the artistry of St. George Productions, whose acting company members make the famous come alive again.
Rooney’s first wife was Ava Gardner, and I was interested to read Gardner’s autobiography after a brief stop at her museum in Smithfield, North Carolina recently. We were driving up Route 95, returning from a visit to Hilton Head, when one of our group suggested we see the museum. It was started near her hometown with seed money left by the actress. Now, I don’t know how many of you remember her or have seen her films, but she was right up there in stardom with the likes of Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly, Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor. Some of her leading men were Clark Gable, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Robert Taylor, Burt Lancaster — and Mickey.
She was a head taller than Mickey Rooney, and she met him on her first day on the MGM studio sets. He was dressed like the famous Brazilian dancer, Carmen Miranda, for his role in the movie, “Babes on Broadway,” with Judy Garland. He was two years older than Gardner and at that time, 1941, he was the most popular star in America. He had acted as Mickey McGuire, the character from the comic strip, Toonerville Trolley for seven years and then as Andy Hardy, the beloved teenager, for ten years after that. Rooney was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1939, and was earning $5,000 a week, plus bonuses. He knew how to act and he also knew what he wanted. He phoned Gardner every night for the first two weeks she was in Hollywood, until he finally got her to go out with him to dinner—as long as she could bring along her older sister.
Initially stunned by his shortness, Gardner describes Rooney as “charming, romantic and great fun.” She offered, “I had to say one thing for him: He sure had energy.”
“He was the original laugh-a-minute boy, and even the second or third time around, his stories, jokes, and gags were funny. There wasn’t a minute when he wasn’t onstage. He loved an audience, and I tried to be as good a one as I knew how.” They were engaged before her 19th birthday. They were both kids without the slightest idea of what marriage should be. Mickey woke up after their wedding night and left Ava to go off with his gang of buddies and play golf.
Mickey did endear himself when they visited her ill mother, shortly after they were married. “He entertained Mama, he hugged her, he made her laugh, he brought tears to her eyes. He did his impersonations, he did his songs and dances—it was a wonderful, wonderful occasion for Mama, who we all knew was slowly dying. Although I had loved Mickey from the start, that show he put on moved me beyond words.”
His normal lifestyle, which he continued after their marriage, according to Ava, was “boozing, broads, bookmakers, golfing and hangers-on, not to mention the heavy involvement of studio work and publicity.” She was most appalled by the philandering. They divorced two years later.
They stayed friends for the rest of their lives, dating from time to time after their divorce, until they both went on to other spouses. For Mickey, that was a beauty queen that he met in Birmingham, Alabama. He was married a total of eight times.
According to Mearene Jordan, Gardner’s helper, who wrote a chapter at the end of the book, “Mickey Rooney was a funny little guy—she got a big kick out of him. She saw him last year and she said, “Reenie, he’s still the biggest liar in the world. Poor Mickey, he cannot tell the truth, he never could. But he’s cute.”
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