James P. Durante, 92, left Longboat Key, Florida with a legacy of the Durante name

[25th Century Quaker]

Lawyer contributed to Longboat Key park

By CHRISTINA E. SANCHEZ
February 13. 2007
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070213/NEWS/702130313

LONGBOAT KEY -- If James P. Durante had an opinion on a subject,
chances are people on Longboat Key heard about it -- and usually
listened intently.

Durante took great interest in town issues and regularly attended
Longboat Key community meetings since moving here nearly 30 years ago.

The most known, and likely to be the most remembered, of his
contributions was a 32-acre park named after his late wife, Joan.

Durante died Thursday at age 92, but left Longboat Key with a legacy
of the Durante name.

Durante donated more than $500,000 to the Longboat Key Town Commission
in 1993 to create the Joan M. Durante Community Park. It was his "love
letter" to her, he said at the time. Joan Durante died in 1992.

"He made a name for the Durante family by purchasing the land and
having it named after his wife," said longtime friend Art Falls, a
Longboat Key businessman. "It was a big deal for the town."

The park, formerly home to a group of cabins, has won several awards,
including the "1998 Outstanding Ecosystem Restoration Award" from the
Florida Urban Forestry Council.

According to Herald-Tribune archives, Durante was a labor relations
attorney in New York City for 46 years before moving to Longboat Key.
He also worked as an attorney for baseball and hockey associations.

He wrote several guest columns for the Herald-Tribune on labor law and
community-related topics.

Falls, who met Durante in about 1978, said Durante was active in the
local Kiwanis Club, raising money for children's programs.

"He was a good friend and good adviser to many," Falls said. "He was
highly opinionated, but to the benefit of the community. We will
really miss him."

Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New York, and his
brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.

Memorial services will be set at a later date.

--
seek electricity

[Brad Ferguson]

In article <45D19C56...@newnorth.net>, 25th Century Quaker
<quak...@newnorth.net> wrote:

> Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New York, and his
> brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.

Not to mention Mrs. Kalabash.

[25th Century Quaker]

Brad Ferguson said the following On 2/13/2007 10:20 AM:

>> Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New York, and his
>> brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.

> Not to mention Mrs. Kalabash.

She hasn't been found yet; hence the omission.

--
seek electricity

[Charlene]

Everybody wants to get into the act.

wd42

[25th Century Quaker]

Charlene said the following On 2/13/2007 3:46 PM:

>>>> Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New York, and his
>>>> brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.

>>> Not to mention Mrs. Kalabash.

>> She hasn't been found yet; hence the omission.

> Everybody wants to get into the act.

Hot-cha-cha!!!!

Dat ain't no banana.... dat's my nose....

--
seek electricity

[Charlene]

On Feb 13, 2:58 pm, "A" <a...@hot.net> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> "Brad Ferguson" <thirt...@frXOXed.net> wrote in message
>
> news:130220071120025221%thir...@frXOXed.net...
>
> > In article <45D19C56.6000...@newnorth.net>, 25th Century Quaker

> > <quake...@newnorth.net> wrote:
>
> >> Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New York, and his
> >> brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.
>
> > Not to mention Mrs. Kalabash.
>

> ['Calabash', to you], wherever she is.
>
> http://www.skypoint.com/members/schutz19/durante.htm

Durante's good friend and onstage partner Sonny King says that Mrs.
Calabash was Durante's first wife, Jeanne Olson. She had been
hospitalized in Calabasas, California for some time before her early
death; apparently she mispronounced Calabasas as "Calabash" to Durante
once and it became their in-joke.

King said specifically that Durante told him the phrase had nothing to
do with Calabash, North Carolina or the Calabash neighbourhood of
Chicago (another legend).

wd42

[The Kentucky Wizard]

Shit, you beat me to it, again. :-)

--
Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and
beat you with experience.

© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»

[The Kentucky Wizard]

A wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> "The Kentucky Wizard" <Kentuck...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:RaqdnaOgkNzmWE_Y...@insightbb.com...

> > Brad Ferguson wrote:
> > > In article <45D19C56...@newnorth.net>, 25th Century Quaker
> > > <quak...@newnorth.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New York,
> > > > and his brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.
> > >
> > > Not to mention Mrs. Kalabash.
> >
> >
> > Shit, you beat me to it, again. :-)
>

> You are no 'Quick Draw McGraw'!

Hold on thar', Baba Looey, I'll do all the thinnin' around here!

[The Kentucky Wizard]

A wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> "The Kentucky Wizard" <Kentuck...@gmail.com> wrote in message

> news:6sCdnfWdaK6ruEnY...@insightbb.com...

> > A wrote:
> > > x-no-archive: yes
> > >
> > > "The Kentucky Wizard" <Kentuck...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:RaqdnaOgkNzmWE_Y...@insightbb.com...
> > > > Brad Ferguson wrote:
> > > > > In article <45D19C56...@newnorth.net>, 25th Century
> > > > > Quaker <quak...@newnorth.net> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Durante is survived by his sister, Grace Speciale of New
> > > > > > York, and his brother, William Durante of San Jose, Calif.
> > > > >
> > > > > Not to mention Mrs. Kalabash.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Shit, you beat me to it, again. :-)
> > >
> > > You are no 'Quick Draw McGraw'!
> >
> >
> > Hold on thar', Baba Looey, I'll do all the thinnin' around here!
>

> With your old age, I'm sure that is what your brain has
> been doin' the past 5+ years, and *you* are the perfect Baba
> Looey-person/character.
>
> "Exit, stage left!"
> --Snagglepuss

Nah, the brain's not thinnin', just some hair.

[tetherba...@gmail.com]

The made in this obit is not the famous entertainer Jimmy Durante he is James Peter Durante Sr. and he was my grandfather. I had made some very disrespectful posts last night which I have recanted because they really do no good at this point. I just want to let the people who thought this was a great man know that there was definitely another side to him. He emotionally abused my grandmother - his first wife, Frances Mack. He took a woman with life and light and broke her spirit over 25 years of marriage. After he broke my grandmother's spirit he left her for Joan, his secretary. Infact he was cheating on my grandmother with Joan. Joan was a homewrecker. When my grandmother died and my father asked Mr. Durante for help burying my grandmother he said he would sooner see her buried in a paper mache box before he would give a dime to cover her funeral expenses. He emotionally and physically abused my father during his childhood including trying to throw him over the Queen Mary when my father was five or six. James Peter Durante Sr. and his abuse was something that my father never got over. It haunted him everyday of his life. I partly blame James Peter Durante Sr. for my father's death and for my horrid childhood. After my father's death I tried to find my brother so I could let him know and inadvertently found my grandfather's number instead. When I realized the man on the other end of the phone was James Peter Durante Sr., my grandfather, I told him who I was and he screamed at me and told me to never call him again and I never did. He died 4 years later. I never met my grandfather and he knew I existed but he didn't care because he never cared for my father. He did some good in his community and this his legacy but there is another legacy he left behind; One of physical and emotional abuse, nightmares and scars that won't heal. I am almost 40 years old today and I have broken the sick cycle of abuse James Peter Durante Sr. started and I raised my children, his great grandchildren with a gentile but firm hand. I have never raised my hand to my children and despite the abuse I suffered at my father's own hands. My father and I are very well educated and had success in life despite James Peter Durante Sr. The good in my father had nothing to do with James Peter Durante Sr. He instilled only pain. His legacy of child abuse and abuse of women is the only legacy he can claim in this family.

[co...@metrocominternational.com]

Sorry to be almost four years late to the topic.But I'm totally intrigued by this story, not to mention curious about how far its tentacles might have spread.
Having said that, I should immediately identify myself. I am a 30-year carreer journalist and published writer. And, that's very much the basis from whence my own curiosity flows.
Have you ever discussed this story with writers as a subject beyond the interest of immediate family lore? A book, possibly?
If you are intrested in talking further, so am I.
Thanks,
Christopher Cook