Editor’s Note: Return to Camelot

I was born in ’63
Got a little job in the factory
I don’t know much about Kennedy
I was too busy working at the factory
“The Factory” by Warren Zevon

I was born in ’63, and while I don’t work in a factory, I’m the third generation of my family to work in the Waumbec building in the Manchester Millyard.

I also don’t know much about Kennedy.

Last month, as a couple of careful readers noted in NH Notebook, a caption with a photo of Richard Nixon should have said he lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy, not his brother, Robert.

I don’t know where that came from since Robert Kennedy doesn’t appear once in the book of photos by Manchester photographer Frank Kelly curated by his grandson Sam Theodosopoulos.

Meanwhile, JFK appears in not one, not two, but four photos. Nixon also gets four. There’s one of Teddy Kennedy, but no pics of Bobby.

It’s not Sam’s fault. I edited in the mistake while rewriting the caption. 

It’s not Don Van Uden’s fault. Don was an excellent history teacher at Manchester West High, though he wore a little too much plaid since he doubled as the golf coach. 

I blame “Hawaii Five-0” syndrome. The condition once caused my friend, Todd, to misidentify an executive in a news story with the last name Lord as “Jack Lord,” the star of the original 1970s crime series.

For way too long after that, I greeted Todd in the newsroom by humming the show’s catchy theme song. “Da-da da-da da da. Da-da da-da da.” People of a certain age will recall a hula dancer in a grass skirt shaking her hips about now.

While it’s a campy little tune, I much prefer my new mistake shame ditty.

Warren Zevon, best known for the song “Werewolves of London,” included “The Factory” on his 1987 album, “Sentimental Hygiene.” Three members from R.E.M. were his backing band, and a folk singer named Bob Dylan played the harmonica solo.

In 1963, Dylan released his second album, which kicks off with “Blowin’ in the Wind.” 

How many times must a man make dumb mistakes? 

The answer, my friend, is too many.

Happy accidents are much more fun than dumb mistakes. Over the summer, my family needed a place to grab dinner after a day at the beach, not an easy booking for a party of 11. 

My son-in-law had heard about the Snack Shack, an outside restaurant and bar in Hampton tucked away from the road that has cornhole and plenty of grass for kids to run around.

We soon learned most of the patrons that day weren’t lured by the snacks. Seacoast hero Ralph Fatello — Marine vet, surfing legend, rock musician — was celebrating his 75th birthday with a book signing. 

The title of Fatello’s book sounds like the name of a Warren Zevon song. Turn to page 28
for this month’s “In Their Own Words” to see what I mean.