Tom Curry Biography

Name:	Tom Curry
Email:	river291@comcast.net
Home Page:
Address:	291 River Road, Winthrop, MA 02152
Phone/Fax:
Interests:	I guess that my interests have remained consistent with those I had in High School. Jazz and Blues have been my regular companions over the past 45 years. In the early 1970s, Bob Porter and I started a Jazz record company called Phoenix Jazz Records that kept us busy for over 15 years. We closed our doors when CDs took over vinyl and sold our recordings to several record companies. Since then, Bob and I have been auctioning off Jazz vinyl to the Japanese, as well as European collectors. As long as they’ll pay, we’ll sell! I’ve kept my hand in painting and photography and sold artwork to record companies for album covers in the 1970s and 1980s. I took up chasing the “little white ball” around at the age of 48. As Jack Madden once said….”Golf is one game you never quite get!”
Biography:
Family:	Although I met my wife Brenda in 1965, when we were both rookies in the Probation Department, it took 15 years to finally ask her to marry me. By then she had a 7 year old son and I had my “first wife” Emma, a 10 year old Terrier-X. My stepson Ian is now married and we’re expecting our first grandchild in October. I could not ask for a better son….and for that matter……a better wife! Brenda and I have lived in Winthrop for the past 23 years. Winthrop is a “small town” that happens to lie next to a large city and the ocean is right out my door….which can be a bit disconcerting during a Nor’easter or a hurricane!
Education:	After a “cup of coffee” at Bates College, I graduated from Boston University with a degree in History. I also minored in what was then called Criminology, which would shape the course of my life. Since then, I’ve studied on my own, realizing that there is always more to learn, whether it is from books, or from life.
Work:	After graduating from BU, I took a job as a Welfare Investigator for the New York City Department of Welfare in Lower Manhattan. It was probably the best job and the most laughs I ever had on any job I’ve had. In 1965, I was appointed to the Boston Municipal Court as a Probation Officer. For the first ten years, I supervised defendants….including one of our classmates who didn’t graduate with us. I also let out a few more from the City Tombs, who had been picked up for Public Drinking. In 1975, I was given the job as a Suffolk County Prosecutor for Domestic Violence and Non-Support cases in which I not only prosecuted the cases but supervised the defendants after they were found Guilty as well. In 1979, I was appointed an Assistant Chief Probation Officer in charge of the Supervision of Defendants and remained in that position until I chose to retire in 1997 after 32 years of “fighting crime.” Crime won! During that time, however, I reorganized the Office with a Grant from the National Institute of Corrections and automated the Department using computers in the mid 1980s. As the software improved, so did my programs. My wife was an Assistant Chief Probation officer in the East Boston District Court and she retired in 2000. Between the two of us, I think you could say that we’ve seen everything that you would want to see, as well as things that no one should see! Since then, I started a small company called Collectables Etc., which is associated with Bob Porter, my wife’s art work, my photography of Jazz and Blues artists as well as selling on eBay.
Achievements:	My only real achievements in life have been that I have a wonderful family and that I have been able to remain a close friendship with the group of “guys” who I have known for most of my life!
Comments:	I want to thank everyone who has contributed to making this Website possible. It took a Hell of a lot of work. I especially want to thank Dottie for everything that she’s done to keep all of us together. Without Dottie, we would not be having the Reunion or the opportunity to chat with each other after a span of 45 years. Thanks Dottie!!

Revised: 09/21/2006.