Gene Connolly Analysis

Gene Connolly and the Golden Oldies Lunch Club The sound of Cat Stevens can be heard drifting through the courtyard of Concord High School from the window of the principal’s corner office. It is that same courtyard where each morning, braced for whatever weather New Hampshire chose to thrust upon us, Gene Connolly stood firmly. Part sentinel, part one-man welcome committee, he greeted everyone who passed by with a wave and a smile, at the very least. In a school of over two-thousand students, even freshmen are still often called out to by name, just for a “How’s it going?” or a query about last night’s girls’ basketball game. Despite being rather involved in high school, I only knew Principal Connolly in passing until my senior year. The
He balanced enthusiasm with wisdom. Seriousness mollified by humor. Whatever he chose to speak about, the audience was inclined to listen. He never needed to raise his voice. Out of all of his many passions, his love of music made for especially captivating discussions. The grand Jackson Browne story began with his wife nagging him to stay up later one night. Since his diagnosis with ALS, a rapidly progressing degenerative terminal illness, he struggled with fatigue and went to bed early, having expended all his energy during the non-stop busy school day. Despite this, he remained awake until an unexpected knock at the door. “...and there he was, standing in the doorway,” he said, with broad hand gestures and an excitement in his voice that filled the room. Connolly’s wife had reached out to Jackson Browne, who was touring in the area, and told him of her husband, a lifelong fan, and his battle with his terminal disease. Browne, having been moved greatly by this story, chose to pay a special house
Greetings and disbelief aside, Browne finally noticed the Fender guitar Gene proudly displayed in his home, a musician himself. Before anything too exciting happened, Connolly called up his neighbor and colleague Chris Makris and told him to come over, because “...yes, Jackson Browne is in my kitchen,” and “no, I am being serious.” Jackson Browne is a man of great care and precision in his work, and proceeded to tune Connolly’s guitar for “approximately forty-five minutes,” according to Makris. He then delivered a full private concert right in Gene’s living room. After the show, he stayed just a little bit longer to chat with the old friend he had just met. Browne highly revered educators. He was raised by schoolteachers, and always saw himself becoming one, had he not chosen music. At one point in the night, he ran out to his tour bus, parked on a sleepy Concord side street, to retrieve a book for Connolly on Revolutionary War history. It came as no surprise to me that there were no autographs, cheap lines, or dull small talk. Gene delved into conversations, but listened with patience and regard, regardless of whether he was chatting with a bonafide rock star, or some kid in in-school