Vol. 119 No.5 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 February 3 - 9, 2008 The DALLAS POST. SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dr. David Wright, associate professor of history and chairman of the history department at Misericordia University, has published a book on musical rock lyrics. MU prof puts ‘rock info history lessons By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com He’s a history professor, but not a boring, old man who looks like he fought in the Civil War. David C. Wright, Ph.D., an as- sociate professor and chair of the history department at Misericor- dia University, can be found in his office dressed casually, yet pro- fessionally, wearing an earring and with his long, gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. Up- beat music without words quietly plays in the background and mul- tiple framed pictures of children line a shelf. Wright presented “The Phe- nomenology of Loss and Yearn- ing: Nostalgia in Rock Music Lyr- ics” in November at the 18th An- nual Mid-Atlantic Popular/ American Culture Association Conference in Philadelphia. The paper examines rock mu- sic lyrics over the course of dec- ades from the 1960s to the pre- sent. He specifically looked at themes of loss, yearning and nos- talgia and found it to be wide- spread in the music. Wright says music often becomes a hit be- cause of its nostalgic lyrics which include loss of home, love, time, death and things one never even had. Anticipatory nostalgia, or thinking about losing what one has now, also runs rampant in the lyrics. Wright focused on rock music to maintain concentration in one area and chose rock because it is popular and widespread. He se- lected lyrics from musicians such as Neil Young and Don Henley and was surprised when he didn’t find much nostalgia in Bob Dylan lyrics. While at the conference, Wright presented his work for 20 minutes, receiving good re- sponse and great discussion. He was encouraged when he heard people in other presentations re- ferring to his presentation. The professor is in the stages of expanding his paper on nostalgia in music lyrics to include other genres of music and more recent examples of music. He plans to submit his revised work for publi- cation to the “Journal of Popular Music.” Although Wright is not a musi- cian, he did play the saxophone at one time and listens to almost ev- ery type of music expect for met- al and “commercial country.” He even likes techno, though he ex- plains there are different types and what he listens to is not the kind of music played at clubs. Wright is thinking about teach- ing “The History of Utopia,” “The History of African Ameri- can Music” and “The History of Rock and Roll Music” but has been holding back for one reason. “I'm a little concerned because when you get into popular cul- ture areas, young people are im- patient with what they don’t like,” Wright said. Although Wright has not shared his paper with his stu- dents, many of them know about it and find it neat that their pro- fessor has written about rock mu- sic. “I think they think history pro- fessors write about wars,” Wright said. “I've never written anything about war. History’s about every- thing people have done.” Stacy Orr, a senior history ma- jor at Misericordia, wants to read her professor’s paper. “Everybody likes rock music,” Orr said. “It’s interesting.” Wright presented “Gibson’s ‘Sprawl Trilogy.’ Utopian Sparks midst the Dystopian Ashes” at the 32nd Annual Meeting of The Society for Utopian Studies in To- See ROCK, Page 6 According to www.nfl.com, the New York Giants have not been in the Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 when they were defeated, 34-7, by the Baltimore Ravens. The team has not won the big game since it beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-19, during Super Bowl XXV in 1991. The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 when they conquered the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21. Pete Klein is root By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com oday is the day foot- ball enthusiasts have been anticipating for the past year: Super Bowl Sunday. Pizza eateries will be extremely busy with take-out orders and super- markets and beer distributors will be crowded in the hours and days before the game. Homes, bars and restaurants in the Back Mountain will be full of eager fans and party-goers, each cheer- ing for one team. But just what team will that be? Peter Klein, 68, of Dallas, will be rooting for the New York Gi- ants. Having seen between 30 and 40 Giants games in person, Klein may be one of the biggest New York Giants fans in the area. “I never liked the Eagles or the Steelers,” he said. Originally from Kingston, Klein first took an interest in football while a student at King- ston High School. He was a fan of the Cleveland Browns until he moved to New Jersey in 1960 and lived only 35 miles from Yankee Stadium, the previous home of the Giants. The Giants quickly Peter Klein, of Dallas, an ardent Giants fan, shows off his favorite sweatshirt. ‘Giant’ fan ing for New York today YOU WATCH Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium, Arizona Sunday, Feb. 3 FOX Television 6:30 p.m. became Klein's favorite team be- cause they were the closest to him and, at that time, tickets were often available. Klein saw his favorite Giants game in the early 1960s when the Giants hosted the Cleveland Browns. Sleet had fallen the night before and the stadium seats were covered in ice, a bless- ing for Klein who enjoys games played in bad weather. The Gi- ants won that game, 17-10. “I was a Giants fan at the time and was still a Browns fan,” Klein said. “I got to see my favor- ite two teams play. And it was in gnarly conditions.” While working for Bell Labs in New Jersey, Klein lived at an Air Force base along the coast of Cal- ifornia for one year. Because not everyone could get NFL games on their televisions those days, he and some co-workers, who were also Giants fans, found a place to watch the games. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST “On Sundays, we knew that in San Bernardino they had televi- sion that carried NFL games,” he said. “We used to drive there, take a hotel room, watch the game in the morning and drive home. We would drive 70 miles inland just to watch the Giants on Sundays.” When the team moved into Gi- ants Stadium in 1976, Klein saw one or two games that season but tickets soon became hard to come by as season ticket holders bought out all of the seats in the stadium. Luckily for Klein, his daugh- ter, Pam Patterson, of Morris- town, N.J., is also a diehard Gi- ants fan. Patterson was offered two season tickets from a neigh- bor who had four and, for five or six years, would take Klein to the games when her husband was not available. Klein moved to Connecticut in 1993, but still lived just 40 miles from Giants Stadium. When he moved back to the Wyoming Val- ley after retiring five years ago, most of his Giants memorabilia went in the trash but he’s still a huge Giants fan. His favorite Giant these days is See GIANT, Page 8 Kristen Billek, whose family had owned Trucksville Pharmacy for over 50 years, an- nounced recently that the pharmacy has closed. Billek is the Ex- periential Coordinator at Wilkes School of Phar- macy. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST After 50 years, Trucksville Pharmacy closes “It wasn't a quick decision; it was a long process Billek family had owned business since 1982 when Neil Billek purchased it. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com After over 50 years of ser- vice to the Back Mountain Community, the Trucksville Pharmacy has closed. According to Kristen Bil- lek, owner and pharmacist, the pharmacy closed its doors for the last time on January 15. “It wasn’t a quick decision; it was a long process between myself and my family,” Billek said. Billek, 35, of Kingston, says the family decided to move on before it was forced to. Family members have re- between myself and my family.” Kristen Billek Pharmacist ceived multiple phone calls and cards at home wishing them well. Trucksville Pharmacy opened more than five dec- ades ago by Harry Holak, who lived across the highway in Trucksville. Billek’s father, Neil Billek, purchased the pharmacy from Holak, his cousin, in 1982. Having grown up in the pharmacy, Billek wanted to be a pharmacist for as long as she can remember. In 1990, she graduated from Wyoming Valley West High School and went on to pharmacy school at St. John’s University in New York. Everything seemed to be falling into place. But things were about to change. In September 1996, just three months before Billek graduated from pharmacy school, Neil Billek died. To the surprise of many custom- ers, Billek walked into the pharmacy to work the day af- ter her father died. “I felt my father had such a connection with the commu- nity that that connection came down onto myself,” Bil- lek said. With the support of its strong customer base, the Trucksville Pharmacy contin- ued on. The pharmacy was run by fill-in pharmacists un- til Billek came on board full- time in mid-1997. Billek’s mother, Ann, became the backbone of the pharmacy and Billek’s sister, Sarah, ran the front counter. Sarah was at the pharmacy so much, she kept a crib in the back room for her daughter, Anabell, now 6 years old. Billek’s other sister Abby and brother Drew, live out of town but See PHARMACY, Page 5
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers