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Home > Author > Gerard J. St. John
 
Gerard J. St. John

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Member Since: Mar, 2006

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  Gerard J. St. John           

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Over more than 70 years, I have been a college soccer player, a Marine Corps infantry officer, a trial lawyer, an adjunct university professor and the father of six children.


Background Information

Most of us have experienced things that we consider to have been especially significant in our lives. Stories about such things are generally handed down within our families in the words and in the perspectives of persons who do not quite get it right. I began to hear such stories about me circulating in my own family; and I decided to defend myself. Through a collection of short reminiscences, I would leave my children a record of what really happened. Before long, reminiscences expanded into articles about lawyers and law practice published in bar association magazines. When the Philadelphia Bar Association celebrated its 200th Anniversary, I was asked to write the short unofficial history of the organization. Also, one of my senior partners asked me to act as the editor of his anecdotal autobiography. And now, we have websites and blogsites to play with. Friends and family seem to enjoy my musings, so they continue.

It occurs to me that many of the titles will not clearly inform the reader of the subject matter of the writing.  The following table of contents may help:

1.

Mayfair Times.  It was a great place to grow up in the 1940s.  

2.

Peeks Across the Rooftops.  Philadelphia’s Market-Frankford Elevated.

3.

Memories of Juniata Park.  Starting grammar school at the start of World War II.

4.

Zambo.  Dom Zambino was my neighbor and a good friend as well.

5.

It’s Only a Game.  It is a Philadelphia basketball legend: Wilt Chamberlain’s Overbrook High against West Catholic High for the City Championship in 1953.

6.

El Cid.  Joe Moran may not have been the best teacher in my high school; but there was none better.

7,

A Brothers’ Boy.  It was an embarrassing high school experience that need not have been. (Previously titled, “Kipling Anyone?”)

8.

A Piece of the Ball.  The start of varsity soccer at St. Joseph’s College.

9.

Dreams Don’t Last.  Working on the waterfront in old Philadelphia; I thought that it would never change.

10.

A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation.  Jay loved to show off in his new Chevrolet Bel Air convertible.

11.

The Piggy Bank Story.  Pat Martin was the type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back.

12.

Local Color.  Three Philadelphia college grads report for duty at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia.

13.

Twilight Times.  These are the highlights of our experience at the USMC’s 25th  Officer Candidates Course in 1959.

14.

Reflections.  Sometimes we see ourselves as if reflected in a mirror.  These are a few of those occasions.

15.

Route 66.  It is a national highway, a popular song and a Philadelphia trolley car.  In 1960, they all came together when I was assigned to Camp Pendleton, California.

16.

Sam Clemente.  Sam Conroy is one of those unforgettable characters who is indelibly identified with the USMC and San Clemente.

17.

By Any Other Name?  Surprising similarities between Philadelphia and the Mission at San Juan Capistrano.  

18.

Play It Again, Sam.  A haunting melody that I first heard in the Far East follows me back to Philadelphia.

19.

Pappy O’Rourke.  Sergeant Patrick O’Rourke was one of a kind but only a few of us could get away with calling him “Pappy.”

20.

De Minimis non Curat Rex.  Denny King had a penchant for driving people up a wall – and sometimes with good reason.

21.

Cuba Libre.  In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis sent shock waves around the world – even to Okinawa and the Seventh Fleet.

22.

One More for the Road.  The long drive from San Francisco to Philadelphia, returning from active duty in the Marine Corps.

23.

Echoes of Equidistant.  Vince Nolan is a piece of work.  He has been our comedian for half a century.

24.

Jumbo.  Jim Morris was a great athlete and a congenial friend.  Just don’t call him “Flabby.”

25.

Playing It Cozy.  Joe never took lessons; he played the piano “by ear.”  His song “On the Way to Cape May” became a Philadelphia favorite.

26.

It Was One of those Days.  Sometimes everything goes right and people think that you are a wizard.

27.

A Common Enemy.  This is my best effort at describing the life of my father John St. John.

28.

The More She Cries.  Grandmothers are sweet, dainty old ladies – right?

29.

Memories of the Impossible Dream.  Trucking companies and their lawyers thought that it was impossible to obtain new authority throughout all the U.S.

30.

I Wonder What Became of Sally.  My father was fascinated by Sally Rand, the fan dance queen.  Now, I shared a drink with Sally in Des Moines, Iowa.

31.

London Bridge.  It sounded like a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry.  It was made from polished granite that came from the London Bridge.

32.

It’s a Cup!  Buddy Segal’s method of preparing witnesses to testify at trials and other hearings – a process that old-time lawyers call “horse-shedding.”

33.

Frank B. Murdoch: A Reminiscence.  Recollections of a Philadelphia lawyer who dealt with a lifetime of tragedy but never lost his sense of humor.

34.

Barney Smolens: A Reminiscence.  Memories of a pixie-ish trial lawyer who survived a German prisoner-of-war camp in World War II.

35.

George the Third.  Reminiscences of an outstanding Philadelphia trial lawyer, George P. Williams, III.

36.

A Moral Issue.  The story of Bernard G. Segal and civil rights issues in the 1960s, told through the words of Segal in public addresses and private conversations.

37.

Mary Alice Duffy: A Reminiscence.  Judges who thought that women were not tough enough to handle criminal cases never met Mary Alice.

38.

Gentleman Jim.  Philadelphia lawyer Jim McEldrew often was aloof and arrogant, but his underlying tenacity was explained when someone mentioned Iwo Jima.

39.

Ex Libris.  Lawyers are bookish people; and they tend to frequent places that deal in books.

40.

The Expert Witness.  This story is based on George C. Clarke, an engineer who testified in many cases about the products he designed for Sears Roebuck & Co.

41.

The Great Pretenders.  A lawyer once commented to me that “we deal in perception.”  Indeed we do!

42.

Ben and I.  Much to my surprise, I was appointed by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to advise it on the final pay-out under the Will of Benjamin Franklin.

43.

A Chance Encounter.  I did not recognize him; nor did I realize that he was famous.  Also, I did not realize that Minnesota Fats and I had a mutual friend.

44.

The Fall Guy.  Scooter Libby was an associate in my law firm.  Later, he achieved prominence by being convicted of perjury in a questionable court action.

45.

The Great Gatsby.  This is a commentary on a magazine article about a flamboyant Philadelphia lawyer.

46.

The Write Stuff.  Like fishermen, writers often regret the one that got away.  This is such a story and it involves several top-flight people.

47.

The Old Fox.  A shorter version of the previous story.

48.

The Chaplains’ Tales.  Two navy chaplains and their connections to Philadelphia.

49.

Raw Judicial Power.  The story of my involvement in the abortion issue in the Philadelphia Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

50.

The Past is Prologue.  A narrative about the difficulties of writing memoirs based on one’s recollections of past events.

51.

I Poosh; I Poosh; I Poosh.  A lifetime of athletic activity leads one to appreciate the work of those persons who organize the athletic events.

52.

The Eye of the Clock.  Thoughts about advancing age.

53.

A Song in my Heart.  A reminiscence of the tunes that play and replay in my mind over the years.

54.

Peter Stephen DuPonceau: A Man of Letters.  He came to America as a teenager, serving as secretary to Baron von Steuben.

55.

James Wilson: A Forgotten Father.  A “founding father” of the U.S. Constitution, he came to a tragic end while serving as a justice on the Supreme Court.

56.

John Graver Johnson, the Giant of the Philadelphia Bar.  The son of the village blacksmith, he became the greatest trial lawyer in the English-speaking world.

57.

William A. Schnader: The Father of the Uniform Commercial Code. Partially paralyzed by a stroke, he pursued the cause of the U.C.C.

58.

Owen Wister: When You Call Me That, Smile!  He did not care for the practice of law, but he wrote the classic American cowboy novel, “The Virginian.”

59.

This is Our Bar!  An unofficial bicentennial history of The Philadelphia Bar Association and its members.

60.

Let Lawyers Talk to the Jury.  An article that was published in the American Bar Association’s Journal of Litigation.

61.

Relativity.  A rambling piece about the interrelationships of Philadelphia’s Graham clan.

62.

A Command Performance.  A look back from a perspective of 46-years upon my initial meeting with the battalion commander.

63.

With a Little Bit of Luck.  After nearly a year in the Far East, my tour of duty with the Marines turned into a shopping spree.

64.

Bock’s Pocono Trail Lodge.  It was our getaway in the Pocono Mountains, using the old executive retreat of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.

65.

The Red Mass.  An old-time newspaperman and a celebrated lawyer spar with each other about the subject matter of a newspaper article.

66.

The Vertical Challenge.  Thoughts about coming up short, and about Sol Flick, the watchmaker’s lawyer.

67.

A Tale of Two Movies.  My thoughts about the manner in which the Japanese army was represented in two movies about the Battle of Iwo Jima.

68.

Avoiding Deconstruction: Factoring Companies Thwart the Aims of the Structured Settlement Protection Act.  An article published in The Philadelphia Lawyer magazine.

69.

The Rainmakers.  Reflections of two top-flight lawyers and the contrast between them and a present-day public servant.

70.

The Dutchman.  He was a frumpy middle-age man wearing denim overalls.  What could he know about baseball?

71.

The Small Case Lawyer.  Stories of two effective witnesses in two small cases that I handled.

72.

A Farewell to Sadie.  At the 50th anniversary of my graduation from college, nostalgic memories of a good friend.

 73.

The Oxford & Lower Dublin Poorhouse.  The old stone building and its horse farm served the community for more than 200 years, changing with the times -- just like the rest of us. 

 

Travelogues.

A.

Volarẻ.  A vacation in Rome and Florence in 2005.

B.

Southern Comfort.  An automobile trip to Savannah, Georgia and coastal towns in South Carolina in 2006.

C.

Aloha!  A trip to Hawaii in 2006.

D.

The Sinjin Trail.  The long drive to Newfoundland in 2007.

E.

08 Chicago.  Our week vacation in the windy city.

F.

The Land of the Bean and the Cod.  Our short vacation in the Hamptons of New York and Boston in 2009.

G.

On Wisconsin.  Our vacation in southern Wisconsin to Taliesin, Lake Geneva and Milwaukee in 2009.

 

Birth Place
Philadelphia, PA USA
Accomplishments

None related to writing.

Additional Information

I have been appointed a judge pro-tem of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. In 1991, I was appointed Special Master to advise the Philadelphia Court on the final pay-out under the Will of Benjamin Franklin (he left money in a 200-year trust for the citizens of Philadelphia). I am presently an adjunct professor at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

Contact Information

454 Windermere Road 
Drexel Hill PA 19026   USA
Contact Author: Gerard J. St. John
Favorite Links

Philadelphia Bar Association
Under "Publications" and then "Philadelphia Lawyer Magazine," many of my articles are republished.

Saint Joseph's University
Under the College of Arts & Sciences, "Political Science Department" and then "faculty" is a short cv for me.








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