ENSIGN US NAVY
WORLD WAR I∼Aloysius Anthony Kelly, popularly known as Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, (May 11, 1893 (some accounts say 1885) – October 11, 1952 was a pole sitter who achieved fame in the 1920s and 1930s, sitting for days at a time on elevated perches throughout the United States.Kelly was born in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. His mother died during childbirth and his father died before he was born. He ran away and went to sea at the age of 13, and changed his name to Alvin. In his early years he worked as a steelworker, steeplejack, high diver, boxer and movie double. He was also a licensed pilot who performed aerial stunts. He served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Reserve during World War I, serving from May 1918 to September 1921
At the time of his death in October 1952, Kelly had become a "grizzled old man" – penniless and all but forgotten. He was by then a widower who had been on home relief for six months, and his son was in the U.S. Army overseas. He had been suffering from an asthmatic heart and hardening of the arteries. Kelly died on the street on Manhattan's West 51st Street near the rooming house where he lived and not far from his birthplace. For a time his body was unclaimed at the morgue but he was buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York
Among the belongings found in his room was a duffel bag still packed with ropes and flagpole-sitting gear, "in case any fresh jobs came along". At the time of his death a scrapbook of his exploits was under his arm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_%22Shipwreck%22_Kelly
WORLD WAR I∼Aloysius Anthony Kelly, popularly known as Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, (May 11, 1893 (some accounts say 1885) – October 11, 1952 was a pole sitter who achieved fame in the 1920s and 1930s, sitting for days at a time on elevated perches throughout the United States.Kelly was born in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. His mother died during childbirth and his father died before he was born. He ran away and went to sea at the age of 13, and changed his name to Alvin. In his early years he worked as a steelworker, steeplejack, high diver, boxer and movie double. He was also a licensed pilot who performed aerial stunts. He served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Reserve during World War I, serving from May 1918 to September 1921
At the time of his death in October 1952, Kelly had become a "grizzled old man" – penniless and all but forgotten. He was by then a widower who had been on home relief for six months, and his son was in the U.S. Army overseas. He had been suffering from an asthmatic heart and hardening of the arteries. Kelly died on the street on Manhattan's West 51st Street near the rooming house where he lived and not far from his birthplace. For a time his body was unclaimed at the morgue but he was buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York
Among the belongings found in his room was a duffel bag still packed with ropes and flagpole-sitting gear, "in case any fresh jobs came along". At the time of his death a scrapbook of his exploits was under his arm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_%22Shipwreck%22_Kelly
ENSIGN US NAVY
WORLD WAR I∼Aloysius Anthony Kelly, popularly known as Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, (May 11, 1893 (some accounts say 1885) – October 11, 1952 was a pole sitter who achieved fame in the 1920s and 1930s, sitting for days at a time on elevated perches throughout the United States.Kelly was born in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. His mother died during childbirth and his father died before he was born. He ran away and went to sea at the age of 13, and changed his name to Alvin. In his early years he worked as a steelworker, steeplejack, high diver, boxer and movie double. He was also a licensed pilot who performed aerial stunts. He served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Reserve during World War I, serving from May 1918 to September 1921
At the time of his death in October 1952, Kelly had become a "grizzled old man" – penniless and all but forgotten. He was by then a widower who had been on home relief for six months, and his son was in the U.S. Army overseas. He had been suffering from an asthmatic heart and hardening of the arteries. Kelly died on the street on Manhattan's West 51st Street near the rooming house where he lived and not far from his birthplace. For a time his body was unclaimed at the morgue but he was buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York
Among the belongings found in his room was a duffel bag still packed with ropes and flagpole-sitting gear, "in case any fresh jobs came along". At the time of his death a scrapbook of his exploits was under his arm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_%22Shipwreck%22_Kelly
WORLD WAR I∼Aloysius Anthony Kelly, popularly known as Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, (May 11, 1893 (some accounts say 1885) – October 11, 1952 was a pole sitter who achieved fame in the 1920s and 1930s, sitting for days at a time on elevated perches throughout the United States.Kelly was born in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. His mother died during childbirth and his father died before he was born. He ran away and went to sea at the age of 13, and changed his name to Alvin. In his early years he worked as a steelworker, steeplejack, high diver, boxer and movie double. He was also a licensed pilot who performed aerial stunts. He served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Reserve during World War I, serving from May 1918 to September 1921
At the time of his death in October 1952, Kelly had become a "grizzled old man" – penniless and all but forgotten. He was by then a widower who had been on home relief for six months, and his son was in the U.S. Army overseas. He had been suffering from an asthmatic heart and hardening of the arteries. Kelly died on the street on Manhattan's West 51st Street near the rooming house where he lived and not far from his birthplace. For a time his body was unclaimed at the morgue but he was buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York
Among the belongings found in his room was a duffel bag still packed with ropes and flagpole-sitting gear, "in case any fresh jobs came along". At the time of his death a scrapbook of his exploits was under his arm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_%22Shipwreck%22_Kelly
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