This Side Up

Buddy is like a father to Marie

John Howell
Posted 10/14/14

The Thursday afternoon call seemed to be routine.

The caller wanted information about submitting a letter to the editor. Was there a limit to the number of words? How soon after submission could …

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Buddy is like a father to Marie

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The Thursday afternoon call seemed to be routine.

The caller wanted information about submitting a letter to the editor. Was there a limit to the number of words? How soon after submission could she expect to see it in print? Might there be any censoring of what she had to say, particularly if it dealt with politics?

Politics set off a bell.

“What do you mean?” I inquired. “Would this be a letter attacking a politician or elected official?”

“Oh, no,” she said, “This is a letter in support of Allan Fung.”

I didn’t have a problem with that, telling her printing a letter isn’t a matter of agreeing with what the author has to say. But that wasn’t all on her mind. Her letter would also be in support of Buddy Cianci.

“Well, email it over,” I suggested.

“I don’t own a computer, gave it up. In fact, I don’t have a cell phone. I don’t want them.”

Well, I thought, she knows what she wants and doesn’t want.

I gave her the address, expecting she was going to mail her letter. But on Friday, pint-sized Marie Badessa showed up at the Beacon office holding four sheets of lined paper.

“Can you read it, just to make sure?” she asked.

I led her into the conference room so we could both have a seat. She watched closely as I read and, as I got toward the end, she told me she had come from Johnston, where she met New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Christie was at Luigi’s Restaurant, where he was stumping for Fung. Marie, who is 85 and stands 4’9,” said she was perched on a barstool. The place was packed, but Christie spotted her and made a point of saying, “I want to meet this woman,” according to Marie.

Marie said she felt an immediate connection to Christie. She said he was sincerely interested in talking with her. This wasn’t a show for the media.

Christie asked her why she was there and she said she wanted to see Fung elected. She thanked him for supporting Fung and Christie gave her a hug.

Marie has met many people and been to many parts of the world. Until retiring about six years ago, she worked in the travel business. Her specialty was Europe. She also raised a family. She is the mother of five, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of four. She has been a widow for the last 20 years.

For someone who has seen so much, I wondered about the Buddy connection. Why did she think he should be re-elected mayor? She said she remembers him as a boy, when he and his parents visited the Alpine Country Club, where she was a waitress. She followed his political career and said it was what he did as mayor in 1979 that stands out.

As she tells it, a rock group with a reputation for concerts accompanied by violence and drug use was booked for a Providence appearance.

“He said ‘no’ and from that moment on he is like a father. I have to give him credit for that.”

Marie follows politics. She offered opinions on the late Senator John Chafee, who she admired, and his son, Lincoln, who she doesn’t care for. She says Gina Raimondo “has too much ego.”

But what about Buddy?

She said she tunes into the talk shows, she reads the stories about the campaign and she’s heard and seen the debates. She’s informed.

“I see a man in Buddy not like every man. He has a unique personality. I can’t find any fault with him. He has a great memory, and when you’re in his company you just want to listen to him.”

Obviously, Marie has gotten to know Buddy, or at least she believes she knows him. When Buddy was on the radio, she listened regularly and frequently called his talk show. She praised WPRO for “taking a chance on him” after he was released from prison, which brought us to the question that has stalked his campaign to regain the office he held and abused. Has he really changed?

“He was a model prisoner. He paid his dues. I think he suffered in his own way; he’s repented.”

But what about what he did?

“He’s not a murderer, a bank robber, he didn’t molest a child…that’s all together a different thing,” she said.

I had my answer.

I took her letter and asked a final question.

“How did you get here?”

Marie looked at me as if that was the stupidest question of them all.

“Well, I drove.”

I should have known. Marie gets around.

Comments

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  • patientman

    If she is in fact "informed" then she is morally bankrupt. He probably did extort money from banks. We know he stole money from Providence residents. If she was his grandmother I could look past her moral lapse. Congratulations to her on her fine health.

    Tuesday, October 14, 2014 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    So, Mr. Cianci, who was at the top of a corrupt organization (and I will assume that he knew nothing of the operation, that is not what he was convicted of) and paid his dues by going to prison and has repented should be put back into that same situation. That is fine if you want that.

    Using that same logic, let's take Mr. X who was convicted of child molestation while working as a baby sitter for years, but has done his time and repented. How about we give him a job at your grandchild's day care? He has paid his debt and has the most experience for the job.

    You going to hire him Marie?

    Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Report this

  • rtwhit55

    Mother to her,Godfather to many.

    Tuesday, November 25, 2014 Report this