John Brady: The Boat Builder that Keeps the Independence Seaport Museum Afloat

Recently, The Irish Edition asked me to sit down with John Brady, the Shipwright turned President & CEO of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia.

His is a remarkable story that started when he was just a boy and his father bought an old sailboat. That started John's love of sailing, working on boats, and all things nautical.

You can read the interview with John Brady on the Irish Edition website or below:

John Brady at the Helm of Independence Seaport Museum

Shipwright and President & CEO John Brady

Boat Shop at Independence Seaport Museum

John Brady was an Army brat, spending his early years in Texas and Germany. Aside from the transatlantic voyages that took him and his family back and forth between the United States and Europe, he never gave boats much thought.

But his father did. Despite knowing nothing about boat ownership, or how to sail, he always wanted one. So much in fact that in 1964, when John was 12, his father moved the whole family to Pine Beach — a town down the New Jersey shore — so he could buy a boat and sail on Barnegat Bay.

Independence Seaport Museum

A 23-foot wooden sloop, named Joint Venture by the previous owner, was purchased. She needed help. Although Brady’s father lacked know-how and money to spend when it came to boat repair and maintenance, he did have enthusiasm and healthy young sons. A simple rule was decreed in the Brady house: If you want to sail on her, you have to work on her.

How fitting the name of the boat would become for John. Joint Venture would make him a life-long sailor, and start him down the path to becoming a shipwright (a carpenter for boats) and boatbuilder.

It’s a career that would end up spanning 47 years, leading him to overseeing the boat shop at the Independence Seaport Museum at Penn’s Landing and ultimately serving as the museum’s President & CEO for the last two years.

With Brady at the helm, the museum has created special events, world-class exhibits on everything from the impact the War of 1812 had on popular culture to the highly anticipated new exhibit “Tides of Freedom: African Presence on the Delaware River” which opened last month. As a result, the museum’s attendance has gone up by over 44 percent in the last two years.

The Irish Edition had a chance to talk with the always active 61 year old to find out how he went from being a guy more comfortable wearing tool belts and sawdust to wearing suits. (This turned out to be more of a metaphor. For the interview, John wore grayish khakis and a blue shirt and told us that he has one suit—for when he needs it—in his office closet.)

IE: You left the boat shop for the first office job you’ve ever had, and it’s the Corner office job. What was the biggest adjustment?

J.B: (Laughing) The art! In the boat shop, you can’t hang a lot of things up because of the sawdust. In the office, I get to be surrounded by great ship models and paintings and other pieces.

IE: Was it tough to become an administrator when you’ve been working with your hands so long? The duties are so different.

J.B: Not really. Being in charge of the boat shop, I had a lot of administrative responsibilities so it wasn’t brand new. Building a boat is different than running a museum, but both really boil down to being good at problem-solving and looking for the best solution.

IE: And you started developing those problem-solving skills as a kid working on your father’s boat, the Joint Venture?

J.B: (Laughing) She was a pretty lousy boat, really. And we all learned by making her worse! We fixed problems we caused fixing the original problem!

IE: And you took the same method when it came to learning how to sail.

J.B: We taught ourselves. My dad would get home from work and we’d walk to the boat and go out on Barnegat Bay for a few hours. We figured out how sailboats worked. It was a lot of fun. (Laughing)There was also a lot of swearing.

IE: So when did you know that working on boats and becoming a shipwright was what you wanted to do with your life?

J.B: My brothers and I sailed Joint Venture all around Cape Cod and Long Island Sound on a cruise when I was in my 20s. The adventure took us to New York City and I got a job at the South Street Seaport Museum working on a four-masted ship called the Peking which is about the size of the Moshulu here in Philly.

IE: That’s a big jump from working on the Joint Venture and other pleasure boats.

J.B: It was a leap, but not much. That job lasted about a year. Then in 1991, I came to Philadelphia to be a shipwright for the Independence Seaport Museum, which was called the Philadelphia Maritime Museum back then.

IE: Was the museum much different?

J.B: Much different. It was located at 3rd and Chestnut and the boat shop was on a barge in the boat basin. The shop had a pot-bellied stove for warmth and fans blowing in the summer. (Laughing) At least I worked on the waterfront! On the water, actually!

The museum’s purpose was different. We’d build a different wooden boat each year and then we’d do an exhibit about it. Then, we’d sail them. It was an awesome experience. That lasted about eight years. I think 1991 was the last year. I built a catboat that was put into the fleet in Barnegat Bay.

After that, I left the museum and went to Nova Scotia to do some big boat construction. Then I ended up working on the Gazela in Baltimore, which is now here at Penn’s Landing.

IE: That’s when you came back to the Independence Seaport Museum?

J.B: Yes. That was 1995. I was asked to run the boat shop and be the boatbuilder. But it wasn’t on a barge anymore! The museum had moved to the current location by then and the boat shop is actually in this building. Visitors can come watch the shipwrights and builders putting boats together.

IE: What happens to the boats?

J.B: Some are in our collection. Others we were commissioned by collectors or other museums. Two of the boats I built, the Bull and Bear are sandbaggers (working boats that became racers) and they’re at the National Sailing Hall of Fame. The boat shop has always been successful and makes money for the museum.

IE: The museum has had a lot of success too since you’ve become president. How have you done it?

J.B: Reaching out to the community and creating partnerships have helped bring people to the museum. We partner with the Charter High School of Architecture and Design’s Physics Department. They work on our boats using what they learn in class and they can see physics actually being applied. Those students end up taking an interest in the museum.

Also, in the case of the new exhibit Tides of Freedom, we worked with several African American scholars to help bring it to the next level. Professor Tukufu Zuberi from Penn, who is on the PBS show History Detectives, guest-curated the exhibit.

And, we have wonderful volunteers, former bankers, lawyers, and researchers in a variety of departments from archives, to fundraising to building the boats. They allow us to do a lot of great things by being generous with their time. I think all of these things are what will work for us in the future.

IE: What does the museum need?

J.B: More visitors. Attendance is up but we want more people to come. I think we’re one of Philly’s best kept secrets. We’re working on it through our exhibits and festivals. Big hits for a museum like us are pirates and the Titanic. They’re always big draws. (Laughing) If I could somehow arrange an exhibit that that had the Titanic taken over by pirates we’d be set!

IE: What’s next for the museum?

J.B: We’re adding bathrooms on the Olympia to have and host events and we have the Old City Seaport Festival coming up in October with some great tall ships coming.

IE: So you’re keeping the Olympia after all? Is there still a possibility that she’ll go somewhere else or be turned into a reef?

J.B: There are two organizations interested in taking her. But, she will not become a reef. It would cost just as much to sink her as a reef as it would be to save her, and she deserves to be saved. We’re going to do whatever we can for her while she’s here. Maybe she’ll end up staying.

IE: Do you have a family and do they like boating and sailing?

J.B: My son, Christian, is in college. He grew up in the boat shop. He likes boats but running is his passion. My wife, Susan, her thing is art. She’s an artist and she heads the Art Department at Germantown Friends.

IE: Last question: Do you, a shipwright, boat builder, sailor and president of the Independence Seaport Museum own a boat?

J.B: (Laughing) I don’t! I built so many, and they’re scattered all over so I can go sail on them whenever I want. Sometimes, I take one of the small boats we (museum) have in the boat basin for a row. Early on I decided I’d rather build boats, have fun, and sail on the boats I built then to work hard to have to pay for a boat.

IE: That stings. I own a sailboat.

J.B: (Wild laughter)

American Heart Association Fundraiser Gives You Chance to Live Out Your Baseball Dream While Helping Others Live Out Their Life

You love baseball. I mean, you LOVE baseball. You play catch with a buddy when you’re having a beer. You still play in a league. (Ok, maybe it’s softball now because the years have started to add up on you, but still.) You follow the Phillies religiously. Hell, you even watch a few innings of a Little League game when you walk by one and you don’t know a single kid on either team.

So, what if I told you that you can have your dream come true? You know which dream. You dig your back foot into the ground at home plate at Citizens Bank Park, cocking a bat above your shoulder just like Howard and Utley and Rollins.  A pitch is delivered. Your lumber meets leather with a crack.  You hit in a major league ballpark.

That would be the greatest thing in the world, right?*

Wrong.

There's nothing better than swinging lumber in an MLB park.

It gets better.

You can fulfill that dream and help people live at the same time. A great moment in your life will give life to others.

On May 6 & 7, the American Heart Association will hold their 16^th Annual Richie Ashburn Home Runs for Heart fundraiser on the field at Citizens Bank Park.  This incredible event ($400 per individual and $1,500 per team of four) is a must-do for any baseball fan, allows participants the opportunity to swing at ten pitches from  home plate, win prizes—and bragging rights—for best hitting performances, and shag fly balls in the outfield.  

Sure, the Phanatic bounces around, there are tours of the ballpark and the Phillies ball girls will be there, but this is about hitting and fielding where the big boys hit and field. This is the dream of every one of you who, like me, keeps a baseball glove in your car.

And those people you’ll be helping? Those aren’t faceless, nameless statistics. They aren’t even the overweight, middle-aged guys you’re thinking of when you think of heart attacks. It’s a guy like Derek Fitzgerald, a local guy I had the pleasure of learning about last Wednesday at this year’s Media Day who was active and healthy and still needed a heart transplant when he was 30 years old due to a heart condition. And thanks to the procedures and care made possible by the American Heart Association, he’s running road races and gearing up for an Iron Man competition this fall.  When we help guys like Derek, we’re helping ourselves.

Take it from me, hitting and fielding in major league ballpark is every bit as great as you always thought it would be. I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in Home Runs for Heart’s Media Day for several years now and stepping between those chalk lines never fails to overwhelm me. Back in 2008, which seems like a lifetime ago, I was named “Best Hitting Print Journalist” in Philly. Even though I haven’t had a sniff of that title since, I still clear my schedule a year in advance to hear my name announced over the PA system, to knock a few balls into left field, and to trot on that spongy, perfect outfield grass and feel a fly ball pop into my glove.

So come out to the Richie Ashburn Home Runs for Heart fundraiser. Better yet, put a team of your buddies together and have the time of your life.

You’ll be adding time to the life of others like Derek.

Oh, and don’t worry about that line about your lumber meeting leather with a crack. The ting of aluminum is acceptable as well.

Details: To learn more or to sign up, go to heart.org/phillywalk or call 215-575-5218.

*Your wedding day and the birth of your child/children are the greatest non-baseball things you’ll ever experience of course. Hi darling!

(This story also ran in the Center City Weekly Press.)

Bernard Hopkins is Ageless. I am not.

Without reaching into the dark, undusted corners of my study to pull out the copies of old newspapers and magazines that serve as  a constantly yellowing, deteriorating record of my career as a writer, it’s tough for me to remember when exactly I first met Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins. It had to be around 2000 or so.

But I’ll never forget it.

I was on assignment at the Legendary Blue Horizon on North Broad, covering fights on a Friday night (it would become the first of many, many Friday nights spent at the press table in that dingy, wonderful building) but really writing about the experience itself.

And in the middle of the card, as one palooka was chasing another around the ring, Hopkins walked to ringside and sat down. Shortly (it’s always shortly after showing up) he decided to speak. Into the ring he went. Towards the mic he stepped. I have no idea what he said, but the crowd cheered, his trademark “executioner  X” was made with his arms, and back to his seat he went.

I figured I’d take a shot and try to get a quote or two from him about his own experience fighting in the Blue Horizon.  I politely introduced myself and true to form, he had plenty to say. As I recall, he talked about some of the great fighters that had proven themselves there—himself included—and he talked about how he had left his own DNA in the form of blood and sweat all over the ring and the room itself.

I’ve liked him ever since. And I openly, vocally root for him. Well, more openly I suppose when I’m watching him fight as a spectator (like on December 13, 2003 when he beat William Joppy in Atlantic City and I was there with a buddy as a birthday present) than as a reporter (like October 18, 2008 when he destroyed Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City and I was there covering it for the Weekly Press). But even then I’m sure I clapped a little. I know I probably threw some imaginary jabs every now and then when he did.

That said, you’ll now have no trouble picturing me sitting in front of my television this past Sunday morning cheering as I watched B-Hop, who is 48 years old,  tempt fate on more time and step into the ring to face Tavoris Cloud, a man in his 20s, and end up walking away with the IBF Light Heavyweight title by unanimous decision.

You read that correctly. I watched it Sunday afternoon. Unlike Hopkins, who has somehow managed to stay young and healthy despite participating in a sport known for ruining men, I have aged dramatically since our first meeting. Now in my 30’s, a day of running errands, bouncing my 3-month old son on my knee here and there throughout the day and attending a fundraiser where I was required to do nothing more than eat and drink till 9:00 p.m. left me too exhausted to stay up for the fight. I watched the HBO rebroadcast Sunday morning.

But all is not lost. I was able to hold my son in my arms without putting him down for all 12 rounds.

I was sitting down of course, but still...

PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON AUDUBON SOCIETY-OUTWARD BOUND® PROPOSAL

Press Release from the Mayor's Office:

The Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Commission (PaRC) is inviting public input on a proposal by the National Audubon Society, an international non-profit conservation organization, and Outward Bound Philadelphia, an affiliate of the national Outward Bound organization, to build an educational center for conservation and leadership development on the banks of the East Park Reservoir next to the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

In compliance with the Open Lands Protection Ordinance, (Bill NO. 110002-A, signed by Mayor Michael A.  Nutter on April 27, 2011) PaRC is conducting a review of the proposal with opportunity for the public to comment. “Comments from anyone who has an interest in this project are vital to our review process and we look forward to hearing from the residents of the entire region about the proposal,” says Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman, Nancy Goldenberg.

PaRC is providing a number of ways for the public to review and comment on the proposal: in addition to providing comments directly via email, regular mail and the website (listed below), PaRC is inviting the public to comment on the proposal at its regularly scheduled meeting on February 27, 2013 at 6:00PM in the Mander Recreation Center, 2140 North 33rd Street.

Following review and public comment, the Commission must render a determination on the proposed project. The ordinance states “City Council and all other City officials shall give substantial weight to the Commission’s determination.”

The Audubon/Outward Bound partnership is proposing to develop the 37 acres surrounding a man-made lake that was once part of Philadelphia’s water supply system. The elevated site, which runs along 33^rd street in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, is closed to the public and largely hidden from view by chain link fencing and dense vegetation.

Outward Bound Philadelphia is plans to use the new facility as its headquarters. Audubon expects to establish a hub for research and science-based conservation projects and programs in the Philadelphia region.  The Audubon/Outward Bound Alternatives Analysis contains detailed plans for the project, including environmental and traffic impact.

View the Alternatives Analysis submitted by the National Audubon Society and Outward Bound Philadelphia on the Parks and Recreation Department Web page. The Link to the full PDF is posted in Announcements.  http://www.phila.gov/ParksandRecreation/aboutus/parc/Pages/default.aspx

To read and post online comments about the Audubon/Outward Bound proposal, visit:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/122087980/Audubon-Outward-Bound-Leadership-and-Conservation-Center-Alternatives-Analysis

Those wishing to submit written comments may send them to PaRC via email at: parksandreccommiss@phila.gov 

MAYOR NUTTER ANNOUNCES FIRST ANNUAL MAYOR’S AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED NATIONAL SERVICE

Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the first annual Mayor’s Award for Distinguished National Service to recognize the outstanding contributions of a current AmeriCorps member, a current Senior Corps member and a National Service alumnus living in Philadelphia.

“National service is vital to the success of our city,” said Mayor Nutter. “AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members provide a cost-effective resource for stemming the drop-out crisis, engaging at-risk youth, enhancing environmental sustainability, catalyzing community revitalization, and much more.  Further, the significant contributions of National Service alumni are felt across our great city as AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members transition into important roles in their communities and the workplace.  Together, they are essential to what makes Philadelphia great.  I am proud to establish an award that will recognize the critical contributions of these important individuals for years to come.”

Each of the three award winners will receive four free tickets to a Phillies game in the Mayor’s Box and will have their names engraved on a plaque to be placed in or around City Hall.  The top four finalists in each category will be invited to join the winners at a Professional Networking Luncheon in May, sponsored by Comcast and hosted by Richard Negrin, Deputy Mayor of Administration and Coordination, and Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia.

“AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members make an intensive commitment to service, and our cities and our nation are much better off because of their dedication and sacrifice,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.  “I salute Mayor Nutter for creating this new award to recognize the contributions of outstanding service leaders.  We hope this award will inspire others to follow their own path of service.”

Nominations will be accepted until Friday, March 15, 2013 and the winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 during an awards ceremony at City Hall to mark the first annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service.  Anyone may submit one or more nominations, including current and former national service members, program staff, board members and the general public.  Self-nominations will also be accepted.  A committee of the Mayor’s Executive Team will identify the top nominees in each category and present them to the Mayor for final selection. 

Further information, including the nomination form, is available at www.SERVEPhiladelphia.com. In addition, a paper nomination can be picked up and submitted to the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service, Room 112 of City Hall.

Former School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman dead at 66

Former School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman died today of pancreatic cancer. She was 66 years old.

Today, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter made the following statement on Ackerman's passing:

“Arlene Ackerman was a truly committed educator who demonstrated a profound passion for students and in particular the most disadvantaged students in our city. Through her leadership, Philadelphia took on the difficult, long-neglected task of turning around low-performing schools. Today, thousands of Philadelphia students are getting a better education thanks to her vision and advocacy. Her educational legacy will live on for many years through the initiatives that she championed. Our prayers are with her family and friends.”

If you can recall any innovations she made to help Philly kids receive a quality education in a building that wasn't falling apart in a safe environment, you're better than most Philadelphians, Mayor Nutter.

What I remember is Ackerman was fired in 2011 and when she was let go, she collected a buyout of close to 1-million dollars.

Then, she applied for unemployment.

I also seem to remember that she used tax dollars to run a school district communications department that was completely devoted to building and protecting her image as some kind of beloved leader with insight and  knowledge. She had this communications team organize rallies in her favor...even going so far as to make up signs for "supporters" to bob up and down at these rallies.

Now, while I'm sorry to hear of anybody's death, especially from such a painful disease as pancreatic cancer, I'm not going to re-write history. Mayor Nutter has to be respectful, but the rest of us don't have to play nice.

"...demonstrated a profound passion for students and in particular the most disadvantaged students in our city." Really? How does taking a giant buyout for incompetence and then applying to take more money that could be used helping those disadvantaged students profoundly passionate?

Cole & Heidi Hamels Named Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Humanitarians of the Year

Photo provided by the Hamels Foundation

Twenty-four inches long by six inches wide. That’s the length and width of the rubber on a major league pitchers’ mound. And from this small space, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels can do great things. With his left foot pushing off that small rectangle during his delivery, he can be the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 World Series, baffling the lineup of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Or he can be the shining gem of this past, otherwise dismal, Phillies season, winning a career high 17 games and striking out 216 batters.

But the great things Hamels does from this tiny space have an impact felt far beyond the sixty feet, six inches—the distance from the rubber to home plate—where his foes face him. The impact doesn’t end there with the thump his fastball makes in a catcher’s mitt. It reaches the schools of Philadelphia and Malawi, Africa and the playgrounds of Turkmenistan and beyond.

Hamels, along with his wife, Heidi, have used the notoriety and money that have come from his pitching success to start the Hamels Foundation, a charity devoted to enriching the lives of children and giving them the tools to achieve their goals.

And for this, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association (PSWA)—the oldest organization of its kind in the United States, and of which I am a member—have named the Hamels their 2013 Humanitarians of the Year. 

The Hamels will be recognized at the PSWA 109^th Annual Awards Dinner January 28 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

According to Hamels Foundation Director of Operations, GN Kang, the Hamels Foundation, created in 2008, has donated over $660,000 to over 20 Philadelphia public schools. (You may have heard how the School District of Philadelphia has recently proposed closing three schools that have received over $400,000 worth of playground and library equipment donated by the Hamels Foundation.) They will also have donated-- by the end of this year-- over 1.8 million dollars to improve education worldwide, including the building of a school in Malawi, Africa, a country where HIV/AIDS have left a million children orphaned an living in extreme poverty. The school is expected to be finished in 2015. 

Along with tending to the education of children worldwide, the Hamels Foundation is also devoted to helping children…well…enjoy childhood. In Turkmenistan (formerly part of the Soviet Union) the Hamels Foundation has donated to a Peace Corps volunteer who had written to them enough equipment and uniforms for two whole youth baseball teams for both boys and girls.

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to attend decent schools and live healthy lives can only imagine the good the Hamels and the Hamels Foundation are doing for the tiny minds and hearts of schoolchildren everywhere they have touched.

But it shouldn’t be hard to imagine that the good is coming from Cole Hamels and his team. After all, he’s used to doing great things in small places.

*To learn more about the Hamels Foundation, visit TheHamelsFoundation.org. To learn more about the 109^th Annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Dinner January 28-including a list of this year’s award winners and ticket information (tix are $95.00), visit PSWADinner.com.

* Here's a list of athletes/sports people who will be there:

Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels centerfielder

Larry Bowa former Phillis shortstop and manager

Todd Herremans Eagles offensive lineman

Carli Llyod Women's US Olympic Soccer team

Heather Mitts Women's U.S. Olympic Soccer team

Charlie Manuel  Phillies Manager

Jimmy Rollins Phillies Shortstop

Speedy Morris college/high school basketball coaching legend

Danny Garcia Boxing champ

Ruben Amaro Jr. GM of the Phillies

Tommy Green  Former Phillie

Elena Delle Donne University of Delaware basketball

Keenan Reynolds Annapolis (Navy) quarterback MVP of Army/Navy game
Ed Snider Chairman of Comcast Spectacor which owns the Flyers