RIP Larry Allison, Conservative Analyst and 9/11 Victim, New York City
So, who was Larry Allison? Larry was a conservative writer and talk show host who has contributed dozens of essays to our blog for the last eight years. He was a victim of 9/11 but he refused to let that define him. On that infamous day, Larry was flying back from Washington and missed the Pentagon attack by 15 minutes. The horrible World Trade Center disaster awaited him when he arrived back in NYC. As a member of Rudy Guiliani's administration, he volunteered to help as soon as access to the site was allowed. The dust, the body parts, the jet fuel and god knows what else in the air was absorbed into workers' skin and lungs. Thousands got sick, and Larry was one of the worst.
When he got sick, he was officially recognized as a 9/11 victim, so his medical treatment was always taken care of by the City. He also had a car and driver to ferry him around as he became increasingly immobile. His damaged lungs, the ensuing leukemia and all the medicine he had to take, caused him to gain too much weight, which slowed him down even more. His life saving treatment consisted of monthly chemotherapy and blood transfusions. This past summer I spent four days with him in the Bronx and his spirit never wavered. He would talk your ear off, and you loved listening to him. The treatment finally stopped working.
Larry was also an unabashed Catholic and supporter of Israel and everything Jewish. His jewishness probably came from the three Jewish wives he married and divorced. (he obviously loved Jewish women.) One day we were talking and he said he was very tired of being alone. He said a friend had recommended an international web site for people like himself, so he put forth his information. It took a couple of months before he received any inquiries, and he got two. One was from a Russian tractor driver and the other was from a young grandmother in the Philippines. In the end he visited the beautiful lady from the Philippines and she became his loving wife and soulmate. He was never happier than when he was with her.
Besides being a voracious writer, Larry and his very good friend Frank Vernuccio hosted a conservative talk show on WXOX in the City. Although they mostly concentrated on New York issues, they also gave conservative voices to international politics.
And lastly Larry was a friend, my oldest friend since we were 5 years old. We grew up together along with our other friends back in Corning, NY. When James Dean's movie Rebel Without a Cause was having it's way with young teenagers, we bought identical jackets and started a street gang, the Rebels. Our biggest claim to fame was when we rolled a truck tire through the back door of a bar, and watched it roll all the way to the front door. We hid behind the big stone eagle at the Eagles Club to see what would happen. Sadly, nothing.
Larry has left behind twin brothers whom he was very proud of, two daughters, many cousins, nephews and nieces, too many close friends to count, and his wife Jocelyn. He will be sorely missed by all of us. He went too soon. He had so much more to do, to say and to write. God Bless his soul.
Good bye old friend. The tears will stop.
