September 5, 2025 • 39 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Only 37% of U.S. employees strongly agree they are treated with respect at work - a record-low level, according to Gallup. Here’s 5 ways to get more respect at work…
Guest: Marcy Syms, social entrepreneur, former chair, & CEO of Syms Corp., philanthropist, and author of Leading with Respect: Adventures of an Off-Price Fashion Pioneer
Winter Weather Forecast from The Old Farmer's Almanac!
Guest: Sarah Perreault – Managing Editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac
78-year-old defies the odds, becomes oldest police rookie in California history!
Guest: John Myers – the 78-year-old police rookie & a Law Professor at UC Law San Francisco.
The Angel Fund for ALS Research ALS will be hosting the Walk of Hope for ALS - TOMORROW, September 6th at Wakefield Lower Common in Wakefield.
Guest: Ann Hadley with the Angel Fund
Only 37% of U.S. employees strongly agree they are treated with respect at work - a record-low level, according to Gallup. Here’s 5 ways to get more respect at work…
Guest: Marcy Syms, social entrepreneur, former chair, & CEO of Syms Corp., philanthropist, and author of Leading with Respect: Adventures of an Off-Price Fashion Pioneer
Winter Weather Forecast from The Old Farmer's Almanac!
Guest: Sarah Perreault – Managing Editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac
78-year-old defies the odds, becomes oldest police rookie in California history!
Guest: John Myers – the 78-year-old police rookie & a Law Professor at UC Law San Francisco.
The Angel Fund for ALS Research ALS will be hosting the Walk of Hope for ALS - TOMORROW, September 6th at Wakefield Lower Common in Wakefield.
Guest: Ann Hadley with the Angel Fund
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night's Eyes with Dan Ray. I'm telling Mazy Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Well, tgif it is Friday night. Now, I was off
Monday night, so this is only my fourth night working,
but this week has seemed like a month. So I
say with all of you, tgif that God it's Friday,
and four hours from now, I will take you all
(00:28):
the way till Saturday morning. I'm looking at some of
my laptop computer problems here, which is going to complicate
things just a little bit, but we'll get through it
as we as we somehow always do here on Nightside.
And we have four interesting guests lined up here during
(00:48):
the first hour, no phone calls, as you know, that's
the rules of Nightside. My name is Dan Ray. I'm
the host of Nightside, so I get to set the rules.
Rob Brooks, my great producer, is back in the control
room and he is going to be of great assistance
to me tonight, more than perhaps he's ever been before.
But we're going to talk about people in America I'm
(01:12):
not feeling respected at their jobs. We're also going to
talk about the winter weather forecast with a representative of
the old Farmer's Almanac. We're also going to talk with
the oldest newest police rookie in California history, a seventy
eight year old police rookie who also was a law
professor or is still a law professor. And we'll talk
(01:33):
about a big event tomorrow up in Wakefield to benefit
ALS research. But first let us welcome a name that
should be very familiar to most people in New England,
Marcy Simms. Marcy Simms, Welcome to Night's Side. How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I'm just delighted to be here. I'm a big fan
of Boston and recently finished a program up at Harvard
for the Advanced Leadership Initiative. Finding myself back in Massachusetts
one way or another.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, in truth, it's not a bad place to be
to be back here.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Oh sure, I love it.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
How long were you out of Massachusetts? It seems like
I'm always seeing you, or at least remember you from
being on television.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yes, well, for many years. I went to graduate school
at Boston University. And then years later, when I was
working with my dad and we were growing the family business,
I wanted very much for Sims to open a store
in Boston, and we did. We opened two stores and
(02:39):
one day in nineteen eighty two, and one in Peeberty
and one in Norwood. Later we opened a large store
on Summer Street downtown. But yeah, that and we started
advertising in nineteen eighty two, so you had seen I
(03:00):
face there for a long time between nineteen eighty two
and twenty twelve when we close the retail stores.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Wow, that's a pretty good run. That is a pretty
good run. Now you have written a book called Leading
with Respect. But what we're going to talk about initially
is I guess a recent Gallup pole which found that
nearly forty percent of people who work in America somehow
(03:33):
feel that they're treated with respect. That sounds good, but
that means about sixty percent three and five don't feel
respected at work. What is going on?
Speaker 3 (03:43):
That's right? I think that we've lost modeling respect and
that of course must start at the top. Every culture
that is developed or reinvented needs to use respect, meaning
you're just seen. You feel as a person, you feel
(04:07):
that you are seen, you are relevant and being relevant
and being seen you feel respected and respect equals trust.
We have a lot of distrust between management and worker.
We have a lot of distrust with people of authority
(04:28):
right now, and how do we make sure that within
the areas that we have some control over what kind
of culture we're operating in every day? How can we
impact that culture to make sure that respect is part
of that experience? And most whether it's in your workplace,
(04:48):
or your family or your friendships, you model the behavior
of respect yourself as a leader. It's really important because
you set the tone. If respect, empathy, and fairness aren't
modeled consistently, they will not be followed. It will not
be part of your culture. So if you want respect,
(05:11):
you have to be able to know how to model it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well. You know, it's interesting. It seems to me that
any company, well for that matter, any organization, respect has
to go start at the top. I mean, I think
about sports teams, and I think about the most successful
sport teams, and then you think about the least successful
(05:35):
sport teams. And you know, in Boston, I think Alex Korra,
the Red Sox manager, demands and receives a lot of
respect from his players. I think that the players know
that he has his back, and you don't hear a
lot of chirping or gossip out of the Red Sox
clubhouse because I think it starts with Alex Cora. I
(05:58):
can't say that about every baseball team or every sports team,
but that's the metaphor that I always look at. How
far wrong am I on that by looking at sports?
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Now? I think you absolutely hit it. I mean, there
is an expression in management studies called servant leadership. Right,
this expression, what does it actually mean to be a
servant leader? It means that you clean your roadblocks instead
of create hurdles. For those people you're leading, You understand
(06:32):
their needs, their desires, and most of all, you create
an environment where they can be successful. They are appreciated,
they are encouraged to collaborate with each other, they are
encouraged to be themselves, and they are encouraged to share
(06:56):
problems when they have them. I think you perfectly nailed
what a good manager looks like, and that good man
that he's really got to be there for everyone he's managing.
He's got to be a person they feel they can
call at four am or four pm with whatever, and
that he is available to them and any situation will
(07:20):
be treated with respect and they will be regarded as individuals,
separate individuals.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So where do we go wrong as a culture here?
Something must have happened in the corporate culture if only
forty percent of the people who work in this country
feel respected, Yes, it has to have been some moment
in time or some development that occurred. Is there anything
(07:50):
that you can't pinch?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I think there have been several things. I mean, one
of the images that I first kind of zeroed in
on with that moment in Wall Street when Michael Douglas
stood up and said, greed is good, right, and nothing
could be further than truth. I mean, I grew up
as anyone who learned about the seven Deadly sins. You
(08:17):
know you have slaw, right, you have slaws. One of
those sins is greed. That that is a sin, It
is not a good thing. But I remember that as
undermining the very fabric of the covenant between the creator
of a wealth or product and the end user. If
(08:39):
your only motivation is greed, how can I trust that
what you are trying to sell me or what you
sell me is going to be good? And I think
so that was one of the first things. Then, of course,
I think we also had a disruption in the covenant
(09:00):
between the company, the employer and the employee when we
started really systematically undermining unions. Now there, I'm sure there
are a lot of people listening to this that talk
about or might feel strongly that unions undermine capitalism and
(09:21):
we can't be competitive with unions. Now SIMS is no
longer in business, but we operated as a union company
for our entire existence. We had four unions, and let
me tell you, it was a great culture. We could
people never left. And again, I.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Think that I have to agree with you. I think
that there's a compliment between, you know, the unions and
the organization or the workforce if it's you know, there's
a workforce for example at market Basket, which is very happy.
I'm not sure if they're a union organization or not,
but if the unionization makes the employees feel a lot
the more secure, feel a little bit better about their jobs,
(10:02):
obviously all sorts of all sorts of good things flow
from that. So Marci, let me ask you. We could
talk all night about this, but I'd rather find out.
How can people get your book? Is it still available?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Oh my gosh, it just came out.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I mean it. I don't want to make an assumption,
so it does.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
It was just released. So we have leading with respect
Adventures have an off price fashion pioneer, and i'm presently
the president of the Sison Foundation. The ForWord was written
by my friend Christy Hefner, who did a wonderful job.
You probably know the Heffner name from Playboy.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I used to read all the articles.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I'm sure you did.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So anyone on that note, I gotta let you go
because I have another guest lined up, but leading with
respect by Marcy Simms available. I'm sure Amazon and everywhere
find books.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Are sold, but please go to your local bookstore and
ask for it because we want to make sure they
stay in business.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Absolutely nothing like a brick and mortar bookstore, no doubt.
Thanks very much, Marcy.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Simms, leave my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Thanks talkin. Thank you very very much. Well we get back.
We're going to talk about something that everyone knows about,
but it's a little mysterious, and that is the Old
Farmer's Almanac. Back on Nightside on this Friday night, we're
heading a Saturday morning right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
It's Nightside Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
All right, well, summer has just ended. I think all
of us know that winter isn't quite here yet, but
we have to be thinking about winter because as fall
follows summer, winter follows fall, and whenever you want to
talk about a long range winter weather forecast, you have
(12:05):
to be thinking about the old Farmer's Almanac. Sarah Parole, Sarah,
I hope I pronounced that name. There was a great
hockey player named g Parole.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
I've been called many things, and what you said was
just fine perfect.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So what the question, of course, is what sort of
a winter do you think we're looking at here in
New England.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Well, I'm in neighboring New Hampshire. So we're going to
have the same forecast for this winter, which is expected
to be above normal temperatures. We're certainly going to have
cold periods throughout December and then also in early January.
Snowfall is going to be below normal, which certainly doesn't
mean no snow, just not up to our normal standards.
(12:49):
But we'll have some snowy periods in early in mid
December and again in early in February, and the flakes
are going to fly early in northern New England starting
in November.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Sounds to me like a pretty normal New England winter.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Yeah, it's as of late. Yes, it's not bitter cold,
it's not five thousand inches of snow. You know, it's
kind of average temperatures, an average snow, nothing much to
write about.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Okay, And I know enough about the Elminos and things
like that. What's are we are we is how much
of an impact is that having the is we have
an Elmino or an El Nina?
Speaker 5 (13:37):
It's a week to neutral el Nino, which is the
reason we're having above average temperatures a week.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Okay. So when you say above average, uh, it's going
to be it's going to be winter, but there will
be a little warmer in December, January and February overall.
Is that? Is that what you mean by that?
Speaker 5 (13:58):
Exactly? In New England we know that quote unquote normal
could be thirty degrees. I mean, you know we're used
to very cold winters. So if we say above normal temperatures,
that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to be in our
flip flops and our shorts. It just means, you know,
it might be thirty five degrees on average.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And do we expect any big big storms? Again? I
know that. How do you go? Let me ask you,
how do you come up with this calculation? I mean
some people could say, well they could just kind of
write this down and it's kind of like throwing darts
at the wall. Is there a science to this or
is it? So? Do you have some old New Englanders
(14:36):
who you have a conference with sometime in July and
figure it all out? How do you do it? How
do you put the the old farmers Almanac together?
Speaker 5 (14:44):
Well, I can tell you we're not out in the
parking lot looking at the wooly bear caterpillars trying to
figure out what's happening. We are actually using science to
make our forecasts. And it's basically the same formula that
was devised by our founder, Robert P. Thomas, Massachusetts native,
back in seventeen ninety two. And it's based on solar science,
which is the study of sun spots and solar activity,
(15:07):
climatology which is the study of prevailing weather patterns over
a certain amount of time, and then meteorology, which is
the study of the atmosphere. So we're using natural cycles,
and of course it's not seventeen ninety two anymore. So
we're also able to use modern scientific calculations to help
improve our forecast.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
So how big it is? And again I don't get
a chance to talk to folks from organizations institutions that
I've heard about all my life. How big a group
do you have? I mean, I see the old Farmer's
Almanac at the store and you sometimes you buy it.
How big a crew do you have that still works
(15:47):
on this? And where are you located? I mean, are
you in New Hampshire? Because that's where where your headquarters are.
It's been a mystery to me and I'm trying to
get a couple of questions clarified in my mind.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Sure, absolutely, we're in Dublin, New Hampshire. I probably have
the longest commute because I live in golf Town, but
everybody else really lives in the Manadnock region, which is
not too far from the Massachusetts border.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh. I know exactly where the manad Knock region is,
John Ken right as a child here in New England,
I would listen to Don Ken talk about the manad
Knock region. So you have how big a staff?
Speaker 5 (16:23):
These days? I think people are surprised to learn that
we've got an editorial staff of six and we have
one art director. Our production department is only comprised of
about three people, so it's a pretty small staff putting
out a very large book.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And is that staff do you work year round or
do you get a break during the late spring. I
assume it's all sick. When does the farmers the Old
Farmer's Almanac hit the stores and the bookstores that when
does it publish?
Speaker 5 (16:56):
The book end up at the stores Right around the
end of August, beginning of September, So right now, right now, yeah,
and no, we don't get a break. We have actually
more than the Old Farms Almanac. We also have the
Old Farms Almanac for Kids, which is brand new this year,
volume eleven. It comes out every other year, so volume
eleven is available right now. In the spring, we produce
(17:18):
a Garden Guide which is for amateur gardeners experienced gardeners
with tips and inspiration. We have a variety of wall
calendars and a planner handbooks for vegetable gardeners and container gardeners.
We're a very busy, small crew, and.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I ask questions that probably sometimes you're inappropriate. Is the
Old Farmer's Almanac a publicly traded company or is it
a small privately owned company.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
We are an ESOP, so we're employee owned on employee
owned company.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Oh that's great. And most of your employees have been
there for many, many years.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
I assume, Oh that is true. I mean during the holidays,
we have a little party and we do service awards
where you get recognized for how long you've been there.
And the longest award I've ever seen was we celebrated
someone who had been there for fifty years.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
That's a pretty good run, I think.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
I'm only on year twenty two, but I'm hoping for fifty.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Well, you're the managing editor. How did you come to this?
You didn't go to college and have a major in
the Old Farmer's Almanac. There must have been a moment
in time when whatever career you were pursuing, the opportunity
presented itself.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
Yeah, it was really good timing. I grew up loving
to read, loving to write, knowing I wanted to work
in publishing at a really young age, and I just
happened to be at a job that I was rather
unhappy at, and the Old Farmer's Almanac was advertising for
an assistant editor, and I thought, I love the Almanac.
It's been in my house my entire life. I'm going
(18:57):
to try, even though, as I told you, I have
the longest commute out of anybody, because I didn't move.
So I applied twenty two years ago and have climbed
up the ranks and I am now probably the managing editor.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You are the managing editor. I can confirm that for you.
And the reason I can confirm that for you is
it says right here on my screen that Sarah Parole
is the managing editor the Old Farmer's Almanac. And I'm
delighted to have met you tonight and learn a little
bit more about The Old Farmer's Almanac, which is now
available the twenty and twenty six edition. And it sounds
to me like it's gonna be a pretty decent winter
(19:35):
this winter here in New England. We're going to have
the cold, we're going to have a little bit of snow,
and then eventually spring will come. So thanks for setting
my mind at ease, and maybe setting the mind to
someone my listeners at ease as well.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Thank you so much, Sarah, Absolutely my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
All right, pick up your copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac.
It's available pretty much anywhere you'll see it. I guarantee
you at some point if you're in a store this weekend,
you will see the Old Farmer's Almanac, the addition twenty
twenty six. Back on Nightside, we are going to talk
right after the news with a seventy year young police rookie.
He's seventy eight, seventy eight years old, and he is
(20:16):
he's a law professor, but he is now also going
to be a police officer. This is kind of an
amazing story. I'll introduce you to John Myers right after
the news at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on wb Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Well, we get to inter view a lot of interesting
people here on Nightside, but we're going to talk now
with John Myers. He is a seventy eight year old
police rookie, but more importantly, he's been a lawyer almost
as long as I have been a lawyer. I guess
you've been a lawyer since nineteen seventy three, John, is
that correct?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Seventy seven?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Seventy seven? Okay, Well I got you beat by a
couple of years. Then, okay, that's fine. I'll give you that.
But you have also been a law school professor, and
currently you teach at what we all knew back in
the day as the University of California Law School at Hastings.
That's a very distinguished law school. My friend, you've had
a very interesting practice as a lawyer. You've had a
(21:20):
full career. What the heck makes a guy seventy eight
years old decide that he wants to join the police force.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
Well, I was only seventy six when I decided to
go to the policy capety.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Well, that changes the story. I don't know. Why don't
we interview with you then? Well, as you know, as
I'm sure you know, many police departments have age limitations.
So for example, you cannot apply to become a police officer, well,
a state police officer in Massachusetts, I think beyond the
age of thirty three. Now you are going to be
(21:55):
working at a college campus as a police officer.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
Correct, Well, I am working. I'm working at the University
of the Pacific as a reserve police officer, the institution
where I was a professor for thirty five years before
I went to Hastings. And tomorrow I start my first
shift at a regular police department in a little foothill
a little foothill city called i Own, California, where they
(22:20):
have given me the privilege of starting as a reserve
and I'm actually on with two police departments.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Now, well, I look, most seventy six year olds or
seventy eight year olds, I'm not thinking about starting a
second or a third career. There has to have been
something in the back of your mind that prompted you
to do this. I'd let to know what it was.
Speaker 6 (22:42):
Well, I'm not very smart, for one thing, but putting that,
putting that aside, you know, I just don't want to
grow up. I mean, as soon as I start acting
like a seventy eight year old, I'm afraid I'm going
to shrivel up and die. So I knew I was
really almost too old, if not old, to get through
the academy, given the physical demands of the academy, But
(23:03):
what the heck, it was a challenge. It was my
last chance to give it a go. So I did it.
I enjoyed every minute of it, and now I'm enjoying
being a public servant in a different way.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Now. I saw a picture of you as a professor,
and you look very professorial with the well tapered beard.
Are you able to wear your beard as a police
officer or do you have to be clean shaven?
Speaker 6 (23:30):
I had to be clean shaven during the academy, and
I looked even older without a beard, so as quickly
as I was permitted to, I grew it back. Still
look really old, But yes, both of my departments let
me have a beard.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Okay, obviously intellectually you were, I'm sure at the top
of your class. Tell us about the physical requirements did
they did they have to cut you a brake on
you know how many pull ups or how many push
ups you could do in two minutes? Or did you
have to comply with all of the requirements, which, frankly,
in police academies can be pretty strenuous.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
No, there's no breaks for anybody just because of age,
whether you're young or old. So I had to get
over a six foot wall and run and do a
ninety ninety nine yards ninety nine yard obstacle course, just
like the other recruits. And if you don't do it,
you don't pass. And the driving was the same, the
shooting was the same. The physical demands are the same. No, No,
(24:27):
no accommodations. I wouldn't have wanted accommodations. If I couldn't
do it, I wouldn't I shouldn't be on the street No.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
No, was the wall a rope wall where at least
you had the the ability, Assuming you had the ability,
and I'm sure you did, to propel yourself over the wall,
do you have to?
Speaker 6 (24:46):
And you run, You run out to the wall, you jump,
you jump and grab the top. It's basically a pull up.
You pull yourself up. Yeah, and then you put a
leg over and get over the other. That wasn't that hard.
I mean, if you can do a pull up, you
can get over the wall. The the problem for me,
although I made it, was the speed with which you
have to do these activities, including a five hundred yard
(25:08):
basically foot pursuit. So I made it, though I certainly
was far from the fastest in my class, but that's
to be expected.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Okay, So let's I like numbers. Okay, I'm a lawyer
and a broadcaster, but I like numbers. So for those
who might have missed it because you're you went by
a little quickly. Five hundred yards is fifteen hundred feet,
That is almost a third of a mile, that is
(25:36):
five links of a football field.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
Well, I still run. I'm going running after we get
off the air here, Although you know I run like
a seventy eight year old man. So it's hard to
call it running, but I'm still running. I was lifting
weights before we got on the phone. I mean, because
if I run into a bad guy on the street,
I'm going to have to behave just like any other
police officers. So I've got to be in decent physical shape.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
What's you fire on a block nine million? Nine millimeters?
Speaker 6 (26:05):
Block nine? Yeah, it's a glock seventeen in both departments,
and it's so it's a nine millimeter Wow, and rifle
and a rifle and a shotgun.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Rifle and a shotgun. Wow. This is and you still
you are also still teaching law school? Correct?
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Yeah, I'm actually teaching at two law schools this semester,
one in Santa Clara and one in San Francisco. So
I'm kind of busy.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Unbelievable. I I stand and I'm sitting in my chair,
but by metaphorically stand in absolute admiration of what you've
been able to do. Uh again, irrespective of the age,
I mean, the ages is incredible. Uh. While you were
inlaw school, I'm just curious, what was your what what
(26:49):
field of law did you teach? Oh?
Speaker 6 (26:52):
I teach criminal law. I teach criminal procedure, evidence, family
and family law. So those are my.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Of course the first three obviously you don't have to
you know what the Marinda warning is, and you know
allio versus MAP, and you you have all those cases.
I'm sure in in uh in the front of your mind. Uh.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
This is although it's very it's very interesting because I mean,
I've been a lawyer for ever and h and a
law professor forever, but being a being a cop is
it's a different it's a different take on the law.
So the learning curve is very steep. I mean, I
have some advantage from having been in the law for
so long, but now I'll tell you, learning those learning
those radio codes is driving me nuts.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Well, I think that as a law professor you'll be
able to learn the radio codes. I think it's always
interesting because obviously you see the other side of the coin.
As a lawyer, you're making sure that the prosecutor in
a case it goes to your basic lawyers basically force
or make sure that the state, the government, the prosecutor
(28:02):
complies and proves the interviews will not all the elements
of the crime, and make sure that the individual's rights
have been protected during the entire process. From a police
officer's point of view. Uh, you know, what they might
think is clearview really might not be clear view. If
if you get my drifts.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
Yeah, yeah, no, I do. I do understand what you're saying.
Although I think the parallels. You know, there are many
parallels between the two professions that prosecutors and cops and
defense defense lawyers. They all take their responsibilities seriously. I mean,
I wouldn't do this if I if I thought that
there was something disreputable about putting on the uniform.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Oh no, no, no, no. My brothers are retired and pretended.
So I agree with that. All I'm just saying is
that that sometimes the prosecutorial view of a set of circumstances,
what is probable cause? What? What? What is sufficient probable
cause to uh to do this or to do that?
And then of course that's tested in the court. So
you're gonna you're gonna know this from both sides, which
(29:07):
is an amazing capability that that you will bring to
the job. So John Myers, hats off. We salute you
here from uh from Boston, Massachusetts. Congratulations. I I hope
that there are those who will follow in your footsteps
because they're big footsteps, and I thank you for your
time tonight.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
Well, it was a pleasure, Thanks for the thanks for
the privilege of being on your show.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Well, maybe maybe we'll check in with you six months
from now and and see how you're doing. If I
make it through training, I'm sure you're gonna do just fine.
Trust me. Uh you know, uh you you you you
well deserve what you have accomplished. Thank you so much,
John Myers. All right, good night. Well you get back
(29:51):
on to talk about the a big event tomorrow up
at the Wakefield Lower Common in Wakefield. Uh, it is
a Walk of Hope for als the Angel Fund Als Research.
We'll be hosting this walk when we talk with Ian
Hadley with the Angel Fund right after this break here
on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on w BEAZ, Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Well, tomorrow there's a big event going on up in
Wakefield at the Wakefield Lower Common. It is an ALS
Walk for Hope walk of Hope, I should say with
us from the Angel Fund is Ian Hadley and welcome
back to Nightside. You've been with us before and I
guess this is an annual event every September and it
starts tomorrow and there's still opportunities for people to participate.
(30:38):
Let's cover the waterfront. How are you in?
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Good? Thank you, thanks for having me on, Dan, You're welcome. Well,
you're right. This is twenty fourth the annual Walk of
Hope for Als in Wakefield and we will have a
walkers walking around the lake and coming back to having
some great food and joining us together as we step
off at eleven o'clock.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Okay, so this is a three and a half mile walk.
Is there a shorter version as well? If people don't
feel they're up to a three and a.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Half mile walk, Oh, sure, they can walk as long
as they want. They can walk the whole lake if
they'd like to, or they could just walk a portion.
Some people just join us for the day and relax
and just join us in the day.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
So twenty fourth year. Over that period of time, how
much money has been raised for the research on lou
Garrig's disease, which is being done by doctor Robert Brown,
Junior at UMass Chan Medical School.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Well, we've raised millions of dollars. In twenty twenty four,
the inter of Fund donated seven hundred and fifty thousand
dollars to u mass Chan and the year before that
we did seven hundred and eleven. So in the past
two years, close to one point five million in March.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Obviously, a lot of these events, they start small and
they grow over the years. If you go back to
the first annual walk, how many people participated and how
many folks do you expect tomorrow?
Speaker 4 (32:16):
Well, in the beginning, of course, we always have to
build up steam. Probably we had a couple hundred walkers
way back when we're probably expecting five or six hundred
people tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
And there's no minimum donation that that's required. I know
a lot of people form teams and they try to
raise money as a team. If someone has never been
involved and would like to walk tomorrow, is there a
(32:49):
minimum that you hope for or you request.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
There is no minimum that we request. We do feel
that people will come and make donations. We do have
teams that are raising money online. You'd be able to
go to our website and join a team if you
like or support a team. You can walk as an individual.
We have many people that will come by themselves or
with a family member and walk the lake and just
(33:15):
take part in our day. We have a beautiful what
we call Faces of Als walkway where when we start
off the walk, the walkers walk through and we have
the faces of our ALS warriors as they walk through,
just let everyone know who we're walking for. And it's
for folks who have been diagnosed with ALS, that are
(33:37):
living with ALS in those of a past. So it's
just a beautiful day. We release stuves at eleven o'clock
in memory of our ALS warriors and those are living
this ALS, and this is a nice day for families
to come together and support ALS research.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Well, I don't know exactly what the weather forecast is
early tomorrow. I know that there's some storms that are
going to be going through in the afternoon. Have you
checked out the weather forecast in advance, I'm sure you have.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
We have. We've been watching it all week. So I
think we're going to get through. And we've been very lucky.
I think we have. Of all our twenty three years
in the past, we've only had one day of rain
and that was very light. So I'm looking at the
weather and I think it might start raining after we've finished.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
We've cut out there For a second, I didn't hear
you robbers talking in my ear? What did you say?
Twenty four years you've had one day of light rain.
You think that tomorrow you're going to be on the
right side of the of the storm clouds.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
Yes, we will, I think on the storm clouds are
going to be coming in late afternoon, so I think
we'll get through just fine.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
So the registration starts at what time.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Legis stations starts to nine. We'll have all plenty of
coffee and doughnuts for people to get ready to walk.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Right there. I mean, you don't even have to stop
the Duncan donuts. Go down and coffee and donuts by
the lake. That's a great way to start the day.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Okay, that's right, yep. And we'll have plenty of food
for folks to come back in, and we'll be welcoming
anyone that wants to come in and join us and
raise help us raise money for als research.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Are there any sponsors that you'd like to give them
some credit to. I'm looking at the teams and it
looks to me like you have dozens of teams that yea,
literally dozens of teams. I just didn't know if there's
any sponsors who were providing food sustenance for the walkers
if you wanted to give them a plug.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Well, and one of our main sponsors is one of
the founding directors of being the Fundnagra Pediten Lucas Law Firm,
and we will be having King's Bowl and Entertainment come
in with their delicious sliders. We have Wegmans, we have
Shawls and we have a lot of different smaller food
(36:05):
purchases that well, everything is complementary, So come on down, okay.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
And again, the thing that I want to emphasize is
that if you've never been at this event tomorrow, when
you live in the Wakefield area, it's easy to get to.
Parking pretty pretty good up.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
There, I assume parking is pretty good. Yeah, there's a
lot of side streets that people can park on, but
there's a lot of parking along the lake where people
can park and join us. And yes, it's pretty good, okay.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
And it starts at nine. And the thing that I
want to emphasize is that if you are not a
member of a team, or if you haven't pre registered,
you still can go. You can participate. Look, whatever a
walker wants to contribute, you don't have minimums that people
have to pay to participate, So that's no, we don't.
(37:02):
I think that's a that's a great way to handle it.
And this will be the twenty fourth year. I just
got to ask, this, is it always in September. I'm
just wondering if your first year was the year of
nine to eleven. I'm just trying to do the math
in my head here.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
Let's see twenty four. I think we yes, Well, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Well, okay, you haven't been with the walk from its inception,
then I assume.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Right, we always have the walk the Saturday after Labor Day.
Still we've had that for the past twenty four years,
so everyone seems to know.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
I tell you, if you take year twenty twenty five
and you're twenty four, twenty four from twenty five would
be one.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
So right that maybe four.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Might be nine to eleven. And again trying to remember,
maybe you you might have been just before it. You
might have had your first walk on September ninth, because yeah,
that's exactly I think what happened. I remember watching Mike
you'sen it come close to a perfect game at Fenway Park.
I think it was in early September second, and then
(38:18):
it wasn't that that Tuesday, but it then was the
Tuesday after of the eleventh. Well, okay, you can check
that one out. We can talk about it next year. Okay, thanks, Ann,
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
We will, all right, Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Little historical note that we may have just stumbled upon.
You never know, Ann Hadley, of the Great Walk for
the for Hope Walk of Hope for als tomorrow, September
sixth at the Wakefield Common. It's it's going to be
a great day in the morning, that's for sure. It
begins at the lower Common of the corner of Lake
(38:52):
Avenue in Church Street. When we get back right after
the news at the top of the hour, we will
begin with a conversation with a representative of the company
that has won the right to construct renovate about eighteen
service plazas, including eleven of the Massachusetts Turnpike. We will
(39:15):
get to that issue. We talked with a representative of
Global Partners. Global Partner, which did not win this competition.
They are appealing it, so it may continue to go on,
but we're going to get the other side of the story.
Right after the nine o'clock news
It's Night's Eyes with Dan Ray. I'm telling Mazy Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Well, tgif it is Friday night. Now, I was off
Monday night, so this is only my fourth night working,
but this week has seemed like a month. So I
say with all of you, tgif that God it's Friday,
and four hours from now, I will take you all
(00:28):
the way till Saturday morning. I'm looking at some of
my laptop computer problems here, which is going to complicate
things just a little bit, but we'll get through it
as we as we somehow always do here on Nightside.
And we have four interesting guests lined up here during
(00:48):
the first hour, no phone calls, as you know, that's
the rules of Nightside. My name is Dan Ray. I'm
the host of Nightside, so I get to set the rules.
Rob Brooks, my great producer, is back in the control
room and he is going to be of great assistance
to me tonight, more than perhaps he's ever been before.
But we're going to talk about people in America I'm
(01:12):
not feeling respected at their jobs. We're also going to
talk about the winter weather forecast with a representative of
the old Farmer's Almanac. We're also going to talk with
the oldest newest police rookie in California history, a seventy
eight year old police rookie who also was a law
professor or is still a law professor. And we'll talk
(01:33):
about a big event tomorrow up in Wakefield to benefit
ALS research. But first let us welcome a name that
should be very familiar to most people in New England,
Marcy Simms. Marcy Simms, Welcome to Night's Side. How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I'm just delighted to be here. I'm a big fan
of Boston and recently finished a program up at Harvard
for the Advanced Leadership Initiative. Finding myself back in Massachusetts
one way or another.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, in truth, it's not a bad place to be
to be back here.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Oh sure, I love it.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
How long were you out of Massachusetts? It seems like
I'm always seeing you, or at least remember you from
being on television.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yes, well, for many years. I went to graduate school
at Boston University. And then years later, when I was
working with my dad and we were growing the family business,
I wanted very much for Sims to open a store
in Boston, and we did. We opened two stores and
(02:39):
one day in nineteen eighty two, and one in Peeberty
and one in Norwood. Later we opened a large store
on Summer Street downtown. But yeah, that and we started
advertising in nineteen eighty two, so you had seen I
(03:00):
face there for a long time between nineteen eighty two
and twenty twelve when we close the retail stores.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Wow, that's a pretty good run. That is a pretty
good run. Now you have written a book called Leading
with Respect. But what we're going to talk about initially
is I guess a recent Gallup pole which found that
nearly forty percent of people who work in America somehow
(03:33):
feel that they're treated with respect. That sounds good, but
that means about sixty percent three and five don't feel
respected at work. What is going on?
Speaker 3 (03:43):
That's right? I think that we've lost modeling respect and
that of course must start at the top. Every culture
that is developed or reinvented needs to use respect, meaning
you're just seen. You feel as a person, you feel
(04:07):
that you are seen, you are relevant and being relevant
and being seen you feel respected and respect equals trust.
We have a lot of distrust between management and worker.
We have a lot of distrust with people of authority
(04:28):
right now, and how do we make sure that within
the areas that we have some control over what kind
of culture we're operating in every day? How can we
impact that culture to make sure that respect is part
of that experience? And most whether it's in your workplace,
(04:48):
or your family or your friendships, you model the behavior
of respect yourself as a leader. It's really important because
you set the tone. If respect, empathy, and fairness aren't
modeled consistently, they will not be followed. It will not
be part of your culture. So if you want respect,
(05:11):
you have to be able to know how to model it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well. You know, it's interesting. It seems to me that
any company, well for that matter, any organization, respect has
to go start at the top. I mean, I think
about sports teams, and I think about the most successful
sport teams, and then you think about the least successful
(05:35):
sport teams. And you know, in Boston, I think Alex Korra,
the Red Sox manager, demands and receives a lot of
respect from his players. I think that the players know
that he has his back, and you don't hear a
lot of chirping or gossip out of the Red Sox
clubhouse because I think it starts with Alex Cora. I
(05:58):
can't say that about every baseball team or every sports team,
but that's the metaphor that I always look at. How
far wrong am I on that by looking at sports?
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Now? I think you absolutely hit it. I mean, there
is an expression in management studies called servant leadership. Right,
this expression, what does it actually mean to be a
servant leader? It means that you clean your roadblocks instead
of create hurdles. For those people you're leading, You understand
(06:32):
their needs, their desires, and most of all, you create
an environment where they can be successful. They are appreciated,
they are encouraged to collaborate with each other, they are
encouraged to be themselves, and they are encouraged to share
(06:56):
problems when they have them. I think you perfectly nailed
what a good manager looks like, and that good man
that he's really got to be there for everyone he's managing.
He's got to be a person they feel they can
call at four am or four pm with whatever, and
that he is available to them and any situation will
(07:20):
be treated with respect and they will be regarded as individuals,
separate individuals.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So where do we go wrong as a culture here?
Something must have happened in the corporate culture if only
forty percent of the people who work in this country
feel respected, Yes, it has to have been some moment
in time or some development that occurred. Is there anything
(07:50):
that you can't pinch?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I think there have been several things. I mean, one
of the images that I first kind of zeroed in
on with that moment in Wall Street when Michael Douglas
stood up and said, greed is good, right, and nothing
could be further than truth. I mean, I grew up
as anyone who learned about the seven Deadly sins. You
(08:17):
know you have slaw, right, you have slaws. One of
those sins is greed. That that is a sin, It
is not a good thing. But I remember that as
undermining the very fabric of the covenant between the creator
of a wealth or product and the end user. If
(08:39):
your only motivation is greed, how can I trust that
what you are trying to sell me or what you
sell me is going to be good? And I think
so that was one of the first things. Then, of course,
I think we also had a disruption in the covenant
(09:00):
between the company, the employer and the employee when we
started really systematically undermining unions. Now there, I'm sure there
are a lot of people listening to this that talk
about or might feel strongly that unions undermine capitalism and
(09:21):
we can't be competitive with unions. Now SIMS is no
longer in business, but we operated as a union company
for our entire existence. We had four unions, and let
me tell you, it was a great culture. We could
people never left. And again, I.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Think that I have to agree with you. I think
that there's a compliment between, you know, the unions and
the organization or the workforce if it's you know, there's
a workforce for example at market Basket, which is very happy.
I'm not sure if they're a union organization or not,
but if the unionization makes the employees feel a lot
the more secure, feel a little bit better about their jobs,
(10:02):
obviously all sorts of all sorts of good things flow
from that. So Marci, let me ask you. We could
talk all night about this, but I'd rather find out.
How can people get your book? Is it still available?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Oh my gosh, it just came out.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I mean it. I don't want to make an assumption,
so it does.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
It was just released. So we have leading with respect
Adventures have an off price fashion pioneer, and i'm presently
the president of the Sison Foundation. The ForWord was written
by my friend Christy Hefner, who did a wonderful job.
You probably know the Heffner name from Playboy.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
I used to read all the articles.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I'm sure you did.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So anyone on that note, I gotta let you go
because I have another guest lined up, but leading with
respect by Marcy Simms available. I'm sure Amazon and everywhere
find books.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Are sold, but please go to your local bookstore and
ask for it because we want to make sure they
stay in business.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Absolutely nothing like a brick and mortar bookstore, no doubt.
Thanks very much, Marcy.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Simms, leave my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Thanks talkin. Thank you very very much. Well we get back.
We're going to talk about something that everyone knows about,
but it's a little mysterious, and that is the Old
Farmer's Almanac. Back on Nightside on this Friday night, we're
heading a Saturday morning right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
It's Nightside Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
All right, well, summer has just ended. I think all
of us know that winter isn't quite here yet, but
we have to be thinking about winter because as fall
follows summer, winter follows fall, and whenever you want to
talk about a long range winter weather forecast, you have
(12:05):
to be thinking about the old Farmer's Almanac. Sarah Parole, Sarah,
I hope I pronounced that name. There was a great
hockey player named g Parole.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
I've been called many things, and what you said was
just fine perfect.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So what the question, of course, is what sort of
a winter do you think we're looking at here in
New England.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
Well, I'm in neighboring New Hampshire. So we're going to
have the same forecast for this winter, which is expected
to be above normal temperatures. We're certainly going to have
cold periods throughout December and then also in early January.
Snowfall is going to be below normal, which certainly doesn't
mean no snow, just not up to our normal standards.
(12:49):
But we'll have some snowy periods in early in mid
December and again in early in February, and the flakes
are going to fly early in northern New England starting
in November.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Sounds to me like a pretty normal New England winter.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Yeah, it's as of late. Yes, it's not bitter cold,
it's not five thousand inches of snow. You know, it's
kind of average temperatures, an average snow, nothing much to
write about.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Okay, And I know enough about the Elminos and things
like that. What's are we are we is how much
of an impact is that having the is we have
an Elmino or an El Nina?
Speaker 5 (13:37):
It's a week to neutral el Nino, which is the
reason we're having above average temperatures a week.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Okay. So when you say above average, uh, it's going
to be it's going to be winter, but there will
be a little warmer in December, January and February overall.
Is that? Is that what you mean by that?
Speaker 5 (13:58):
Exactly? In New England we know that quote unquote normal
could be thirty degrees. I mean, you know we're used
to very cold winters. So if we say above normal temperatures,
that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to be in our
flip flops and our shorts. It just means, you know,
it might be thirty five degrees on average.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And do we expect any big big storms? Again? I
know that. How do you go? Let me ask you,
how do you come up with this calculation? I mean
some people could say, well they could just kind of
write this down and it's kind of like throwing darts
at the wall. Is there a science to this or
is it? So? Do you have some old New Englanders
(14:36):
who you have a conference with sometime in July and
figure it all out? How do you do it? How
do you put the the old farmers Almanac together?
Speaker 5 (14:44):
Well, I can tell you we're not out in the
parking lot looking at the wooly bear caterpillars trying to
figure out what's happening. We are actually using science to
make our forecasts. And it's basically the same formula that
was devised by our founder, Robert P. Thomas, Massachusetts native,
back in seventeen ninety two. And it's based on solar science,
which is the study of sun spots and solar activity,
(15:07):
climatology which is the study of prevailing weather patterns over
a certain amount of time, and then meteorology, which is
the study of the atmosphere. So we're using natural cycles,
and of course it's not seventeen ninety two anymore. So
we're also able to use modern scientific calculations to help
improve our forecast.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
So how big it is? And again I don't get
a chance to talk to folks from organizations institutions that
I've heard about all my life. How big a group
do you have? I mean, I see the old Farmer's
Almanac at the store and you sometimes you buy it.
How big a crew do you have that still works
(15:47):
on this? And where are you located? I mean, are
you in New Hampshire? Because that's where where your headquarters are.
It's been a mystery to me and I'm trying to
get a couple of questions clarified in my mind.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Sure, absolutely, we're in Dublin, New Hampshire. I probably have
the longest commute because I live in golf Town, but
everybody else really lives in the Manadnock region, which is
not too far from the Massachusetts border.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh. I know exactly where the manad Knock region is,
John Ken right as a child here in New England,
I would listen to Don Ken talk about the manad
Knock region. So you have how big a staff?
Speaker 5 (16:23):
These days? I think people are surprised to learn that
we've got an editorial staff of six and we have
one art director. Our production department is only comprised of
about three people, so it's a pretty small staff putting
out a very large book.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And is that staff do you work year round or
do you get a break during the late spring. I
assume it's all sick. When does the farmers the Old
Farmer's Almanac hit the stores and the bookstores that when
does it publish?
Speaker 5 (16:56):
The book end up at the stores Right around the
end of August, beginning of September, So right now, right now, yeah,
and no, we don't get a break. We have actually
more than the Old Farms Almanac. We also have the
Old Farms Almanac for Kids, which is brand new this year,
volume eleven. It comes out every other year, so volume
eleven is available right now. In the spring, we produce
(17:18):
a Garden Guide which is for amateur gardeners experienced gardeners
with tips and inspiration. We have a variety of wall
calendars and a planner handbooks for vegetable gardeners and container gardeners.
We're a very busy, small crew, and.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I ask questions that probably sometimes you're inappropriate. Is the
Old Farmer's Almanac a publicly traded company or is it
a small privately owned company.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
We are an ESOP, so we're employee owned on employee
owned company.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Oh that's great. And most of your employees have been
there for many, many years.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
I assume, Oh that is true. I mean during the holidays,
we have a little party and we do service awards
where you get recognized for how long you've been there.
And the longest award I've ever seen was we celebrated
someone who had been there for fifty years.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
That's a pretty good run, I think.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
I'm only on year twenty two, but I'm hoping for fifty.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Well, you're the managing editor. How did you come to this?
You didn't go to college and have a major in
the Old Farmer's Almanac. There must have been a moment
in time when whatever career you were pursuing, the opportunity
presented itself.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
Yeah, it was really good timing. I grew up loving
to read, loving to write, knowing I wanted to work
in publishing at a really young age, and I just
happened to be at a job that I was rather
unhappy at, and the Old Farmer's Almanac was advertising for
an assistant editor, and I thought, I love the Almanac.
It's been in my house my entire life. I'm going
(18:57):
to try, even though, as I told you, I have
the longest commute out of anybody, because I didn't move.
So I applied twenty two years ago and have climbed
up the ranks and I am now probably the managing editor.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You are the managing editor. I can confirm that for you.
And the reason I can confirm that for you is
it says right here on my screen that Sarah Parole
is the managing editor the Old Farmer's Almanac. And I'm
delighted to have met you tonight and learn a little
bit more about The Old Farmer's Almanac, which is now
available the twenty and twenty six edition. And it sounds
to me like it's gonna be a pretty decent winter
(19:35):
this winter here in New England. We're going to have
the cold, we're going to have a little bit of snow,
and then eventually spring will come. So thanks for setting
my mind at ease, and maybe setting the mind to
someone my listeners at ease as well.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Thank you so much, Sarah, Absolutely my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
All right, pick up your copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac.
It's available pretty much anywhere you'll see it. I guarantee
you at some point if you're in a store this weekend,
you will see the Old Farmer's Almanac, the addition twenty
twenty six. Back on Nightside, we are going to talk
right after the news with a seventy year young police rookie.
He's seventy eight, seventy eight years old, and he is
(20:16):
he's a law professor, but he is now also going
to be a police officer. This is kind of an
amazing story. I'll introduce you to John Myers right after
the news at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on wb Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Well, we get to inter view a lot of interesting
people here on Nightside, but we're going to talk now
with John Myers. He is a seventy eight year old
police rookie, but more importantly, he's been a lawyer almost
as long as I have been a lawyer. I guess
you've been a lawyer since nineteen seventy three, John, is
that correct?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Seventy seven?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Seventy seven? Okay, Well I got you beat by a
couple of years. Then, okay, that's fine. I'll give you that.
But you have also been a law school professor, and
currently you teach at what we all knew back in
the day as the University of California Law School at Hastings.
That's a very distinguished law school. My friend, you've had
a very interesting practice as a lawyer. You've had a
(21:20):
full career. What the heck makes a guy seventy eight
years old decide that he wants to join the police force.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
Well, I was only seventy six when I decided to
go to the policy capety.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Well, that changes the story. I don't know. Why don't
we interview with you then? Well, as you know, as
I'm sure you know, many police departments have age limitations.
So for example, you cannot apply to become a police officer, well,
a state police officer in Massachusetts, I think beyond the
age of thirty three. Now you are going to be
(21:55):
working at a college campus as a police officer.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
Correct, Well, I am working. I'm working at the University
of the Pacific as a reserve police officer, the institution
where I was a professor for thirty five years before
I went to Hastings. And tomorrow I start my first
shift at a regular police department in a little foothill
a little foothill city called i Own, California, where they
(22:20):
have given me the privilege of starting as a reserve
and I'm actually on with two police departments.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Now, well, I look, most seventy six year olds or
seventy eight year olds, I'm not thinking about starting a
second or a third career. There has to have been
something in the back of your mind that prompted you
to do this. I'd let to know what it was.
Speaker 6 (22:42):
Well, I'm not very smart, for one thing, but putting that,
putting that aside, you know, I just don't want to
grow up. I mean, as soon as I start acting
like a seventy eight year old, I'm afraid I'm going
to shrivel up and die. So I knew I was
really almost too old, if not old, to get through
the academy, given the physical demands of the academy, But
(23:03):
what the heck, it was a challenge. It was my
last chance to give it a go. So I did it.
I enjoyed every minute of it, and now I'm enjoying
being a public servant in a different way.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Now. I saw a picture of you as a professor,
and you look very professorial with the well tapered beard.
Are you able to wear your beard as a police
officer or do you have to be clean shaven?
Speaker 6 (23:30):
I had to be clean shaven during the academy, and
I looked even older without a beard, so as quickly
as I was permitted to, I grew it back. Still
look really old, But yes, both of my departments let
me have a beard.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Okay, obviously intellectually you were, I'm sure at the top
of your class. Tell us about the physical requirements did
they did they have to cut you a brake on
you know how many pull ups or how many push
ups you could do in two minutes? Or did you
have to comply with all of the requirements, which, frankly,
in police academies can be pretty strenuous.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
No, there's no breaks for anybody just because of age,
whether you're young or old. So I had to get
over a six foot wall and run and do a
ninety ninety nine yards ninety nine yard obstacle course, just
like the other recruits. And if you don't do it,
you don't pass. And the driving was the same, the
shooting was the same. The physical demands are the same. No, No,
(24:27):
no accommodations. I wouldn't have wanted accommodations. If I couldn't
do it, I wouldn't I shouldn't be on the street No.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
No, was the wall a rope wall where at least
you had the the ability, Assuming you had the ability,
and I'm sure you did, to propel yourself over the wall,
do you have to?
Speaker 6 (24:46):
And you run, You run out to the wall, you jump,
you jump and grab the top. It's basically a pull up.
You pull yourself up. Yeah, and then you put a
leg over and get over the other. That wasn't that hard.
I mean, if you can do a pull up, you
can get over the wall. The the problem for me,
although I made it, was the speed with which you
have to do these activities, including a five hundred yard
(25:08):
basically foot pursuit. So I made it, though I certainly
was far from the fastest in my class, but that's
to be expected.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Okay, So let's I like numbers. Okay, I'm a lawyer
and a broadcaster, but I like numbers. So for those
who might have missed it because you're you went by
a little quickly. Five hundred yards is fifteen hundred feet,
That is almost a third of a mile, that is
(25:36):
five links of a football field.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
Well, I still run. I'm going running after we get
off the air here, Although you know I run like
a seventy eight year old man. So it's hard to
call it running, but I'm still running. I was lifting
weights before we got on the phone. I mean, because
if I run into a bad guy on the street,
I'm going to have to behave just like any other
police officers. So I've got to be in decent physical shape.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
What's you fire on a block nine million? Nine millimeters?
Speaker 6 (26:05):
Block nine? Yeah, it's a glock seventeen in both departments,
and it's so it's a nine millimeter Wow, and rifle
and a rifle and a shotgun.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Rifle and a shotgun. Wow. This is and you still
you are also still teaching law school? Correct?
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Yeah, I'm actually teaching at two law schools this semester,
one in Santa Clara and one in San Francisco. So
I'm kind of busy.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Unbelievable. I I stand and I'm sitting in my chair,
but by metaphorically stand in absolute admiration of what you've
been able to do. Uh again, irrespective of the age,
I mean, the ages is incredible. Uh. While you were
inlaw school, I'm just curious, what was your what what
(26:49):
field of law did you teach? Oh?
Speaker 6 (26:52):
I teach criminal law. I teach criminal procedure, evidence, family
and family law. So those are my.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Of course the first three obviously you don't have to
you know what the Marinda warning is, and you know
allio versus MAP, and you you have all those cases.
I'm sure in in uh in the front of your mind. Uh.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
This is although it's very it's very interesting because I mean,
I've been a lawyer for ever and h and a
law professor forever, but being a being a cop is
it's a different it's a different take on the law.
So the learning curve is very steep. I mean, I
have some advantage from having been in the law for
so long, but now I'll tell you, learning those learning
those radio codes is driving me nuts.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Well, I think that as a law professor you'll be
able to learn the radio codes. I think it's always
interesting because obviously you see the other side of the coin.
As a lawyer, you're making sure that the prosecutor in
a case it goes to your basic lawyers basically force
or make sure that the state, the government, the prosecutor
(28:02):
complies and proves the interviews will not all the elements
of the crime, and make sure that the individual's rights
have been protected during the entire process. From a police
officer's point of view. Uh, you know, what they might
think is clearview really might not be clear view. If
if you get my drifts.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
Yeah, yeah, no, I do. I do understand what you're saying.
Although I think the parallels. You know, there are many
parallels between the two professions that prosecutors and cops and
defense defense lawyers. They all take their responsibilities seriously. I mean,
I wouldn't do this if I if I thought that
there was something disreputable about putting on the uniform.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Oh no, no, no, no. My brothers are retired and pretended.
So I agree with that. All I'm just saying is
that that sometimes the prosecutorial view of a set of circumstances,
what is probable cause? What? What? What is sufficient probable
cause to uh to do this or to do that?
And then of course that's tested in the court. So
you're gonna you're gonna know this from both sides, which
(29:07):
is an amazing capability that that you will bring to
the job. So John Myers, hats off. We salute you
here from uh from Boston, Massachusetts. Congratulations. I I hope
that there are those who will follow in your footsteps
because they're big footsteps, and I thank you for your
time tonight.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
Well, it was a pleasure, Thanks for the thanks for
the privilege of being on your show.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Well, maybe maybe we'll check in with you six months
from now and and see how you're doing. If I
make it through training, I'm sure you're gonna do just fine.
Trust me. Uh you know, uh you you you you
well deserve what you have accomplished. Thank you so much,
John Myers. All right, good night. Well you get back
(29:51):
on to talk about the a big event tomorrow up
at the Wakefield Lower Common in Wakefield. Uh, it is
a Walk of Hope for als the Angel Fund Als Research.
We'll be hosting this walk when we talk with Ian
Hadley with the Angel Fund right after this break here
on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on w BEAZ, Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Well, tomorrow there's a big event going on up in
Wakefield at the Wakefield Lower Common. It is an ALS
Walk for Hope walk of Hope, I should say with
us from the Angel Fund is Ian Hadley and welcome
back to Nightside. You've been with us before and I
guess this is an annual event every September and it
starts tomorrow and there's still opportunities for people to participate.
(30:38):
Let's cover the waterfront. How are you in?
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Good? Thank you, thanks for having me on, Dan, You're welcome. Well,
you're right. This is twenty fourth the annual Walk of
Hope for Als in Wakefield and we will have a
walkers walking around the lake and coming back to having
some great food and joining us together as we step
off at eleven o'clock.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Okay, so this is a three and a half mile walk.
Is there a shorter version as well? If people don't
feel they're up to a three and a.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Half mile walk, Oh, sure, they can walk as long
as they want. They can walk the whole lake if
they'd like to, or they could just walk a portion.
Some people just join us for the day and relax
and just join us in the day.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
So twenty fourth year. Over that period of time, how
much money has been raised for the research on lou
Garrig's disease, which is being done by doctor Robert Brown,
Junior at UMass Chan Medical School.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Well, we've raised millions of dollars. In twenty twenty four,
the inter of Fund donated seven hundred and fifty thousand
dollars to u mass Chan and the year before that
we did seven hundred and eleven. So in the past
two years, close to one point five million in March.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Obviously, a lot of these events, they start small and
they grow over the years. If you go back to
the first annual walk, how many people participated and how
many folks do you expect tomorrow?
Speaker 4 (32:16):
Well, in the beginning, of course, we always have to
build up steam. Probably we had a couple hundred walkers
way back when we're probably expecting five or six hundred
people tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
And there's no minimum donation that that's required. I know
a lot of people form teams and they try to
raise money as a team. If someone has never been
involved and would like to walk tomorrow, is there a
(32:49):
minimum that you hope for or you request.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
There is no minimum that we request. We do feel
that people will come and make donations. We do have
teams that are raising money online. You'd be able to
go to our website and join a team if you
like or support a team. You can walk as an individual.
We have many people that will come by themselves or
with a family member and walk the lake and just
(33:15):
take part in our day. We have a beautiful what
we call Faces of Als walkway where when we start
off the walk, the walkers walk through and we have
the faces of our ALS warriors as they walk through,
just let everyone know who we're walking for. And it's
for folks who have been diagnosed with ALS, that are
(33:37):
living with ALS in those of a past. So it's
just a beautiful day. We release stuves at eleven o'clock
in memory of our ALS warriors and those are living
this ALS, and this is a nice day for families
to come together and support ALS research.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Well, I don't know exactly what the weather forecast is
early tomorrow. I know that there's some storms that are
going to be going through in the afternoon. Have you
checked out the weather forecast in advance, I'm sure you have.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
We have. We've been watching it all week. So I
think we're going to get through. And we've been very lucky.
I think we have. Of all our twenty three years
in the past, we've only had one day of rain
and that was very light. So I'm looking at the
weather and I think it might start raining after we've finished.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
We've cut out there For a second, I didn't hear
you robbers talking in my ear? What did you say?
Twenty four years you've had one day of light rain.
You think that tomorrow you're going to be on the
right side of the of the storm clouds.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
Yes, we will, I think on the storm clouds are
going to be coming in late afternoon, so I think
we'll get through just fine.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
So the registration starts at what time.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Legis stations starts to nine. We'll have all plenty of
coffee and doughnuts for people to get ready to walk.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Right there. I mean, you don't even have to stop
the Duncan donuts. Go down and coffee and donuts by
the lake. That's a great way to start the day.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Okay, that's right, yep. And we'll have plenty of food
for folks to come back in, and we'll be welcoming
anyone that wants to come in and join us and
raise help us raise money for als research.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Are there any sponsors that you'd like to give them
some credit to. I'm looking at the teams and it
looks to me like you have dozens of teams that yea,
literally dozens of teams. I just didn't know if there's
any sponsors who were providing food sustenance for the walkers
if you wanted to give them a plug.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Well, and one of our main sponsors is one of
the founding directors of being the Fundnagra Pediten Lucas Law Firm,
and we will be having King's Bowl and Entertainment come
in with their delicious sliders. We have Wegmans, we have
Shawls and we have a lot of different smaller food
(36:05):
purchases that well, everything is complementary, So come on down, okay.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
And again, the thing that I want to emphasize is
that if you've never been at this event tomorrow, when
you live in the Wakefield area, it's easy to get to.
Parking pretty pretty good up.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
There, I assume parking is pretty good. Yeah, there's a
lot of side streets that people can park on, but
there's a lot of parking along the lake where people
can park and join us. And yes, it's pretty good, okay.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
And it starts at nine. And the thing that I
want to emphasize is that if you are not a
member of a team, or if you haven't pre registered,
you still can go. You can participate. Look, whatever a
walker wants to contribute, you don't have minimums that people
have to pay to participate, So that's no, we don't.
(37:02):
I think that's a that's a great way to handle it.
And this will be the twenty fourth year. I just
got to ask, this, is it always in September. I'm
just wondering if your first year was the year of
nine to eleven. I'm just trying to do the math
in my head here.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
Let's see twenty four. I think we yes, Well, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Well, okay, you haven't been with the walk from its inception,
then I assume.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Right, we always have the walk the Saturday after Labor Day.
Still we've had that for the past twenty four years,
so everyone seems to know.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
I tell you, if you take year twenty twenty five
and you're twenty four, twenty four from twenty five would
be one.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
So right that maybe four.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Might be nine to eleven. And again trying to remember,
maybe you you might have been just before it. You
might have had your first walk on September ninth, because yeah,
that's exactly I think what happened. I remember watching Mike
you'sen it come close to a perfect game at Fenway Park.
I think it was in early September second, and then
(38:18):
it wasn't that that Tuesday, but it then was the
Tuesday after of the eleventh. Well, okay, you can check
that one out. We can talk about it next year. Okay, thanks, Ann,
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
We will, all right, Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Little historical note that we may have just stumbled upon.
You never know, Ann Hadley, of the Great Walk for
the for Hope Walk of Hope for als tomorrow, September
sixth at the Wakefield Common. It's it's going to be
a great day in the morning, that's for sure. It
begins at the lower Common of the corner of Lake
(38:52):
Avenue in Church Street. When we get back right after
the news at the top of the hour, we will
begin with a conversation with a representative of the company
that has won the right to construct renovate about eighteen
service plazas, including eleven of the Massachusetts Turnpike. We will
(39:15):
get to that issue. We talked with a representative of
Global Partners. Global Partner, which did not win this competition.
They are appealing it, so it may continue to go on,
but we're going to get the other side of the story.
Right after the nine o'clock news
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