TWO GREAT MAYORS

Norma Ervin

John Ludlow

 

From; O'Hare, Jim "Six Personalities from Saltaire, 1950's  and 1960's"
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Charles "Tolly" Ludlow on his grandfather:

Jim,

The essence of my grandfather was his belief in fairness, decency, competency and good deeds. He could be dismissive and distant towards those who lacked respect for these qualities. To some he was stuffy. Judge O’Hare referred to him as being described by some of the Saltaire Associates as “painfully conscientious” because he would not accept “courtesy” shares of stock in their corporation while he was Mayor. When he was the head of the listing committee on the American Stock Exchange he was asked by Joe Kennedy Sr. to come up to Boston for the weekend to discuss the listing of a mining stock he was involved with. There were offers of various kinds made for lavish accommodations and dinners but he chose to stay with an elderly Aunt just outside of Boston and met Joe Kennedy for lunch instead. The mining stock was never listed.

He was frequently right but had the habit of letting you know it, yet he always managed to set a good example. He had enormous reserves of self-confidence but could be less than sensitive with people who failed to meet his expectations. He was often kind to people he did not know well and was capable of great warmth and wit when least expected.

Most of all he loved Saltaire, he loved the people of Saltaire and he really loved being Mayor of Saltaire. He loved having “Mayor” painted on the rear fender of his bicycle and entertaining all villagers with issues on his front porch Sundays after Church. He loved dancing at the Yacht Club and socializing at the Catholic Bazaar and the lesser daytime Episcopal Bazaar where no alcohol was served. He would also point out that being on the boardwalks in a bikini or bathing trunks without a full length shirt was not permitted in our village.

He was a quintessential Anglo-Saxon, part Englishman but mostly American from the era of “We can do anything we set our minds to.” He has been incorrectly credited with allowing Jewish families into Saltaire. He would have objected to this characterization although I never heard a negative cultural or racial word spoken in his house. He did not like behavior that might reflect poorly on the village, his village, and his reputation as a good and decent man was at stake and so the village’s reputation as being composed of good people was also at stake. He did tell me that he had gotten all of the real estate brokers together in the 1950s and said whoever they are, if they’re our kind of Saltaire people, people with good family values who care about the village- and pay their taxes- then we want them. The rest is none of our business. It was a far simpler time in Saltaire and a far simpler time to be Mayor.