John Francis (Honey Fitz) Fitzgerald, circa 1883.

“My father, on the contrary, and perhaps because of being denied the credentials of an education, retained his appetite for knowledge and became an avid reader. He had wonderful azure blue eyes… and boundless curiosity, so he read everything within reach: books, magazines, and, of course, many newspapers…

And what he read, he remembered. He had a stupendous memory for facts and figures, points of law, historical facts, quotations, anecdotes, and, of course, anything to do with Boston—all of great advantage to him in his political speechmaking and in debating an opponent. He had a famous ability to talk about anything persuasively, cogently, and with swarms of facts seemingly produced from the thin blue.”

ROSE’S DESCRIPTION OF HER FATHER, JOHN “HONEY FITZ” FITZGERALD