By Sandi Goldfarb

Dick Symmes and Dick Murray have built a lifetime of memories, one postcard at a time. The Swampscott natives, who each celebrated their 91st birthday last summer, have been close friends since meeting in junior high school in the late 1930s. Despite busy lives that included military service during World War II, college — UMass for Symmes, Wesleyan for Murray — marriage, children and successful careers, their love of Swampscott has kept them connected.

Rene Ravaud and Gerhard Neumann and a few other key people in 1974 founded CFM International, which was a successful company producing jet engines for single-aisle aircraft. The French aircraft company partnered with GE Aviation. | Photos: Courtesy of GE.

By David Liscio

Long before a newspaper obituary summed up his life, barrels of ink were spent documenting Swampscott resident Gerhard Neumann’s kaleidoscopic adventures.

The annual Fourth of July Parade and Strawberry Festival was held Saturday, July 2. Hundreds of residents, friend and family members attended the festive event, which also raised money for several worthy town causes.

Then and now: A librarian helps a visitor to the Swampscott Public Library in the 1950s and, in the photo on the right, longtime directors Susan Conner, left, and Alyce Deveau man the main desk earlier this month. 

By DAVID LISCIO

Construction of the Swampscott Public Library, which opened its doors 100 years ago, unveiled an unprecedented world of knowledge and literary entertainment to all town residents.

By BRIDGET TURCOTTE

Raffaele Balducci of Raffaele’s Hair Salon has been snipping hair and styling do’s on Humphrey Street for four decades.

By MEAGHAN CASEY

After decades of putting his artistic passions on the backburner, Tom Jefferies finally acknowledged it was a calling he just couldn’t continue to ignore.
Jefferies, who was raised in Bath, England, hails from a family of artists.

By Meaghan Casey

Entering Diana James’ Living Swell boutique, customers are transported into another world — a world in which they can almost imagine being whisked out to sea, likely on one of the beautifully captured sailboats or yachts staring back at them from photographer Cory Silken’s work.

Members of the Swampscott High School Class of 1967 held their 50th reunion July 22 at Hawthorne by the Sea. A social gathering was held the night before at Fantasy Island and a service was held the day after at Fisherman’s Beach, in memory of classmates who have passed away. A splendid time was had by all.

By Brion O’Connor

Peter Hale, one of the most decorated track and field athletes in Swampscott High School and Williams College history, was no overnight success. His first competitive foray into running was one he’d probably rather forget.

Boston Red Sox outfielder Tony Conigliaro is carried off the field on a stretcher by teammates and the trainers of both the Red Sox and the California Angels after he was beaned by Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton in the fourth inning of their game at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass., Aug. 18, 1967. (AP Photo/Bill Chaplis)

By STEVE KRAUSE

He had been in a slump. Tony Conigliaro, the 22-year-old kid who, earlier in 1967, had become the youngest player in the history of the American League to reach the 100-homer mark, was in a rut and hadn’t hit one out in 10 days.