Whatever Happened

Recently I pondered what had happened to a former boss, Bob Jachino, who had been CEO of Bowmar/Noble Publishers. It made me wonder about someone else I worked with there, Tony Napoli. 

Tony was a member of the editorial department, which in his case meant he took the LA Times into the men’s room each morning and read it front to back. I’ll always remember him heading there with the Times tucked under his arm, then reappearing forty-five minutes later, refreshed and ready to report on the latest politics, sports, and culture.   

The culture part turned out to be important, because Tony, like me, loved jazz. Once every couple of weeks, he and I would range across LA to hear jazz giants, all of whom seemed to visit Southern California clubs at that time.   

We heard Maynard Ferguson at Dante’s on Lankershim. We saw Freddie Hubbard at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach. Most memorably, we visited the lounge at the Ambassador Hotel and found ourselves in a room with perhaps eight other audience members, enjoying pianist Bill Evans and his bass player Eddie Gomez (shown here). Evans and Gomez, unfazed by the small crowd, played a couple of sterling sets, while Tony and I sat less than ten feet away, hanging on every note. 

I’m not sure I could tell you what products Tony worked on. But I enjoyed sharing time with him.   

Then, a couple of years later, the golden age of Tony Napoli was over. He did his editorial work, listened to jazz, and disappeared from Bowmar/Noble. I wonder whatever happened to that guy.