Foley of Foley, Vt.
What's in a name?
The Vermont Historical Society's News and Notes speculates whether Prof. Al Foley '20 is the source of the fictitious town of Foley, Vt. (on page 37 of Stephen Geller's '62 new novel, "Pit Bull," reviewed in this issue).
Al Foley, professor of history for 35 years and famed teller of Vermont stories, allows he'd like for just a moment to be a resident of the South. Alabama? Yup, because there is actually a town named Foley there and then, should the occasion arise, he would be able to do likewise and announce, "I'm Al Foley from Foley, Al."
Novelist Geller, although never a student under Professor Foley, says the novel's Vermont town probably originated in his memory of Al's portrait at Eastman's, part of his unconscious recollection of village, landscape, face and weather he used in his book's Vermont setting.
