Tony in A Golf Cart

BY IRENE BALBONI, MANAGER OF MINT MUSEUM RETAIL SHOPS, CHARLOTTE, NC
I may be late in posting my memories of Tony to this site, but not because he hasn't been constantly in my thoughts. I met Tony through my husband Chris Romano
(A79). Tony and I became the best of friends even though our life experiences were completely opposite. Chris and I would meet Tony for dinner once a month and Tony and I would exchange stories about my life as a commercial mortgage banker and his as an artist.

When my husband relocated from Boston to Charlotte, leaving me behind to sell our real estate and pack our belongings Tony kept me company by taking the water shuttle to our home in Weymouth, MA to have delightful and lovely dinners. On one such trip he gave me David McCullough's book on John Adams, which startled me not only because I had mentioned in passing I'd like to read it, but that Tony gave it to me on my birthday.

Tony was one of our first guests in our home in North Carolina, having traveled by train from New York. He and I had many discussions about how he never owned an
automobile and I was so "auto-dependent." When walking through the Tufts-like campus at Davidson College he saw someone riding a golf cart and said that if he were to drive, he'd like it to be something like that!

We last saw Tony a year ago at the home of his devoted friend Kate Blakeslee in Atlanta, GA. At that time he seemed to understand the seriousness of his illness.

I find it sad, as I'm sure do many of you, that the bombing of the London subway happened at the time of his death. Even though I never had the opportunity to
meet his son Simon I worried he may have been traveling by tube that day. I will miss Tony and send my sincere sympathies to Linda and Simon.