By Neal Pollack
In 1993 a man Strama had known from Back of the Yards, Jim Bria, passed away, leaving behind a pigeon coop. During World War II, Bria had been a member of the U.S. Pigeon Reserve Signal Corps. He was also a previous president of the American Racing Pigeon Union, and had, Strama says, loved pigeons more than life itself. Bria’s coop was the Rolls-Royce of pigeon-coop technology and represented the accumulated knowledge of 60 years of pigeon keeping.
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Several months went by without any trouble. Madryzk was forced to resign in connection with a ghost-payrolling scandal. Strama returned to orderly pigeon keeping. But things got ugly again.
Strama said he’d also contacted a local Catholic high school with a proposal. He would agree to show students the art of pigeon keeping, “which would be something positive to keep them off the streets.” At the very least, he has prepared a slide show about pigeons that he could bring into the school. Unfortunately, he has no slide projector and has yet to hear back from the priest in charge.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos by Katrina Witkamp (bird man and pigeons).
