THE CROTON CHRONICLE--GUEST ESSAY
Editor’s Note: Edward Rondthaler, who died in 2009 at age 104, was a typographer and passionate advocate of simplified spelling. He lived in Croton for many decades. Rondthaler was a Nordica Drive neighbor of long-time Croton resident Joel Gingold, who featured an essay about him in his book “The Street Where I Live and Other Essays.”
On May 18, Croton’s famous “Picture Tunnel” will be dedicated to Rondthaler’s memory (see announcement at the bottom of this essay.) Gingold kindly gave us permission to reproduce his essay here. Gingold supplied a new introduction to the piece, which we include here as well:
“One of Ed’s great loves in Croton, was the view looking out across the Hudson River from what he dubbed the ”Picture Tunnel,” since it framed the river view as if it were a portrait. Though now strictly a pedestrian path, for many years, the one-lane road through the Picture Tunnel carried all traffic under the railroad tracks into Senasqua Park, giving thousands of visitors to the park that view of the river that Ed so cherished. Recently, the Village of Croton and its HEART Committee decided to dedicate the Picture Tunnel to Ed’s memory.”
Of all of those chronicled in this [chapter], it was Ed Rondthaler that I knew best. I first met Ed in the 1940s as a child of about eight and went all through school with his middle son, David. Later, I was privileged to be his and his wife, Dorothy’s, neighbor on Nordica Drive for several decades, almost to the day he passed away at the age of 104! READ MORE AT Guest Essay: Ed Rondthaler, my neighbor.
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