Lenox photographer recalls a lifetime of memories

By Claire CoxPrint Story | Email Story
Arthur Marasco holds up his trusty Kodak. (Photo By Claire Cox)
LENOX – Arthur Marasco has a collection of old telephones and antique cameras and a few vintage automobiles, but the hundreds of pictures he took as a Pentagon photographer during the Korean War are among his most cherished possessions. As Marasco recently went through pages of carefully preserved photos at his home on East Street, he recalled snapping some of them when Winston Churchill paid a friendly visit to Washington and a grim-visaged Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived home after being fired by President Harry Truman. There were many others filmed with clicks and flashes on his Speed Graphic camera, which he still has but seldom uses in retirement from over 50 years as a photographer. He uses his sturdy Roliflex camera to take pictures of local scenes, some of which have been printed on postcards. Marasco, in his early 70s, and his wife, the former Nancy Ann Desorbo, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at a party given by their children, Janne Marie LoFarco of Reston, Va., and Arthur Roy Natalie Marasco of Ashley Falls. The Marascos live just down the road from Eastover, where Art Marasco was its official photographer for more than 40 years after leaving the Army. “People say I have a lot of junk,” he said. “I don’t. I just have things. I collect telephones, antique radios and antique cameras. It’s all downstairs.” He did not mention his old automobiles, also in the cellar, which include a 1937 Packard 120 and a 1922 Model T Runabout. His popcorn wagon, a familiar site at public events in the Berkshires, is parked in the driveway, while his pre-station-wagon 1923 depot hack is at his son’s home. “I always liked cars,” he said. “I drove a Model A Ford all through high school.” He declined a visitor’s request to see the trove in the cellar. “My wife won’t allow anybody down there,” he explained. However, he did produce one of his treasures – the second camera made by Eastman Kodak, produced in 1888, with the basic black case that has set the style for generations of cameras, including many of the latest digital versions. “It is Kodak’s Number 2 box camera,” he said, opening it to show the way it works. “You’d take the film and send it to Kodak, and they’d develop and send it back to you with the pictures. It took a round picture on 4-by-5 film with 100 exposures on a roll. It is still in great shape. “I bought it for about $20 at a tag sale. When I looked it up at the library, it was going for $3,000,” he added. Marasco, a native of Seymour, Conn., began his photographic career in high school there, where he was president of the Photography Club. “When I got out of there, I bought an expensive Speed Graphic and couldn’t back out,” he recalled. He worked at resorts, taking pictures of guests, until he was drafted for service in the Korean War in 1950 and assigned to the Third Infantry Division at Fort Meyer, Va. “I was photographer, so when I got into camp I started taking pictures for the camp newspaper,” he said. “I was out taking pictures of a retirement ceremony of the Third Infantry, which is the Old Guard, when the sergeant came up to me and said, ‘How would you like to work at the Pentagon?’ I asked ‘What’s that?’ I didn’t even know what the Pentagon was. The next day I got a call from the general for immediate transfer to Washington. “Within two weeks after I was asked to go to the Pentagon, the rest of the company went to Korea. I was the only one who didn’t go. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.” For the next two years, with the rank of corporal, he was assigned to take pictures of everything from funerals to ceremonies involving the top brass, and even, he said, of a group of Iraqi officials “who came over for some money.” “Every time some arrival would come in or Truman would leave — Eisenhower’s retirement — I photographed all that in course of two years.” As he leafed through several volumes of his work, he paused at photos of Gen. Omar Bradley, Queen Elizabeth visiting Truman when she was still a princess, admirals and other officials. His favorites: Gen. George C. Marshall, Churchill, Dean Acheson, Truman and Eisenhower, who posed together for a “photo op.” “All the time,” Marasco said, “I didn’t realize what I was doing was so important. I just did a job. As I look back, I say, ‘My God, did I do all that?’” After completing his Army service in 1952, he went to work as Eastover’s official photographer, where, until his retirement 12 years ago, he took pictures of all the resort’s events and many of its patrons. At first he and his wife lived on the Eastover grounds, but they moved to their own home nearby after the children arrived. The darkroom Marasco built in his cellar has been closed since his retirement, but he is thinking of opening it again so he can develop pictures taken with his good old Rolly himself, instead of sending them out to be processed. As for the possibility of switching to a digital camera, he declared, “I don’t want to know anything about it.”
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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