Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview Spring 2019 | Page 28

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Hughes Hall’s janitor, repairman, painter, proprietor of Georgetown University and was also a consultant on the
the Candy Room and general all-around jack-of-all-trades script. What is less known is that a couple of scenes in the
who served the Prep from 1931-1962. In the words of a movie were also shot here at Rose Hill. The first was shot
Prep boy from the ’40s: "The basis of Paul’s dedication to in the now-dismantled Language Lab in the basement of
the Prep was the love he had for the school and for the Keating Hall where Prepsters of the 1960s met for some
generations of students whom he saw pass through its of their Russian classes. The second Fordham location,
corridors, stairwells and classrooms. During his tenure at however, was in a classroom in Hughes Hall — the late
the Prep, he undoubtedly saw many things that escaped Mr. Artie McCormack’s classroom to be precise — shortly
even the eagle eye of Fr. Arthur Shea. Yet he always knew before the Prep made its move to Shea Hall. The Hughes
when to look the other way and when to intervene.” So Hall room served as the Georgetown residence of the main
beloved was Mr. Carielli by the Prepsters of his time, that character (Fr. Damien Karras) and, as Mr. McCormack
decades later they clamored in numbers to nominate the often recalled, the set designers specifically chose to leave
one-time caretaker to the Prep Hall of Honor in 2013. his desk on the set.
While the East Wing is being reimagined, the venerable
Carielli lectern is scheduled to be refinished.
Shortly thereafter, Fordham Prep left its home since 1890
and moved into its current location in the corner of
And finally, there is Mr. Bozzone’s desk — “The Exorcist campus, Mr. McCormack and his escritoire included. The
Desk” as it were. That given moniker is perhaps not as Exorcist Desk has remained at Shea Hall ever since. Yours
surprising as one would imagine given that the Prep’s truly has convinced the Administration to authorize a full
connections to William Peter Blatty’s horror movie run restoration of the desk for the summer of 2019 as part of
long and deep. As many know, not one, but two former the East Wing Project. Sure, in the middle of such a major
Prep teachers had roles in the film of that name: Fr. undertaking, seeing to the restoration of a single desk
William O’Malley, S.J., who played Fr. Dyer, and Fr. Thomas might seem like a small matter. But as they say… [wait for
Birmingham, S.J., who had a bit part as the president of the punchline]…the devil is in the details.
“The Exorcist Desk”
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