A Big Man, A Fast Man

Benjamin Appel is of that rare species, a native New Yorker. Born in 1907, he was raised in the tough, Hell’s-kitchen district of the West 50’s. Like any other kid in a tough city neighborhood, he had to fight for his self-respect as a human being. At De Witt Clinton high school he was a football, crew, and track star. After graduation, he entered the University of Pennsylvania but later transferred to New York University and then Lafayette. He took a post-graduate course at Columbia. While...