Still, broadcasting obviously was Kelly’s first love. Ironically, he may have been on the verge of re-entering his chosen field at the time of his death. According to former colleague Maurice Lewis, Kelly was scheduled to give up his bar job in two to three weeks in order to begin work as a freelance producer at WLVI-TV, Channel 56. His first pilot was to have been taped July 14.
At first glance, the circumstances surrounding Jack Kelly’s murder last week no doubt confirmed in many people’s minds their worst hunches about him. Certainly, all those who had warned Kelly about the dangers of hanging out with mobster types were proven right. And those police who had busily leaked all those guilt-by-association rumors were themselves probably feeling vindicated. Indeed, the current police theory about the massacre — that it was directly linked to narcotics trafficking — appeared to lend credence to still another nasty rumor police sources had spread about Kelly: that he was a cocaine dealer. (Kelly always denied such charges, labeling them police distortion of his PR work on behalf of a court challenge of the state’s cocaine laws.)
To at least one of Kelly’s few remaining defenders, Maurice Lewis, there is evidence that he couldn’t have been profiting from drug deals (though at the very least he lived on the fringes of such action). “He had no new car and no new clothes,” Lewis said. “He was driving a gold Eldorado, but it was about three years old and it wasn’t his. It was Vinny’s, and it was all beaten up. Jack never hid anything. If he were a big drug dealer, he’d let the world know. Jack ain’t gonna be wearing moccasins if he can be wearing $150 shoes. And he left home wearing moccasins that morning.”
Related:
The measure of a mayor, Soul control, The Night James Brown Saved Boston, More 
- The measure of a mayor
This article originally appeared in the May 2, 1978 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
- Soul control
Just as an attention getter, the title of VH1’s new rock-doc treatment of James Brown’s April 5, 1968, concert at Boston Garden — The Night James Brown Saved Boston — is hard to beat.
- The Night James Brown Saved Boston
The memory of what Brown and White accomplished 40 years ago should endure.
- Free for all
Striking parallels emerge between the upcoming mayor's race and the historic race of 1983.
- Trail of jeers
As summer officially kicks off this weekend, thousands upon thousands of people will be descending on our fair metropolis to get a glimpse of America's most history-drenched city.
- The 40 greatest concerts in Boston history: 3
The Rolling Stones | Boston Garden | July 18, 1972
- The 40 greatest concerts in Boston history: 1
James Brown | Boston Garden | April 5, 1968
- Where was everybody on St. Patrick's Day?
We piled into a car, we three intrepid journalists, and set out from the Back Bay Sunday morning to find our way to Royal Bolling’s party. “Roxbury’s Salute to St. Patrick’s Day,” as Bolling called it, should be easy to find, we reasoned. After all, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge. A.F. & M., was located at 18 Washington Street. All we had to do was follow Washington Street, right?
- King, as in mayor
To begin with, I'd like to set down the political and ideological frame of reference under which I try to live.
- Wet fuse
The stakes were lower Sunday night in New Bedford than they were back in 1968 when Boston mayor Kevin White brought James Brown to the Garden for a televised concert often credited with keeping the city from going up in flames the night after MLK’s assassination.
- Banned in Boston again?
This article originally appeared in the July 5, 1977 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
- Less
Topics:
Flashbacks
, Politics, Media, Joe Smith, More
, Politics, Media, Joe Smith, Television, Armed Forces, Crime, Local Politics, Edward M. Kennedy, Kevin White, TV News Shows, Less
