the
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
. Most Sunday nights, she traveled to Worcester to play in a league at the Lincoln Lanes.
There she met Richard Bailey Sr., a widower and factory worker with New England High Carbon Wire. The two began to bowl together, and after a whirlwind courtship, they married. Richard had three children, and the two youngest, Ginny and Tommy, still lived at home. If Darr approved of the new members of his family, he didnât show it. Although he clearly loved his mother, Darr treated her blue-collar bowling crowd with a haughty contempt. Often for his visits home, he wore a sharp suit and tie; his motherâs neighbors could feel the disdain for their blue jeans and work shirts.
At the same time, Darr was developing his own social life outside of West Boylston. He dated Diane Casey, a teacher in the Quincy public schools, and in July 1974, they married. By then, through contacts he developed in business, Darr had grown fascinated with real estate as a great means of making a quick buck. He began pushing investment ideas on his family.
In August 1975, Darr persuaded his new stepfather, a man of Yankee caution who feared financial risk, to invest in a parcel of raw land in Texas. Darr promised his stepfather that the investment would bring huge profits. He said he had a hot tip that the adjoining property was scheduled for development. That, he said, should make the value of the neighboring land skyrocket. If Richard and Dottie bought the land, Darr told them, they would be able to flip it quickly at an inflated price.
Delighted with Darrâs hot tip, Richard and Dottie borrowed money to invest in parcel 37 of a property called Deerwood North in Texas. Darr was so confident in the investment that he persuaded them to use the expected profits to buy more land in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, by taking out more loans. Richard felt uncomfortableâhe had never had that much debt in his life. But he figured his stepson knew what he was doing.
Disaster hit almost immediately. Richardâs union went on strike; five months later, the wire company shut the factory for good. The development in Texasâthe one Darr had promised would bring huge profitsâ didnât work out. The money needed to pay for the New Hampshire property never materialized.
Richard, dismayed by the mounting financial troubles, clung to the hope that the wire company would reopen. Finally he suffered a nervous breakdown, and his eldest son, Richard Jr., admitted him to the psychiatric ward of St. Vincentâs Hospital. Dottie walked out on her new husband that day. On returning from the hospital, Richard Jr. ran into his stepmother heading out the door. She had an armful of her husbandâs belongings, including his first wifeâs silver and china sets and a wedding present from his children. Richard Jr. thrust his hands in his pockets out of fear that he would strike Dottie and ordered her to put back everything that was not hers. He watched her until she walked out of the front door for the last time.
Dottie soon divorced Richard. In the settlement, they split ownership of the land investments Darr had recommended. Richard senior soon recovered from his breakdown and returned home. He continued to pay off his debt on the land, a small bit at a time, for much of the rest of his life.
In the mid-1970s, Wall Street was a place of turmoil and fear. After an incredible run of huge profits and wild speculation during the 1960s, the securities industry was paying a heavy price. Scores of investment houses that expanded too rapidly in good times simply went bust or merged. The Arab oil embargo in 1973, followed by the deregulation of commission rates two years later, created the harshest business environment for the industry since the Great Depression. The heady confidence and easy money created by rising markets were gone. Many of the young people hoping to make their fortunes on Wall Street were simply a few years
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
. Most Sunday nights, she traveled to Worcester to play in a league at the Lincoln Lanes.
There she met Richard Bailey Sr., a widower and factory worker with New England High Carbon Wire. The two began to bowl together, and after a whirlwind courtship, they married. Richard had three children, and the two youngest, Ginny and Tommy, still lived at home. If Darr approved of the new members of his family, he didnât show it. Although he clearly loved his mother, Darr treated her blue-collar bowling crowd with a haughty contempt. Often for his visits home, he wore a sharp suit and tie; his motherâs neighbors could feel the disdain for their blue jeans and work shirts.
At the same time, Darr was developing his own social life outside of West Boylston. He dated Diane Casey, a teacher in the Quincy public schools, and in July 1974, they married. By then, through contacts he developed in business, Darr had grown fascinated with real estate as a great means of making a quick buck. He began pushing investment ideas on his family.
In August 1975, Darr persuaded his new stepfather, a man of Yankee caution who feared financial risk, to invest in a parcel of raw land in Texas. Darr promised his stepfather that the investment would bring huge profits. He said he had a hot tip that the adjoining property was scheduled for development. That, he said, should make the value of the neighboring land skyrocket. If Richard and Dottie bought the land, Darr told them, they would be able to flip it quickly at an inflated price.
Delighted with Darrâs hot tip, Richard and Dottie borrowed money to invest in parcel 37 of a property called Deerwood North in Texas. Darr was so confident in the investment that he persuaded them to use the expected profits to buy more land in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, by taking out more loans. Richard felt uncomfortableâhe had never had that much debt in his life. But he figured his stepson knew what he was doing.
Disaster hit almost immediately. Richardâs union went on strike; five months later, the wire company shut the factory for good. The development in Texasâthe one Darr had promised would bring huge profitsâ didnât work out. The money needed to pay for the New Hampshire property never materialized.
Richard, dismayed by the mounting financial troubles, clung to the hope that the wire company would reopen. Finally he suffered a nervous breakdown, and his eldest son, Richard Jr., admitted him to the psychiatric ward of St. Vincentâs Hospital. Dottie walked out on her new husband that day. On returning from the hospital, Richard Jr. ran into his stepmother heading out the door. She had an armful of her husbandâs belongings, including his first wifeâs silver and china sets and a wedding present from his children. Richard Jr. thrust his hands in his pockets out of fear that he would strike Dottie and ordered her to put back everything that was not hers. He watched her until she walked out of the front door for the last time.
Dottie soon divorced Richard. In the settlement, they split ownership of the land investments Darr had recommended. Richard senior soon recovered from his breakdown and returned home. He continued to pay off his debt on the land, a small bit at a time, for much of the rest of his life.
In the mid-1970s, Wall Street was a place of turmoil and fear. After an incredible run of huge profits and wild speculation during the 1960s, the securities industry was paying a heavy price. Scores of investment houses that expanded too rapidly in good times simply went bust or merged. The Arab oil embargo in 1973, followed by the deregulation of commission rates two years later, created the harshest business environment for the industry since the Great Depression. The heady confidence and easy money created by rising markets were gone. Many of the young people hoping to make their fortunes on Wall Street were simply a few years
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