2013 New Rochelle Walk of Fame Inductees Named

The latest inductees to the New Rochelle Walk of Fame were announced Wednesday, and they include individuals from television, Broadway, animation and literature.

Seven new interpretive signs honoring nine people will be unveiled at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 27, 2013, in a ceremony on Library Green.

The 2013 inductees are:

• Jerry Boch, composer, and Joseph Stein, book. They wrote Fiddler on the Roof, along with composer Sheldon Harnick, while living in New Rochelle.
• Nell Brinkley, cartoonist and illustrator. She was the creator of the "Brinkley Girl," a young, liberated workingwoman who became popular in songs, films and theater.
• E.L. Doctorow, novelist. He is the author of Ragtime, World's Fair and Billy Bathgate.
• Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leno grew up on Leland Avenue, attending Trinity Elementary School, until his family moved in 1959.
• Frederick Douglass Patterson, educator and doctor of veterinary medicine. He was the founder of the United Negro College Fund, initiator of the black Army Air Corps (Tuskegee Airmen) and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• Carl Reiner, actor, writer and director, and Rob Reiner, actor, writer and director. Carl Reiner and his then 6-year-old son Rob moved to New Rochelle in 1953 from the Bronx. The elder Reiner used his home and community as inspiration for The Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961 to 1966.
• Mighty Mouse, cartoon hero, and Paul Terry, animator. Terry established the Terrytoons animation studio is what is now the Kaufman Building in 1939. In addition to Mighty Mouse, the studio created other famous characters including Heckle and Jeckle, Gandy Goose and Deputy Dawg.

The New Rochelle Walk of Fame was dedicated in 2011 when 25 individuals, with distinct ties to New Rochelle, were inducted. The interpretive signs ring Library Square providing information on the inductees.

The original inductees included entertainer Theresa Brewer, professor Joseph Cambell, opera singer Ellabelle Davis, vaudeville performer Eddie Foy, illustrator Norman Rockwell and Howdy Doody "sidekick" Buffalo Bob Smith.

Besides the induction ceremony, there will be a panel discussion at 11 a.m. on authors of New Rochelle biographies and performances of songs written about the city at 2 p.m. and performances of New Rochelle songs and songwriters of today at 3:30 p.m.

The induction ceremony and reception will be held on Library Green. All other events will take place in the Ossie Davis Theater of the New Rochelle Public Library. In the event of rain, the ceremony and reception will be held in the Ossie Davis Theater.