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Posted 05.12.08 Tailgate cook left Giant-size hole in heart Daily Record -- Feb. 2008 Loved ones give game-day tribute By Vidya Padmanabhan Originally published in the DAILY RECORD, Monday, February 4, 2008 DENVILLE -- Ribs were charring up on the barbecue in the yard; a pot of chili simmered away; everyone was accessorized with a bottle of beer. And somewhere among all the traditional tailgate fare sat a container of mussels steamed in white wine. Of all the dishes that John Burlew ever brought to the tailgate party that he founded a decade ago, the mussels were widely acknowledged to be his greatest triumph. It was only fitting that it was part of the tribute party for the man described as a "class act," who died just days before his beloved Giants were to play in their first Super Bowl in a very long time. After a year-long battle with prostate cancer, Burlew, of Rockaway Township, died on Tuesday. He was 67. On Sunday, "B13" was emblazoned on the wall outside longtime host Jerry Hartmann's garage. B13 was the parking lot at Giants Stadium where the gang always had gathered to tailgate. Inside the garage, a roughhewn effigy of Burlew was adorned with Hall-of-Famer Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor's jersey. Taylor was one of Burlew's favorite players, though Johnny Unitas was his all-time favorite, said his widow, Joanie. "Big John," everyone said in unison, posing for a picture with Burlew's likeness. Children and the two Hartmann dachshunds, Jagermeister and Whisky, two mellow shades of tan, wandered underfoot. Food and drink flowed freely before the game, as did fond stories about Burlew's love for fun, cooking, and Big Blue. Burlew was the line foreman to Hartmann's lineman at Jersey Central Power & Light, but the boss and subordinate had been friends for 20 years, Hartmann said. "It wasn't just me, it was all us working for John," Hartmann said of the friendship. Under the seat of Burlew's truck, where some men in that line of work were known to keep magazines celebrating the female form, "you'd find 'Cooks Weekly,'" Hartmann recalled. Listeners laughed in recognition of the man they knew. Burlew had been an avid Food Network buff, his friends said, recalling some of his triumphs -- a mole sauce, a beef stew, a whole chicken on the grill -- and at least one failure, an underdone batch of fried oysters. "We never let him live that down," said Donna Waliky, a friend from Rockaway. Joanie Burlew stood by, holding a glass of wine, dressed for the occasion in a bright blue fleece. Burlew regularly provided season tickets to his friends, but she herself had only been to one game, she said. "He said, 'I need people who really know football,'" she said, laughing. Besides, the Giants had lost that one game that she had attended, and that had been the end of it. The tailgate party was a great tradition, Burlew said. "I hope the Giants organization realizes what this means to fans," she said, referring to reports that there may be fewer tailgate parties in the future, with fewer parking lots in the new Giants Stadium. "Don't take away tailgating," she said. Whatever the future brought, Burlew's group still would be tailgating, she said. "This will be their B13," she said, standing in the garage festooned with Big Blue signs, among men, women and children in Giants jerseys. Burlew enjoyed cooking, loading up the truck -- the whole tailgating process, said Mark Burlew, one of his two sons. But, over the years, the Giants' performance had been a definite source of frustration, he said. "They'd blow the game, then we knew it was time to be quiet and stay out of dad's way," he said. He hoped this was the Giants' year, he said. Burlew had hoped the tailgating tradition would continue, said Matt Burlew, his other son. "It's a very diverse group of folks," he said. "Everybody was always welcome." "I like to think God wanted a new cook for His tailgate," Waliky said. "Now he has the best seat in the house." |
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