Passions

Their work has made them among the city’s most powerful, high-profile people. But the way these Philadelphians play in private is even more intriguing

Vince Fumo

“I build LEGOS during long and protracted budget negotiations, to give me relief from the tensions and B.S.,” State Senator Vince Fumo says. “My favorite LEGO was of a port. I gave one to Jimmy Kenney after he was first elected to City Council, because as a staffer he helped me with port issues. I have a few new ones that I plan on getting to this summer, with or without budget negotiations.”

 

Camille Paglia

Camille Paglia, author of the best-selling Break, Blow, Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-Three of the World’s Best Poems, has watched The Philadelphia Story hundreds of times. “And I still find it mesmerizing. It’s such a magical version of gracious living, in an ideal harmony of art and nature.” Here, Paglia is impersonating Elizabeth Imbrie, the tart-tongued photographer who accompanies reporter Macaulay Connor (James Stewart) on a secret mission from Spy magazine to the Main Line mansion of Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn), which was modeled on the Merion house behind Paglia.

 

Bob Mongeluzzi

Center City trial lawyer Bob Mongeluzzi bikes in Wissahickon Valley Park 50 or 60 times a year with three buddies, banging over rocks and logs, through streams and mud. “It’s freedom,” he says. “No cell phones, no cars, no job. Plus, I’m a former lacrosse player—any sport where maybe there’s a little blood keeps you pumping. It’s not a question of whether you’re going down, but when.”