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was a family man, and he kept his home life and his work life as separate as possible. Still, he did let his children know about the perils of drugs. He did let them know the difference between right and wrong. He was not overly strict, but he kept a close eye on his two sons, Jim Jr. and Brian. The Hunts also had a daughter, Colleen. She had strawberry-blond hair, was attractive, and people readily warmed to her. She would later become a very popular on-air reporter in the New York metropolitan area. She was tenacious and always seemed to ask the right questions.
    There was one time, Jim Hunt Jr. remembers, when he and some friends had gotten very drunk on cheap wine called Boone’s Farm. When Jim stumbled in that evening, his father was there. All he did was make sure his son got to bed and stayed put. The following day, however, Jim Sr. bought a whole case of Boone’s Farm and put it in the basement. He told his sixteen-year-old son he could go in the basement with his friends and drink all the wine he wanted to, drink until his heart’s content. He said, “If you’ve gotta drink like that, do it athome. I don’t want you drinking and getting drunk on the street like some forgotten bum. You get your friends and you drink here.” He learned a good lesson about drinking excessively.
    Like his father, Jim Hunt Jr. excelled at sports. He was a natural-born athlete, particularly well coordinated, had a thin, muscular physique that responded well to all types of sports, including boxing. James Sr. had taught his son the rudiments of fighting early on. He told him where to place his feet, how to throw a left, and how to throw a right with maximum effect. He also, perhaps more importantly, taught him how to avoid a punch by moving his head.
    Several times, at a local nightclub Jim hung out at—Dizzy Duncan’s in New Jersey—there were fights and brawls. Inevitably, Jim got involved in these altercations and broke them up, pulled combatants apart. Before he knew it, he was offered a job as a bouncer. The money was good, his friends were there, and he had access to girls…lots of girls. What made Jim stand out was that he was always cool under pressure, that his head seemed to rise above the fray. He was particularly good at talking guys out of fighting one another, though if need be, he was just as adept at knocking out people who wouldn’t listen to reason. Jim Hunt was about reasoning—not brawling.
    As weeks and months went by, still living at home, Jim began to think seriously about a career other than as a bouncer; he couldn’t help but think of law enforcement. After all, his grandfather and father, as well as uncles and cousins, were all cops who were highly respected and honored by their friends and colleagues. The more Jim thought about law enforcement, his getting between the bad guys and the innocents, the more the job appealed to him. He thought about what branch of law enforcement he would join, and like his grandfather, cousins, brother, and uncles, he decided on the NYPD. He knew, too, in the NYPD, he would have good health benefits and an excellent pension plan. It was no secret that Jim was particularly bright and knew the ways of the street well. He felt that in due time he’d be giving orders instead of taking them, that he’d make sergeant, lieutenant,and captain. At that juncture in his life, Jim had no desire to get married or have a family. He saw married life as something that was not, at that point, for him.
    Jim Hunt went and spoke to his father and his dad thought Jim’s turning to law enforcement was an excellent idea. Jim applied to the New York Police Department, took the physical, and began the six-month course at the New York Police Academy on East Twentieth Street, looking forward to the prospect of serious police work in the great city of New York. To Jim, New York was the heart and soul of the world and he looked forward to