An age, a heritage, a bond to JFK

Joe and Anna Conley heard the offer yesterday over lunch, as they munched chicken salad sandwiches in their Dorchester kitchen, and couldn't resist the invitation to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. To commemorate what would have been Kennedy's 90th birthday, the library offered free admission to anyone born in 1917.

Joe Conley, born Sept. 17, 1917, grabbed his aluminum cane. "I thought maybe they'd give me a bowl of fish chowder, because nobody likes fish chowder like me and the president."

The couple drove their Oldsmobile the mile to the library and joined a celebration that revolved around the number 90. Cups of clam chowder sold for 90 cents. The 90th visitor received a library tote bag jammed with Kennedy memorabilia.

The library also waived admission charges for 11 other people who shared Kennedy's May 29 birthday, but who were born in other years, including one man who flew in from Indiana to celebrate his 50th.

The Conleys were married in 1947, and Joe Conley was the only attendee born in 1917.

"Everybody had a connection to Kennedy," said Joe Conley, who paused just long enough to let his wife finish the sentence.

A smile stretched below Anna Conley's bifocals. "He was Irish," she said. "And he was from Massachusetts."

ANDREW RYAN