Is it true that Buddy called Maria using the Surf Ballroom pay-phone?
No. This long-told story was proven false in 2008, when Tom Reed’s research through library microfilm surfaced a headline page from a New York newspaper with Maria stating in the headline “But he didn’t call!”. Her claims, and the Surf claims are apparently false, and it wouldn’t make sense that Buddy use the public pay-phone, surrounded by teens, when he could have used the office phone.
