John Cleary grew up in a Cape Cod-style home set on 3 acres in Glenville, near the intersection of Bolt and Sacandaga roads. His family was conservative, but mostly apolitical, which meant that the turbulence of the 1960s felt distant.
“I was kind of in my own little bubble in upstate New York,” Cleary would later tell an interviewer. “I was just kind of cruising along with my, you know, friends that I hung out with and did things and did not really look at the overall picture nationwide.”
On the lone television in the house, the family watched “Bonanza” or Disney shows — and the New York Giants on Sunday afternoons. Cleary, born in 1951, loved to ski, camp, fish and play baseball. His father, Richard Cleary, worked as a General Electric engineer…