The Marvelous Helen Weaver

Here is an encore, from April 2010:

Shortly after I read the heartfelt and bittersweet memoir, "The Awakener," I connected with Helen Weaver. I was enthralled with her memories of her love affair with Jack Kerouac. We began to communicate in E-mails... and today, I am happy to call Helen my friend.

Helen met Jack Kerouac in November 1956, when at 7:00 on a Sunday morning he arrived with Allen Ginsberg at her apartment in 307 West 11th Street. This is a photo of that building that I took after I read the book. Helen was delighted with the photo, and she told me her window can be seen on the left, right behind the blue balloon hanging from a branch of that tree.





This is a view of the White Horse Tavern from the front of 307 West 11th Street.

This is 454 West 20th Street, where Jack Kerouac, in 1951, wrote "On The Road." I stood in front of the door through which he must have passed so many times.

And this is the southwest corner of West 20th Street where: "Dean, ragged in a motheaten overcoat he bought specially for the freezing temperatures of the East, walked off alone..."

"and the last I saw of him he rounded the corner of Seventh Avenue, eyes on the street ahead, and bent to it again."

This is now 325 West 13th Street, which is the location where Helen lived when she met Lenny Bruce. I do not know when this building was built... and it looks fairly new. The building where Helen lived may have been torn down for the construction of this newer apartment house.

This is 346 West 15th Street and it is where Allen Ginsberg lived from 1951 to 1952. It is where Jack Kerouac was introduced to Gregory Corso.

And this is a view of the block.

This is 149 West 21st Street and it was where Lucien Carr lived from 1950 to 1951. He and Jack Kerouac were friends and Jack visited him often. Bill Cannastra also lived in a nearby building that is now a parking lot.

And this is a view of the block.

This was added on January 21, 2010:
This is the front door of 421 West 118th Street, where Jack Kerouac lived with Edie Parker in the early 1940s.

 


This is 421 West 118th Street.

This is West 118th Street, looking toward Morningside Drive.

"The Awakener" is a beautifully written memoir that takes the reader to personal and heartfelt places of great joy and bittersweet memories.

Helen Weaver talks about her relationship with Jack Kerouac, and the book is so richly developed and defined that I felt the scenes were unfolding like a well-directed independent film. I was very caught up in the story.

I also had the feeling that I was becoming part of a wonderful time gone by... and I was motivated to visit several of the addresses mentioned in this book to put a visual to the text as the pages unfolded. 

Helen Weaver also discusses her other relationships from long ago... and she writes with honestly, clarity, and sincerity in terms of the direction of those relationships as the decades passed.

 Jack Kerouac, in "Desolation Angels," wrote: "So I actually felt like marrying Ruth Heaper and moving to a country home in Connecticut."

 If you are nostalgic for a time gone by and you want to hear "Ruth Heaper" tell her story, this book is a must!

ETA: Helen Weaver passed away on April 13, 2021.

Anna Berger, actor

This interview with Anna Berger first appeared at this blog in 2009. I learned today that Anna Berger passed away last May 2014. I will always remember the lunch we had at Artie's restaurant and how she described so many interesting anecdotes about the actors she met during her long fascinating career.

May she rest in peace.

 

I got in touch with Anna Berger after I saw "Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg," an Aviva Kempner documentary film which is about the legendary Gertrude Berg. Anna appears in the film discussing Philip Loeb, who played Jake Goldberg in "The Goldbergs." I was very emotionally moved and touched by Anna's recollections of Philip Loeb... and the way in which she expressed how he was fired and blacklisted. He eventually was so despondent over so many things in his life, he committed suicide in 1955 at the Hotel Taft in NYC.

Today, I had lunch with Anna Berger at Artie's, a wonderful delicatessen on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I was thrilled to have Anna discuss with me her impressive and long career on stage, television, and in film.

Anna was born on the Lower East Side, right across the street from Katz's delicatessen. Every tenement neighborhood had a settlement house. This is where everyone gathered for socialization, and there were art classes, dancing classes, and singing classes. The classes were without charge and this is where Anna found the stage. Anna, since the age of six, was in all the settlement plays for the audience of all those living in the neighborhood. Years later, the settlement house offered Anna a scholarship to any drama school of her choice. She chose Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop of the New School. Anna declares: "These were the three most happy years of my life."

Anna appeared in the Dramatic Workshop's stage productions with the other students: Bea Arthur, Elaine Stritch, Harry Belafonte, Louis Guss, Walter Matthau, Gene Saks, Ben Gazzara, Michael Gazzo, Judith Malina (who founded the Living Theater), Marlon Brando, and Joseph Sargent. Joseph Sargent is currently one of the leading directors in Hollywood. He directed the original "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" in which Anna played the mother of two children who, along with other passengers on that train car were all held hostage.

After she graduated from the Dramatic Workshop, Anna and some of the other actors formed their own theater group called "The Interplayers." This group included Michael Gazzo, Anne Meara, Jack Palance, Gene Saks, Joe Sargent, and Bea Arthur. One day Cheryl Crawford, Elia Kazan, and Bobby Lewis came to recruit working actors for the beginning of an idea of a place where actors could work on the challenges and problems of their craft. They called it The Actor's Studio.

Anna's first TV show was called "The Goldbergs," and Anna appears in a scene from an episode of that show in the documentary "Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg." In the documentary, Anna speaks strongly about the injustice of blacklisting and of the now infamous question during McCarthyism: "Are you now or have you ever been?" Many actors, writers, and directors who were blacklisted could no longer get jobs. Many fled to Europe and to Mexico and Anna's "dear, dear friend Philip Loeb" committed suicide.

In 1954, Anna appeared on Philco Television Playhouse in a play called "And Crown Thy Good." Many great actresses read for the part of "the Mother"... including Molly Picon and Jennie Goldstein. Gertrude Berg was considered. The great actor Nehemiah Persoff co-starred in the production. The play was directed by Delbert Mann. It was about a group of Jewish settlers who traveled out west to start a Jewish community. That same year, Anna appeared again on Philco Television Playhouse in a Paddy Chayefsky play called "The Mother." She played "the bookkeeper." Maureen Stapleton played "the daughter."

Anna played the sister to John Garfield's "Joe," in the Clifford Odets play "Golden Boy." One of the highlights of Anna's career was going on tour with Mae West in a show called "Diamond Lil."

In 1954, Anna appeared on Broadway in "The Fowering Peach," another play by Clifford Odets. Menasha Skulnik played "Noah." In 1956, Anna appeared in "A Very Special Baby," at the Playhouse Theater on Broadway. This was a Robert Alan Aurthur play which was directed by Martin Ritt. The cast included Luther Adler, Sylvia Sydney, and Jack Klugman.

 In 1954, Philco Television Playhouse had presented the Paddy Chayefsky play "Middle of the Night." It starred E.G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint and Anna had a role in that TV play. In 1959, the play was made into a movie and the part of "Betty" was played by Kim Novak. The film starred Fredric March, Albert Dekker, and Lee Grant. Anna played "Caroline" in the film. I asked Anna about her recollections of Kim Novak.

She told me that Kim Novak was very frightened of working with "New York actors." She was impressed with their work and perceived New York actors on a higher level than "Hollywood stars." Kim Novak felt very insecure and asked Anna to share dressing rooms and they became friends. The friendship lasted many years. Every year, Anna and her husband, Bob, received very personal and beautifully hand-painted Christmas cards from the great artist Kim Novak.

Anna again appeared in a Paddy Chayefsky play. The play was called "Gideon," and it opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theater in November 1961. The play featured the actors Fredric March and Douglas Campbell. Paddy Chayefsky called Anna his "good luck charm." Anna Berger and Paddy Chayefsky remained friends for all the years that followed.
This interview first appeared in my blog in 2009. I just saw that Anna passed away in May 2014. I will always remember that lunch we had at Artie's restaurant in NYC... and how she told me so many interesting stories about her life and all the actors she met along the way. May she rest in peace.
Bob joined us at Artie's and he told me how Anna developed quite a following when she appeared on the soap operas "Ryan's Hope, " "General Hospital," "One Life to Live" and others. Anna says the most loyal fans are the soap opera fans.

In 1998, Anna appeared in the episode "Moving Out" of "Everybody Loves Raymond." "Robert," played by Brad Garett, moves out of his parents' home and into the garage apartment of "Rita." Anna played "Rita." Robert moved to escape his mother's overprotective behavior, but finds carbon copies of his parents in his new home. This episode was loved by the fans of the show.

On television, one of the most memorable roles for Anna was the role of "Cookie" in "The Sopranos." When Paulie Walnuts brought his mother to the retirement community of Green Grove, Cookie remembered that she never liked his mother in the old neighborhood. Cookie therefore did not want Paulie's mother to be part of her social group in the dining room. "There's no room at the table; we're a set group," Cookie informed Paulie. Anna felt that Cookie could have been "whacked" for being so mean to his mother, but Paulie had Cookie's son's arm broken... as a warning. In another episode, it was Cookie who innocently told Paulie that Minnie hid her money under the mattress... and this resulted in Paulie killing Minnie and robbing her. What a character!

Well, the lunch ended and so did the interview. I have to admit that as I am writing this entry I realize that Anna Berger shared with me today only a small part of her long and impressive career. She could fill hours and days talking about her memories. Anna now has a one woman show in which she talks about her life, which was so filled with rich experiences. "Absolutely Anna" raised thousand of dollars for an art colony made up of young actors and artists.

Anna, Bob, and I exited Artie's and slowly walked north on Broadway in a light rain. We passed the location of the now closed William's Bar-B-Que, which used to be on Broadway at 86th Street. I was filled with intense nostalgia... and I was simply overwhelmed by Anna's remarkable life.

Since I was a child, I wanted to be able to time travel. The concept always seemed filled with so many endlessly wonderful possibilities. After meeting Anna, I wished I could go back to September 24, 1951... to the Fulton Theater, which was on West 46th Street right off Broadway. Anna Berger appeared there on that opening night as "Mrs. Kramer" in the play "Twilight Walk," and Nancy Kelly and Walter Matthau were also in the outstanding cast. That evening must have been magical!

Anna Berger's online biography at filmreference.com

Anna Berger in films and television:
Anna Berger, on IMDb

Anna Berger on Broadway:
The Rose Tattoo
Unlikely Heroes
Gideon
Twilight Walk

Anna Berger was interviewed by Peter Rinaldi, and the interviews can be seen on YouTube in seven parts:
YouTube, Pt. 1
YouTube, Pt. 2
YouTube, Pt. 3
YouTube, Pt. 4
YouTube, Pt. 5
YouTube, Pt. 6
TouTube, finale

Catfished, after thoughts

BETA VERSION, October 2017

“I did not know him, I knew my idea of him.” ― Sharon Olds, Stag's Leap: Poems

I do a live internet show which is a partial verbal memoir. I discuss my life and talk about some aspects of my personal history and experiences. 

In my broadcast, I try to gain new insights into a specific emotional saga and to achieve a greater perspective and understanding of my choices during a time when I was "catfished." And I was... for a long time.

I try to work through the confusion and to determine the motivations behind the behavior of the "other person" within the maze of many interactions that happened over the many years of a very bizarre period of my life.

During the journey, I remained quiet and allowed it all to unfold in great mysteries "behind the scenes." It was layered, complicated, and filled with great contradictions. The narrative in an explanation can be long and tedious because "the study" is detailed and involves a lot of inner work. And honestly, it is just not now worth the finger energy. 

I did not love this stranger who I met in my show back in 2013. We interacted in my chat room during my broadcast back then and he "got inside my head" and was eventually able to convince me that his emotional well being and happiness was totally dependent on having me in his life on a computer. If I told him to "go away," he made me believe he was becoming self destructive. 

I never saw him. He sent me photos of pictures that he said were of him, but they were clearly of different men. I sent cards to him and they were stamped "return to sender, address unknown." He created detailed stories and sagas about his life and after some time, I went down that rabbit hole. And to my bewilderment, I became attached to the interactions. 

This is not unusual and the curious case of "The Miranda Obsession" appeared in Vanity Fair in 1999. She seduced a slew of famous and powerful men including Billy Joel, Warren Beatty, Ted Kennedy, Quincy Jones, Robert DeNiro, Bob Dylan, Buck Henry, Richard Gere, Eric Clapton, and many more, all of them over the phone... and not one of them for a very very long time could confirm her identity or had even met her. She is called "the first catfish." And they talked to her for years over the phone about very intimate details of their lives.

The Miranda Obsession

My story was a deep dive into mind bends and will be incomprehensible to many of those who live in the real world within grounded mundane lives. This to them will be totally impossible to even understand. They function in a tangible world with activity consisting of visits to grandchildren, waiting for early bird specials, and bingo. In other words, a reality. That world. That snore worthy world.

But, there is a subterranean subculture of "night owls" who interconnect with each other on social media and who allow feelings for others in that world to marinate internally. They thrive in a different world. And those "kooks" will "get it." Just ask Sam and Gina. 

This journey was not what Diane Keaton has called "the sweet anguish of love..." In my specific situation, I was enabling this man's "idea" of me... in all it's full-blown delusional glory.

The above photo: somehow that place became totally involved in where he always told me he went to get drunk when I tried to disappear or distance him. 

You can't make this stuff up, but he certainly could. He even pulled others into his agenda... a woman who contacted me and told me I was "walking him to his grave." (His name is reacted)...

Yes, I could have blocked him, but he inserted himself more deeply into my life by becoming my videographer.... he was insidious in multiple ways and when you are being "gaslighted" by an expert you make excuses for the emotional abuse and think you are ahead of it when in fact you are controlled and manipulated and just a personal marionette for a catfish whose needs are being fulfilled along the way.

update: April 18, 2023. He is back. He left this message in the chat room next to my broadcast screen. What does anybody have to "endure because of" me? I never force any of the viewers to watch my show... 

Regardless of the level of fame, these characters crawl out of the woodwork.

His "nickname" is redacted.

April 19th 2023, to be continued and ongoing....

When "Denise" came to my show last week and told me of her heartbreak after an online thing ended, I was dismissive. She has been married, has lived with lovers, and has two children. But her hurt and pain from this guy who she never met, and who I know from my show, was real. It hurts to be thrown away... even in cyberspace. Why is it so hard to actually have true connections and let friendships develop? So much gets in the way. I apologized to her yesterday. 

A few years ago, I had fallen for "Jack" who goes on cam and actually was in a small way partially an inspiration for my book ROAD TRIPS which was written during a very solitary time when the pandemic was advancing and so was my fantasy world. Yep, cyber night crawlers do live in an alternate universe... a world of total limerence. But now, from where I sit, I feel I would rather be with them than sitting in some senior center playing Chinese checkers. Or sitting with a husband watching Lawrence Welk reruns. 

then and now

1975, at almost 28:

last week, at 70:

my film and television reviews

Here are my film and television reviews from the soon to be deleted boards of IMDb:

Robin Kappy at the Chelsea Classical Gallery

"Some subway riders read or listen to music as they travel around the city, unaware that they've become the subject of one Chelsea artist's portrait series. In “Between Stops: An Exhibition of Subway Portrait Sketches,” artist Robin Kappy is showcasing nearly 60 of her works, including 45 pencil sketches of straphangers, at the Chelsea Classical Gallery."

the Robin Kappy exhibit: 

at dnainfo website

at CCG website

Amazing Portraits by Fred P.

I have known Fred since 1976. He is a dear friend and a phenomenal photographer. Fred P. took many of my portraits which appear in my blogs. He is a true reminder of those great days of long ago when New York was a carefree place filled with laughter and fun times. We share many memories and it is all of those memories that will bind me to Fred forever. If you would like him to photograph you, please send me an E-mail for his contact information.

Fred took these photos of me in 1976.

A Blast from the Past: Ruby Lazarus, RIP

my father mentions Ruby during WW II

Ruby Lazarus was my father's first cousin.

Here is a photo of him as he was waiting to testify during the Grand Jury gambling investigation:

The following is from In Re Lazarus, 276 F. Supp. 434 (C.D. Cal. 1967)

"`Q Do you know Tony Salerno?

Ruby Lazarus: "`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Do you know Elliot Paul Price?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Do you know Jerry Zarowitz?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Why did you and Salerno leave Miami, Florida in October 1965?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Why did you and Salerno travel to Palm Springs, California in October 1965?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Did you and Tony Salerno share a room at the Canyon Club Inn in Palm Springs, California?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q In October 1965 you were present at meetings at 893 Camino del Sur, Palm Springs, California, with Alo, Salerno, Price and Zarowitz?

"`A I decline to answer that question.' "I am sorry. That question was:

"`In October 1965 were you present at meetings at 893 Camino del Sur, Palm Springs, California, with Alo, Salerno, Price and Zarowitz?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Were telephones at 893 Camino del Sur, Palm Springs, California, used to transact gambling business and to place wagers?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Did you use the phones there to lay off wagers?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Did Tony Salerno use the phones there to conduct gambling business?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Did Zarowitz use the phones there to call Las Vegas to transmit wagering information?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Did Price use the phones there to call Massachusetts to conduct gambling operations?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Did Alo use the phone in connection with the gambling or other activities of the criminal syndicate known as La Cosa Nostra or the Mafia?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q What was the purpose of the meeting in October 1965 at Palm Springs, California?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Was there discussion at that meeting concerning the division of points in the ownership of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Was there any discussion at that meeting concerning the conduct of a gambling layoff operation in the Eastern United States?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Was there a dispute at that meeting between you and Zarowitz?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Was there a dispute at that meeting between you and Price?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q What was the subject matter of the disputes?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q In October 1965 for what purpose was a telephone call placed from Palm Springs, California to Robert Lynn Martin in Las Vegas, Nevada?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q In October 1965 for what purpose was a telephone call placed from Palm Springs, California to the Prokos Brothers in Miami, Florida?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q In October 1965 for what purpose was a telephone call placed from Palm Springs, California to Basil Milardi and Charles Cardinali in Union City, New Jersey?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q In October 1965 for what purpose was a telephone call placed from Palm Springs, California to Herbert Kaufman in Baltimore, Maryland?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q In October 1965 for what purpose was a telephone call placed from Palm Springs, California to Harry Chorodowsky, also known as Harry Clayton, in Brighton, Massachusetts?

"`A I decline to answer that question.

"`Q Mr. Lazarus, your persistence in declining to answer these questions leaves this Grand Jury with no choice but to return once more to the court to seek the assistance of the court in this matter.

"`I would ask that the foreman direct Mr. Lazarus that he is excused but is to remain nearby to await further court proceedings.

"`THE FOREMAN: You are so ordered.'"

Canyon Club Inn today:

more added:

Ruby is in here:

The last time I saw Ruby was at my grandfather Max's funeral... and then Ruby died shortly after that.

Some side angles: Here is my grandmother Bessie Lazarus Levine. Ruby was her brother. And here is her Max Levine's citizenship paper. He is my grandfather. 

Nathan Wasserberger, (1928 - 2012)

The artist Nathan Wasserberger was born on June 24, 1928 in Chrzanow, Poland, and he died on April 23, 2012, in New York City.

This is Chrzanow, Poland:

 Nathan Wasserberger's obituary

SET IN STONE revisited

There is an old cemetery:
The place where the dead go. 
One grave has nice fresh pink flowers
To whisper that somebody is missed. 

Not many graves, but very old stones
Broken and chipped stones set in tired dirt 
Seen through windows of houses that 
Line that still street.

Some houses set way back
As if to separate the living 
From the dead. 

And then, I saw a children's swing set,
And the sun trying to peek through
To perhaps lift a sense of deep gloom.


 ©  2015 Marjorie Levine

MELANCHOLY revisted

Every week for years

I felt this way... or that way.

On one cold January melancholy day,
Under threatening skies, I wore my balaclava.

And in the distance, I imagined or imagined not
That I heard Chopin's Nocturne Op. 55 No. 1.

© 2015 Marjorie Levine

NAP TIME, revisited

NAP TIME

At dusk, a dream through stained glass:
In a hazy deciduous forest, I am almost naked-
Pristine gown clinging like translucent second skin,
Chartreuse satin slippers, cheeks pale porcelain rose,
And humidity turning my hair burnt sienna.
The scent of dried lavender drifts through trees-
“Alone in nature, by nature,” ventriloquists murmur.
Bejeweled spiders, resting on carefully crocheted cobwebs,
Melancholy widows, eyes green tourmaline,
A soldier seduced by indifference...
Haunted beauty washed forever in soft pink light.

A fading fragrant French cologne-
Earlier a sweet intoxicating elixir- melting and melted.
An elusive black-throated warbler,
Pausing on a great oak, bears witness:
An icon is shedding mellifluous silver tears,
Reflecting my grandfather, wrapped in his tallit
Stirring, turning, saying, “You look very familiar to me.”

A clammy breeze passes through Manhattan.
I awaken this time, awakened last time,
Acquiescent and still, not knowing
If it is evening... or morning. 

by Marjorie Levine

registered WGAE 2002
© 2010 Marjorie Levine, NAKED AMNESIAC

Chasing Ron

In about 2010, I was in Whole Foods and saw Howard Stern on the checkout line! Or so I thought. It actually was a Howard Stern lookalike named Ron Brawer, and much to my annoyance I did not have my camera. I wanted some pics of him because a Ron Brawer sighting is quite the photo op!

Well, the next time I saw him in Whole Foods was in 2011, and again I did not have my camera. I approached him and we began a conversation. He told me he lives in my neighborhood, so I took a bold step! I asked him if he would meet me on another day so I could take a few photos of him for this blog. He gave me his E-mail address and later that day I sent him an E-mail... to which he promptly replied: "I'm swamped with work/family right now..." I was disappointed, but did not pursue it.

Cut to July 2014: I saw him again early last week in Whole Foods. And again I had no camera. I asked him if he would meet me on another day for the same purpose of taking a few photos for my blogs. This time, he cheerfully agreed. I gave him my contact information and he reliably sent me an E-mail in which he said, "If I recall correctly, I was reluctant to do any photos last time we met... because I wasn't promoting anything at the time. I'm still not. Or, at least, not one single thing... But if you just want a photo or three of a NYC local "character" -- I could take a bit of time on Wednesday afternoon or over the weekend." I answered and said Wednesday worked and I gathered my "stuff" so everything would be good to go.

On that Wednesday, he sent me an E-mail and canceled due to work related assignments. He suggested I contact him at the beginning of the following week for a Thursday "shoot." I thought: okie dokie.

We exchanged a few more E-mails and today we met in front of Whole Foods where he graciously posed for a few photos. We even had a brief conversation about the NYC schools and the pursuit of creative endeavors. Ron has written a screenplay called, "Becoming Howard." He described it to me and it does sound exciting!

I am glad he showed up. If he stood me up or canceled... I was thinking of hanging out on the block and morphing into a wild "paparazzi." "Chasing Ron" is now history and well... what for years seemed so difficult actually today was quite a pleasant (although brief) experience.

Ron Brawer on IMDb

The Dead Howard Show

Here are the photos I took today of Ron Brawer. (I am visible taking the first photo. I am on the lower left corner in the reflection of the store's glass window).

"A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby," photos by Bee Kaye

Kara Walker's "A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby" was at Brooklyn's legendary Domino Sugar Factory.

Here are some photos Bee Kaye took of this exhibit, the full title of which is: "an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant."

Sugar Baby and the Blackamoors

Mr. Levine Travels to the Aleutian Islands During WWII

My father made a series of "records" when he was in the Army during WW2. They were made as he crossed the country from New York to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and they were for his family who were back in Brooklyn.

After he died in 1994, I had the records transferred to audiotapes. A copy of the tapes are now at THE NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM in New Orleans.

the audiotapes at YouTube

Cookie Lipschitz, Live from New York!

First Cousin Once Removed

Alan Berliner's new film, “First Cousin Once Removed,” documents the decline and the death of his cousin, the poet and scholar Edwin Honig.

I was fortunate to see a shorter version of this film a few years ago at The New York Film Festival... and it is moving and brilliant. It is currently available on HBO at On Demand.

The filmmaker Alan Berliner is my friend and he was the inspiration for all of my work at my many blogs. I wrote about my meetings with Alan here:

 my interview with Alan Berliner

NYTimes review