Update 12-18-07

Hi,

All right:  some thoughts about the comments from last week, some Florida gathering information, a feline announcement, and some news about Andy Dolich.
   
    First, from, but not about, Andy Dolich -- for Ira Mitzner: "Mea Culpa."  Had I known you would turn out to be a high school wrestling star and a noted pre-AARP pugilist I never would have uttered the hateful and undereducated F word.  In actuality, I had a mad crush on Allison, and that was the reason for my outburst, not because of your budding thesbianism.
   
    From Steve Gootzeit:  I feel it is important to set the record straight regarding the original reasons for Barnet Kellman's and my being "totally pissed off" at Ira Mitzner.  It was not his becoming an Eagle Scout that did it; it was his election to Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 267 in 1961, despite the impressive qualifications of Barnet and me.  Barnet and I were so annoyed that we signed a pact to achieve even greater heights in the Scouts, so that we would "rank out" Ira so low that he could "play handball against the curb."  You can't make this stuff up and what is even more unbelievable is that, after 46 years, I still have the document.
   
    From  Riki Zuckerman: I think I recall that Ira played Hans Christian Andersen at Forest Road school in some production, probably under the tutelage of our music teacher, Jane Beethoven (yes, Beethoven!)  And Ira sang in that role quite well, if I remember correctly.
   
    From Robert Fiveson:  Let the Mea Culpa's begin!  Rich, Ira, I read with deep interest of your sexual confusion, revelations, and ultimate dispositions.  So let me see if I followed the emotional road map and markers for psychic land mines correctly:  Ira, you kept getting called a fag and didn't want to be; Barnet envied that you could be; and Rich you were not being called a fag but feel you were?  Huh, who could have known?
        Well, since we are baring our souls, Jay Tuerk and I kept getting called fags, too -- and for some reason still do -- and I had no way of rebutting it until I recently realized that for all his life, my son has also been telling me that I act "gay."  That's when it hit me that he was completely correct!  I cannot speak for Jay Tuerk -- even though he and I speak almost every day, and we still delight in taking turns sitting on each other's knee and making believe one of us is a hand puppet while the other makes believe he is Paul Winchell -- but all those high school analysts and my son were close to the mark.  I am now very comfortable realizing, and even publicly declaring for the first time, that for all these years I have been a closeted lesbian.  Even in high school, I felt I might be a woman who wanted desperately to have sex with other women.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  Thank God for this forum.
   
    Next, the Florida chronicles.  First from Paul Breiter, by way of Marilyn Weiner, by way of Barbara Blitfield Pech:
   
    Hi, Barbara,
    Marilyn forwarded your message to me.  I have just sent the following to the list of people I have.  Feel free to spread the news around.  When I can get something close to a consensus on the date, I will call other people I don't have e-mail addresses for.
    Paul
   
    Dear Friends,
    Your Class of '66 Reunion Committee is good to go.  We need to get some consensus on a date.  Choices are February 9th, February 16th, and March 1st.  Presidents' Day is February 18th, which may or may not mean higher airfares.  We will probably have a dinner on Saturday, somewhere in south Palm Beach County, and other informal get-togethers on other days are a good possibility.
        If any of you need a place to stay rather than paying for a hotel, and if any Florida residents would like to offer a room, please let me know about that.  Also, if there are any other alumni/alumnae from other classes who might be interested, pass the word along.  We are open to having people from classes of '65, '67, and others.
        Hope to see you soon.
        Paul Breiter
   
    And from Barbara to Paul:
   
    Hi, Paul,
    So nice to hear from you, and thanks so much for your note.  In turn, I have sent it to twenty or so "close friends" from South, both in Florida and with Florida connections to network.  I have also sent it on to our Class of '65 weekly newsletter to include in the next issue.
        So far, all of the dates are good for me, and I look forward to updates and continued details about the gathering.  I am in Miami, but I hang out in Boca, Delray, and Boynton and have a fairly good idea of where things and places are in the area.  I also wanted to mention, if Marilyn didn't, that although we haven't seen each other in many, many years, and that includes Camp Play-Grow, that my brother Neil's son Danny played on a little league team with Steven Breiter.  I just spoke to my brother to get a name update, but he didn't remember Steven's parents, though he thought they were cousins.  We literally ran into and recognized Debbie at my son's graduation in 2001 from University of Central Florida.  It's a small world.
        I look forward to continued communication and to hearing all the good news from you and our classmates about another long-awaited and much needed mini-reunion.
    Best Regards,
    Barbara
   
    And from Barbara and then from Paul:
   
    Paul,
    All is good.  I have heard from Peter Rosen with interest, and will forward your e-mail address to him.  I will also send your latest note to the class of '65 newsletter.
    Barbara

    Barbara,
    When you contact people about this, please ask them to e-mail me if they think they will come -- you can quote February 9th as the date, with an off chance the reunion will be on March 1st.  I will have to find a place to do this, and if I have an idea of how many people might come, it will help me narrow the choices.  The e-mail address for people to contact me is:  breiter@amitabha.ws
    Paul
   
    Next, the feline announcement, from Zelda White Nichols:  Hi, there, I would like to mention that I have been elected the Regional Director for the Southeast of the United States for the Korat Cat Fancier Association (KCFA), which is an international organization of cat owners.  Korats have been recognized as the rarest and one of the smartest breeds of cat registered with the Cat Fancier Association.  It is also one the last true breeds, meaning it hasn't been crossbred with something else to create a new breed or look.  They are very short haired cats, which shed very little, and many people who have allergies to cats can tolerate this breed better than others.  I have had Korats for 25 years and have been working with KCFA rescuing and re-homing them for the last two.  We send them all over the United States and the United Kingdom.  They can also be found in Thailand where they originated, and in Europe, South America, Russia, and Canada.  Also, amazingly, one will soon be in Israel.
        On another topic, it will be three years next month that my husband and I moved from California to North Carolina.  I’ve loved every minute of the past three years, although this year North Carolina has experienced it's severest drought ever, and it does feel like we are back in California again.  Every day is sunny and warm, and today will be in the 80’s.  My heart goes out to all those out west who have been hit by fires recently.  My prayers are with you.

     Finally, news about Andy Dolich, prefaced by a comment from Jerry Bittman, who was nice enough to forward the following story.

    From Jerry: I want to congratulate Dol on his new position.  He and his wife Ellen lived in the Bay Area for many years, so I'm sure they are looking forward to hanging out in Haight-Asbury again.  Dol, be sure to either call or forward your new e-mail address to me.

    And the story, written by Nancy Gay for the SFGate, the online branch of The San Francisco Chronicle, and published on Saturday, December 15, 2007

        Changes at Top for 49ers

        The 49ers are struggling on the field and off, but Friday they made a major move to bolster the business end of their operation, hiring former A's marketing executive and Memphis Grizzlies president Andy Dolich as their chief operating officer.
       Team co-owner John York said he maintains his role overseeing the day-to-day operation of the franchise. But Dolich, 60, the architect of the successful "BillyBall" marketing campaign in Oakland in the 1980s that
    helped increase A's attendance more than threefold, will become the point man in the 49ers' stadium initiative along with Jed York, 25.  John York emphasized that, as one of the team's owners along with his
    wife, Denise DeBartolo York, he is not stepping down nor is he stepping aside from the team's decision-making.  Dolich will report to him.
       "Not a bit," York said when asked if his role would be reduced in the 49ers' organization and whether his son's would increase.  "Jed's role continues to grow, but he is primarily working on the stadium initiative.
    And he will continue to do that. He does a lot of things with me and for me."
       Dolich recently resigned his position as president of business operations of the Grizzlies, effective December 31.  He joined the NBA franchise in May 2000 and was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Grizzlies' business and marketing side.  Most significant, Dolich was a key player in the construction of the $250 million FedExForum in downtown Memphis, which opened in October 2004, on time and on budget.
       "Andy is here to run the business operations of the San Francisco 49ers," John York said in a conference call. "And part of those business operations is to have the new stadium in the Bay Area by 2012.  "He will work with the present group to get that accomplished, and I think bringing on Andy just gives us more firepower to accomplish that."
       Dolich, while not experienced in NFL operations, has an extensive background in sports marketing in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, and has strong ties to Bay Area sports.  He is regarded as personable but aggressive, and jokingly referred to himself as "just a sports business guy," during the conference call.  Dolich also said he will gain as much insight as he can from the 49ers' power
    structure "instead of coming here with any preconceptions.  "What excites me is, as a competitor, this is the premier pro sports league on the face of the globe, with a team that has an incredible history and most important, an incredible future.  The stadium project, having been involved in some others, is a lifelong
    process in terms of how exciting it can be for so many people."
       Dolich is well known for his 15-year tenure with the A's, 1980-94, helping resurrect the franchise's visibility. He seized on manager Billy Martin's "small ball" playing style, one which relied on a strong starting rotation and a band of base-stealing hitters, and used it as a marketing tool.  That "BillyBall" campaign and later three pennant-winning teams helped increase season-ticket sales from 400 to 16,000 and season attendance from 800,000 to a high of 2.9 million.
       Dolich also worked briefly for the Warriors in their pursuit of a new arena in 1995, before the Coliseum Arena was remodeled.  And he headed a sports marketing group from 1995-98 that included Nike, Stanford
    University, Cal and the United States Soccer Federation as its clients.  It's widely expected in NFL circles that the hiring of Dolich is the first of several 49ers' shakeups.  The 49ers, in particular DeBartolo York, have
    openly discussed the possible hiring of an experienced team president or general manager who would oversee the football operation and personnel department.  The front office hierarchy is also expected to address the future of head coach Mike Nolan, who has two years remaining on his five-year contract
    and who maintains power over personnel decisions.  The 49ers (3-10) are out of playoff contention, and Nolan's record as head coach is 14-31-0.  Dolich, however, will have no input in the football side of the 49ers' organization.
       John York on Friday would not address the possibility the 49ers will upgrade their football operations by targeting a team president or general manager, nor would he discuss Nolan's future.  "All of those are football issues that we will be discussing and going over after the end of the season."