Update 11-19-13

Hi,

 

Some further notes about Ira:

 

From Booker T. Gibson:  I'm sorry that I couldn't reach Ira.  He was a person beyond description.  He seemed to hold me with such respect.  The way he looked at me.  I really respected him.  One particular event I'll never forget was a wrestling match he had at Bellmore-Kennedy.  I lived in Merrick, which was a top rival in wrestling.  His match that year was the top competition . It was a long match, but Ira made it seem almost easy.  The locals were surprised and angry.  Ira always seemed confident.  I'm glad I knew him.  And I think he visited me when I was playing at The Irish Pub.  So there's another reason I adored Ira.

 

From Bill Linkner:  What a beautiful and passionate note from Rachael about Ira.  How lucky Ira was being the husband of such a loving individual.  We last saw Rachael and Ira when they visited us on Hilton Head Island a few years ago.  Anne, my wife, and I commented on how happy and in love they were.  We were both shocked when Rick Mitzner called and told us of Ira's condition.

    In all my years of coaching, never have I met a more loving family than the Mitzners.  I met Ira my first year at South.  He was the hardest worker on the team, wrestling at 115 pounds.  Shortly after that, Ira and Rick's father died unexpectedly, and we became very close to Fay, their mother, and the boys.  What a wonderful mother Fay was, and how much she loved her boys.  As you all know, both boys have had successful careers, Ira continuing his education at Brown and wrestling in college, and Rick, a former South County Champion, going on to Lehigh, where he also wrestled.

    Rachael, we welcome you to visit us anytime, and Ira, we will miss you terribly.

 

From Ed Albrecht:  I heard what Ira was going through, so I sent Rachael a story about boxing referee Mills Lane -- our family had him in Las Vegas for an event we were hosting.  Unfortunately, I think Ira was at a point where Rachael didn't get a chance to read the note to him.  But it was our way of letting Ira and Rachael know we were thinking of him.  Now, at last, at peace.  Amen.

 

From Robert Fiveson:  About Louie, Louie -- Ira played lead guitar for "The Fabulars," our band in high school.  Bob Rutter was on drums, and Jay Tuerk was the bass player.  I was lead singer, and the dirty version of Louie, Louie was the only one we ever did.  We got shut down by the nuns at a church dance once because of it. 

 

From Eric Hilton:  My wife, Gilda, and I just returned from celebrating our 40th anniversary in St. Augustine and found the sad news about Ira Mitzner.  Since I had a rock band and played at many of our South dances and parties, I knew most of the musicians then.  I am very sorry that I didn’t get to know Ira at South.  I just wanted to send our sincerest condolences to his wife, Rachael, and his family.

 

[Rich -- Easing out of that, it's interesting to note that several people have written in this week, updating old e-mail addresses, and saying they'd slipped out of touch.]

 

In delayed notes from earlier weeks:

 

More from Robert Fiveson:  We shot "my scene" in the HBO film Hands of Stone this past Sunday.  The shoot was a zoo.  There were hundreds of extras, and the crew shot exteriors all day.  My scene was by the casket of Omar Torrijos, the revered former president, and it was an interior as "Duran" breaks down and weeps.  I stood around for 6 hours in the heaviest winter-like costume in Panama's heat and humidity.  Finally, when they shot my scene, I kept asking for direction, but none came.  So I decided where I would stand and what I would do.  I have no lines but lots of close ups, and that bums me out because they shaved off my beard.  As most of you probably know, watching a film get shot is like watching paint dry.  It ended up being a 12-hour day.  Also, when I showed my son the photo of me at my costume fitting, he asked if the costume was flame retardant.

 

Related, from Stu Borman:  Robert is hard to recognize in the costume fitting photo he sent.  He appears very realistically cast as a priest.

    I posted the photo as the new "cover" item in the Robert Fiveson album that was already on the South High School Class of '65 photo site.  I actually posted the full version of the photo plus a cropped version that I used as the cover because the Picasa site crops the cover photo by default, in a way that is not ideal and that I couldn't find a way to control.  Thanks for sending the photo, Robert.

 

From Jerry Bittman, about the class of 65's 50th reunion:  For everybody living on either coast, it makes sense to have the reunion halfway.  In a place like Nebraska.  We have an area here called 1733 Estates.  If you go east 1733 miles, you're in Boston.  If you go west 1733 miles, you'll be in San Francisco.  And we have the best steaks and corn in the country.

 

From Ed Albrecht:  Just to let Steve Zuckerman know, I believe he was speaking about the old Garden City Hotel.  My wife, Louise, and I were married there on June 6th, 1970.  That was torn down, and a new one was built in its place, but I do not know anything about the new hotel.  Just thought I would pass that along.

 

Finally, in further memory of Ira and remembering the just-passed Veteran's Day, an exchange of notes between Marc Jonas and me.

From Marc:  I believe Stu Borman may already have posted the attached photo of one of the many Green Acres contingents, but Ira's untimely passing brought to mind this image of our youth -- it's Andy, Eddie, Barry, me, Ira, and Neil.

 

From Rich:  OK, that's Andy Dolich, Eddie, Barry Cohen, you, Ira, and Neil Guberman.  But Eddie who?  It looks like it could be Stu Kandel.  And Barry Cohen?  Do you have any idea where he is? 

 

From Marc:  Eddie Kilroy.  I'm pretty sure that wasn't Stu Kandel.  But I just looked, and there is no Eddie Kilroy in the Forest Road School yearbook from, gulp, 1959.  So, I am now uncertain.

 

From Rich:  Eddie could have moved by the time we graduated from Forest.  When I first looked at the old class photos some years back, I realized a number of kids had moved while we were in grade school, and I hadn't been aware of it then.

From Marc:  I thought that someone kept up with Barry, but, of course, I do not recall who that might have been.  Barry and I were both assigned to Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh, but when the base was closed, he was reassigned due to his priority job classification -- something to do with B52's, I think, and not the band.

 

From Rich:  What was Barry's connection with the B-52s?   Did he fly in them?  Did you? 

 

From Marc:  He and I were in the same Air Force reserve unit.  Barry worked on the electronics.  He was so excited about signing up that he ran around Green Acres with "USAF" on a sweatshirt, written with a marker.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

 

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

 

 

Rich