Update 3-12-13

 

Hi,

 

First, the scholarship totals, now after two weeks:  $850, with $412.50 donated for the Booker Gibson award and $437.50 donated toward the Vince Tampio award.

    We picked up a couple new contributors for this year, and some of the regular supporters have been especially generous, especially considering this may be their last years as donators.  As I mentioned in the last newsletter, the early fundraising weeks are often the easiest, and raising the last several hundred dollars is sometimes hard.  So we'll see how much longer it takes this year.  Meanwhile, this is terrific.

    Again, if you want to contribute, please send your checks to:  Rich Eisbrouch, 23030 Dolorosa Street, Woodland Hills, California 91367.  The checks should be made out to me, and please indicate in the bottom left corner of the check which scholarship you'd like to support, or if you'd prefer your donation to be split between the two.

 

Some sadder news, about another South teacher, this forwarded by Barbara Blitfield Pech from a note Emily Kleinman Schreiber posted on Facebook:  I received a sad message today from Nancy Russo-Rumore, which included the following obituary:  Dick Reilly passed away on February 22, 2013.  He was a former resident of Westbury, New York, and Lady Lake, Florida, and is survived by his children Richard, Deborah, and Chris.  He also leaves his grandchildren Michael, Bryan, Kelly, Katie and Keith.   Dick Reilly was an alumni of Brooklyn Prep and Widener University, a long-time teacher at Valley Stream South High School, and the husband of Muriel Walker.

 

Happier news, and something that I think is meant for the newsletter.  It's certainly written more formally than the notes Robert usually sends me.  From Robert Fiveson:  After learning that Neil Guberman is possibly near where I am presently teaching in Pittsburgh, I wrote Neil, and he wrote me back immediately.  He not only said that he's only twenty minutes away from me, but added that just a few days ago, he picked up a book -- Native American Prophesies -- at a friend's house and noticed it acknowledged the help of a Robert Fiveson in the dedication.  Neil wondered if that could be me and was going to write to ask.  It is me!  It's Karma.  And we'll be getting together soon for sure.

 

A new e-mail address from Jan Martin in Sweden:  Hello.  I have a new e-mail address.  It's now:  jan.martin@hotmail.se

 

A note that Paul Zegler and his wife Becky have also moved, but Paul still has the same e-mail address.  He adds:  We live on Mount McCoy, two hills in front of the Reagan Library, on an acre of sculptured gardens.    

    Paul also mentions that yesterday was Peter Rosen's birthday.  Happy birthday, of course.

 

Also moving, Ellen Epstein Silver.  This is from Facebook:  We are getting ready to leave the Lone Star State and move to the Sunshine State.  From Texas Brisket and the greatest BBQ we've ever eaten to the Flakowitz deli in Boynton Beach, and blintzes, bagels, and bialys.  We will miss all our family and friends here, and please know that geography does not define friendship.  We will be back to visit and y'all have a place to stay four miles from the beach!.  I'm taking a break from packing, but I still have till Friday to get stuff that I can't live without into boxes.  It has been a wonderful fifteen years for Ellen and Alan to live in Allen, Texas.  And when would we ever have an address like that again?

 

Another cultural note from Steve Zuckerman:  Looks like again I stand corrected.  My knowledge of the New York theater could use some improvement by way of the amazing Internet.  Where was this incredible technology when we could really have made use of it when we were trying to get passing grades in high school?

    Related to that, there's a interesting table top book that may still be in print.  It contained all the best sketches done by Al Hirshfeld and covered several decades of American theater and just about every show that ran on Broadway.  Looking at his drawings, which depict all the distinct facial expressions of the actors, is a real trip down Memory Lane for New York stage buffs.

    Separate from that, and with the deadline for getting your income taxes processed by April 15th, another historic fact, maybe not noteworthy but appropriate at this time of year:  This past February marked a hundred years since the present Federal income tax law was passed by congress.  Some bits of history are really not appreciated, and this could be one of them.

    And another mention of the Warner Brothers Studio matinee idol Errol Flynn.   In a television interview,  veteran actress Bette Davis spoke highly of fellow actor Errol Flynn.  She considered him an excellent dramatic actor whose work on the one film made together -- The Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex -- was very much overlooked.

 

Another caution, though not about pets, from Zelda White Nichols:  Moving here to North Carolina, which stays nicely green, I thought we would get away from the sadness of fire caused by the frequent Southern California droughts.  But we just got a note from our realtor, who has become -- along with her husband -- a dear friend of ours at the beach.  Unfortunately, her office just burned down and is a total loss.

    I’m sharing this because there's a lesson to be learned:  Catherine had backed up the records of the houses that were in the process of being sold, but everything else for all of her employees has been lost.  So if you own your own business, no matter how small, please back up all your records regularly, and keep those backups somewhere outside your office to be safe.

 

[Rich -- Finally, Marilyn Horowitz Goldhammer is visiting Judy Hartstone in California this week, and the three of us managed to slip in a quick lunch together.  Marilyn and I had seen each other in Washington last summer, and Judy and I see each other quarterly.  So Marilyn and I picked up a conversation about education we'd been having last June, and Judy and I resumed our usual talk.

    We didn't always talk about high school, but one thing Marilyn mentioned was the transition we all needed to make between grade school friends and junior high and high school friends.  Judy mentioned that her transition was eased by her interest in sports, and I said mine was buffered first by sports -- when I helped manage the track and soccer teams -- and later by theater.  Both cut across previous grade school connections and grade levels.

    We also talked about the fact that -- at least at South at that time, but unlike what seems to be common nationally, in the present -- students didn't have to make a choice between being popular or being bright.  The popular kids at South were very often the bright ones.

    And Judy mentioned that her father, who if you remember was in the music business, was a backer on the Broadway production of Anthony Newley's Stop The World I Want To Get Off and also helped it get produced in the United States.  Judy said she saw the show seven times, once taking Marilyn.]

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rich