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FANS
In earlier essays, there was a tribute to railings and to our bashful commodes, both of which bring joy and comfort to our lives. In that same spirit, I believe it is time to pay tribute to fans of all kinds. For the first twelve or thirteen years of my life, I was forced to…
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“THERE’S NO REASON LEFT TO STAY HERE”
I would like to borrow a small amount of time to tell you about a wonderful woman from Chicago who provided the title to this essay. The story really starts in February, 1953 at 4919 West 69th Street Terrace, located in the thriving metropolis of Prairie Village, Kansas. We did not have zip codes at…
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IN MEMORIAM ROSEMARY ROCHE DADY 1928 – 2008
Robert Browning, the English poet, once wrote these lines: Grow old along with me The best is yet to be, The last of life for which the first was made. Poets are dreamers. They are not pragmatists. The last of life for aged people involves loss of hearing, reduced visual acuity, arthritis, and…
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THEY NEVER BETRAYED ME
This is intended as a long overdue tribute to my friends, the Italian people. Specifically, it has to do with the United States Depression starting in 1929 and secondly, it also has to do with the War in Italy which involved United States forces from 1942 to 1945. In my mind, there is a clear…
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YANECONE, YADAMIEC, BLAUSTEIN AND MULDOWNEY
An outsider not familiar with Ezra’s Essays might have read the title of this essay and believed it referred to an international law firm. That is not the case. The title reflects the fact that this is a country of immigrants. At the moment none of my readers are native Americans such as Cherokee, Iroquois,…
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“THAT CERTAIN PLACE”
“THAT CERTAIN PLACE” Jake Haberfeld, Jerusalem~ 1983 Most Americans, particularly of the male gender, like to think of themselves as stand-up guys without a need to revert to nuances and/or euphemisms. There is nothing wrong with nuances and euphemisms, but there is also a virtue in calling things by their proper names. For reasons…
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A TWOFER
The title to this essay is a phonetic one as spoken by Americans. Its real derivation comes from baseball. If a hitter gets two hits in his four or five at-bats, he will announce that he had a “twofer.” (If he was hitless in his times at bat, he would mournfully say, “I had an…
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SLEEPING WITH SYLVESTER
Luncheons around this house consist primarily of foie gras and truffles. As I was consuming my sixth helping of truffles, news came over the radio and television that shocked me. It seems that Larry King, the ace broadcaster on the CNN network who does wide-ranging interviews, is now being sued for divorce by either his…
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PURGATORY POLITICS
As a general principle, I try to avoid writing about religious matters because my views on that subject are well known. Simply put, I am a non-believer. But in the past week or so, I almost became a believer. There was a development that simply had to be commented upon, which is the subject of…
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RAMPANT NOSTALGIA
This may be a twice-told tale in that in 2005 I may have dictated an essay on the same subject matter. But I have always held that the fun in story-telling belongs to the story teller. It is a lot like prayer. The person who prays feels good about himself when his prayer is finished. …