Page 17 - Abacoa Community News - April '21

Abacoa, Page 17
Palm Beach County
Property Appraiser Accepting
Scholarship Applications
The office of Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and multifaceted field of property valuation.”
Dorothy Jacks, CFA, AAS, is now accepting applications
for the 28th Annual Palm Beach County Property be a resident of Palm Beach County, have a minimum
Appraiser’s Scholarships. of 3.0 GPA, and plan to attend an accredited higher- neighbors until his father was released.)
Six college scholarships of $1,500 each will be
awarded to graduating high school seniors who plan
to attend a higher education institution full-time. Each
recipient will also be offered an opportunity for a paid
summer internship in the Property Appraiser’s Office.
“Regardless of interest or major, all college-bound Appraiser’s Office has awarded nearly $150,000 in
Palm Beach County students are eligible to apply,” said
Jacks. “Of course, with the paid internship opportunity, we
might hope that students would discover the fascinating
To be eligible for a scholarship award, a student must
education institution. The deadline to apply is March 31.
“This program is particularly special to my office,”
said Jacks. “These scholarships are completely funded
by employee donations.”
Since 1994, the Palm Beach County Property
college scholarships.
For more information, call (561) 355-3230 or visit
pbcgov.org/papa/scholarship-awards.htm.
Book Review from page 16
Paddy Chayefsky, David Sarnoff and William Paley.
Although instructed to keep the news confidential until
the official announcement is made, Lear decides to call
his mother in the hope that perhaps, for the first time in his
life, she will acknowledge him as worthy and deserving.
(We have learned earlier of his difficult childhood: His
father, a crook, but whom he worshipped, was sent to jail
for three years when Norman was 9 years old; his mother
left with the daughter, leaving Norman with relatives and
When his mother hears the news of her son’s induction
into the TV Academy’s Hall of Fame, she replies, “Listen,
if that’s what they want to do, who am I to say?”
(Having strived for more than half a century to earn
an expression of pride from his mother – in vain – Lear
finally describes her as a “farbissiner ... another Yiddish
word, which is most easily translated as ‘sourpuss.’ But a
sourpuss is a farbissiner in the face only. A true farbissiner
is a sour soul. Sour souls stain the company they keep.
They wake up to piss on the day, and not just their day.
A farbissiner doesn’t earn the title until she is pissing on
your day, too.”)
Despite his many successes, all has not been a bed
of roses in Lear’s life. It’s been a roller coaster that
includes two divorces – the first from a suicidal wife,
the second from a woman who felt her own feeling
of self-worth decline with each of her husband’s new
successes. However, marriage number three, in 1987, has
been magic – a deliriously happy one. But he doesn’t
flinch from his own faults and covers them with as
much honesty, both positive and sharply negative, as he
describes the many famous people he has worked with
over the decades.
This book really takes you behind the scenes in the
world of big-time television and films, from frustrating
conferences at network and studio headquarters where
new show ideas are proposed and pitched, to the on-set
rehearsals – sometimes, most shockingly in the case of
the enormously successful All in the Family, when there
was constant fighting. Lear offers magnanimous praise for
Carroll O’Connor, whom he calls a brilliant actor without
whom there would have been no Archie Bunker. But he
points out that O’Connor had an unusual problem with
fright at rehearsals, wanting to change the script almost
every week for nine years, and threatening to quit over and
over again. Lear’s years as writer, producer, creator and/
or director for such hits as the early Dean Martin & Jerry
Lewis shows; George Gobel; Andy Williams; Maude; The
Jeffersons; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; Good Times;
Sanford and Son; One Day at a Time; Fernwood 2 Night,
as well as such movies as Come Blow Your Horn; Divorce
American Style; Cold Turkey, and others, provide many
interesting anecdotes.
Lear takes his love of country very seriously. When he
learned that the Declaration of Independence document
that he had seen on display in Washington, D.C., was not
the only original of its kind, but that several copies had
been printed in 1776 because not all of those who were
to sign it could be present at the same time to examine
it – and that the only copy in private hands was going
to be on auction – he arranged to bid on it. He won the
bid at $8 million, had a major architect/designer create a
mobile exhibit, and took the Declaration through all 50
states for ten years on what became a major celebratory
tour so that millions of Americans could see an original
copy of their beloved document.
There are many hilarious moments in the book, as
Lear describes his close, endearing friendships with
Mel Brooks, Carl and Rob Reiner, Dom DeLuise, and
so very many others. He has especially kind words for
Frank Sinatra’s generosity. Sinatra had long admired the
great actor Lee J. Cobb for his classic performance in the
Broadway play, Death of a Salesman. Later in his life,
Cobb was very ill and bedridden. When Sinatra learned
of it, he sent a nurse to Cobb’s home with a message that
Sinatra would be going on tour for almost a year, and
insisting that Cobb be moved to the singer’s Palm Springs
lavish home, where he had arranged, and paid for, a staff
of full-time nurses.
Family plays a very big part in Lear’s life. His
descriptions of travels with Lyn, his present wife of 30
years, are rapturous. He is very close to his five daughters
and one son, two of those daughters (twins) decided upon
when he was 70.
Even This I Get to Experience offers little-known
facts and entertainment on every page. There is also a
16-page section of photographs covering Norman Lear’s
life, from childhood through the war years to the present
day, including many of his TV and movie friends. Even
this you can experience for yourself. Do it. You will feel
as though you just received an award.