Page 19 - The Jewish Voice - April '21
P. 19

The Jewish Voice, Page 19

      Book Review from page 18
                                                                                                            aLL about kids
      Sarnoff and William Paley.                         brilliant actor without whom there would have been no Archie
      Although instructed to keep                        Bunker. But he points out that O’Connor had an unusual problem
      the news confidential until                        with fright at rehearsals, wanting to change the script almost
      the official announcement is                       every week for nine years, and threatening to quit over and over   Beth David’s Preschool
      made, Lear decides to call                         again. Lear’s years as writer, producer, creator and/or director
      his mother in the hope that                        for such hits as the early Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis shows;   Butterflies
      perhaps, for the first time in                     George Gobel; Andy Williams; Maude; The Jeffersons; Mary
      his life, she will acknowledge                     Hartman, Mary Hartman; Good Times; Sanford and Son; One      Spring is
      him as worthy and deserving.                       Day at a Time; Fernwood 2 Night, as well as such movies as   here and with
      (We have learned earlier of                        Come Blow Your Horn; Divorce American Style; Cold Turkey,   it come new
      his difficult childhood: His                       and others, provide many interesting anecdotes.    beginnings
      father, a crook, but whom he                          Lear takes his love of country very seriously. When he   and growth.
      worshipped, was sent to jail                       learned that the Declaration of Independence document that   The children
      for three years when Norman                        he had seen on display in Washington, D.C., was not the only   of Temple
      was 9 years old; his mother left                   original of its kind, but that several copies had been printed in   Beth David
      with the daughter, leaving Norman with relatives and neighbors   1776 because not all of those who were to sign it could be present   Preschool
      until his father was released.)                    at the same time to examine it – and that the only copy in private   learned what is Jewish
         When his mother hears the news of her son’s induction into   hands was going to be on auction – he arranged to bid on it. He   about butterflies. In
      the TV Academy’s Hall of Fame, she replies, “Listen, if that’s   won the bid at $8 million, had a major architect/designer create   springtime, we  see
      what they want to do, who am I to say?”            a mobile exhibit, and took the Declaration through all 50 states   many different kinds of
         (Having strived for more than half a century to earn an   for ten years on what became a major celebratory tour so that   butterflies flying around.
      expression of pride from his mother – in vain – Lear finally   millions of Americans could see an original copy of their beloved   We have a butterfly
      describes her as a “farbissiner ... another Yiddish word, which is   document.                        garden at the preschool
      most easily translated as ‘sourpuss.’ But a sourpuss is a farbissiner      There are many hilarious moments in the book, as Lear   and the children were able
      in the face only. A true farbissiner is a sour soul. Sour souls stain   describes his close, endearing friendships with Mel Brooks,   to observe the caterpillars
      the company they keep. They wake up to piss on the day, and   Carl and Rob Reiner, Dom DeLuise, and so very many others.   eating the milkweed,
      not just their day. A farbissiner doesn’t earn the title until she is   He has especially kind words for Frank Sinatra’s generosity.   making  their  way  to
      pissing on your day, too.”)                        Sinatra had long admired the great actor Lee J. Cobb for his   the wall to create their
          Despite his many successes, all has not been a bed of roses in   classic performance in the Broadway play, Death of a Salesman.   chrysalis , and eventually
      Lear’s life. It’s been a roller coaster that includes two divorces –   Later in his life, Cobb was very ill and bedridden. When Sinatra   emerging as butterflies.
      the first from a suicidal wife, the second from a woman who felt   learned of it, he sent a nurse to Cobb’s home with a message that      This experience
      her own feeling of self-worth decline with each of her husband’s   Sinatra would be going on tour for almost a year, and insisting   embodies many Jewish
      new successes. However, marriage number three, in 1987, has   that Cobb be moved to the singer’s Palm Springs lavish home,   values, such as ma’aseh
      been magic – a deliriously happy one. But he doesn’t flinch   where he had arranged, and paid for, a staff of full-time nurses.  b’reishit, the miracle
      from his own faults and covers them with as much honesty, both      Family plays a very big part in Lear’s life. His descriptions   of creation; and tza’ar
      positive and sharply negative, as he describes the many famous   of travels with Lyn, his present wife of 30 years, are rapturous.   ba’alei chayim, kindness
      people he has worked with over the decades.        He is very close to his five daughters and one son, two of those   to animals. The lifecycle
         This book really takes you behind the scenes in the world   daughters (twins) decided upon when he was 70.  of butterflies was taught
      of big-time television and films, from frustrating conferences      Even This I Get to Experience offers little-known facts and   in the classrooms and the children were able to observe in
      at network and studio headquarters where new show ideas are   entertainment on every page. There is also a 16-page section   real time the miracle of the transformation from caterpillar
      proposed and pitched, to the on-set rehearsals – sometimes,   of photographs covering Norman Lear’s life, from childhood   to butterfly! This lesson led to discussions of kindness,
      most shockingly in the case of the enormously successful All   through the war years to the present day, including many of his   creation, and growth. Investigation of butterflies, through
      in the Family, when there was constant fighting. Lear offers   TV and movie friends. Even this you can experience for yourself.   play and stories, helped the children learn all about them.
      magnanimous praise for Carroll O’Connor, whom he calls a   Do it. You will feel as though you just received an award.





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