Eddie Huttner would have been 86 today. Planet Earth lost him in 1991, but he’s still here with me in spirit every single day. One day in the late 80s, we were walking around Chicago during one of his periodic visits, & my father said to me: “Jan, I’ve made a lot of money in my life and I’ve spent a lot of money in my life, but the money I’m most proud of is the money that sent you to college.” Of course, when he said “a lot of money,” he said that from the perspective of a man who had once been a labor union organizer!
My Dad worked as a paperhanger alongside his brother Leon & his brother-in-law Benny (much like the family in AVALON), & then he became a wallcovering subcontractor. He worked very hard, so we were always comfortable but never flush. When my Dad sent me to St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD (“the Great Books school“), he really did pay every dime of my tuition with satisfaction & pride. So as you read this blog, please remember my Dad: a hard-working Jewish guy who really, really believed that “great books make great teachers,” & education is mankind’s best hope.
