Just Kids From the Bronx (38 page)
Read Just Kids From the Bronx Online
Authors: Arlene Alda
Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Nonfiction, #Personal Memoir, #Retail
Mr. Ubiñas spent eighteen years at McKinsey and Co. and led McKinsey’s media practice on the West Coast, and in 2007 became the president of the Ford Foundation. He stepped down from the Ford Foundation in September 2013.
He serves on the board of trustees of the Collegiate School and the New York Public Library. Luis Ubiñas is also the northwest regional chair for White House Fellows.
He is married to Deborah Tolman and they have two sons, Max and Ben.
Lloyd Ultan
is a historian, author, and educator. In 1966 he was named the official Bronx Historian by the Bronx borough president and has served in that position under five consecutive borough presidents. He teaches history at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, and at Lehman College in the Bronx.
Mr. Ultan has written ten books, including
The Beautiful Bronx: 1920–1950
,
The Bronx in the Innocent Years: 1890–1925
, and
Bronx Accent
. His latest book is
Blacks in the Colonial Bronx
. He also writes some fifty articles a year for newspapers, magazines, journals, and Internet sites.
Mr. Ultan has lived in the Bronx his whole life and is a devoted advocate, giving walking tours regularly. He is a cofounder of the Bronx County Historical Society journal.
Howard West
graduated from Long Island University with a degree in business administration. After serving in the army he joined the William Morris Agency and eventually moved to the Los Angeles office of the agency, where he represented writers, performers, and directors as well as actors. Mr. West specialized in television packaging, bringing together the creative talent and selling the project to the network. The television shows he packaged included
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
and
The Bobby Darin Show
. Howard West is partnered with George Shapiro in the management firm Shapiro/West Productions.
David Yarnell
became a lawyer, practiced law for two years, hated it, and ultimately landed a job at radio station WNEW and loved it. He became program director of Channel 5 in New York, and then vice president of RKO General, where he formed a network of independent television stations carrying sports events emanating from Madison Square Garden. Mr. Yarnell later became an independent producer of television shows and documentaries. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Toni Howard, a talent agent for ICM.
In June of 2010, while a senior at Bronx High School of Science,
Erik Zeidler
won the American Museum of Natural History Young Naturalist Award for his survey of the snapping turtle population of the Bronx. After leaving the University of Kansas, Mr. Zeidler formed his own educational company, New York World, which brings exotic animals to schools, camps, fairs, and special events. His mission is to provide creative and innovative ways of exposing the urban children of New York City to nature.
Without the generosity and trust of all the interviewees,
Just Kids from the Bronx
would not exist. My heartfelt, deepest gratitude to them, and especially to Millard (“Mickey”) Drexler, whose trip back to our Bronx building inspired my thoughts and ideas. A special thanks to Shirley Lord Rosenthal, for her abiding friendship and generous donation of A. M. (“Abe”) Rosenthal’s chapter to the book.
Sincerest thanks to Jason Epstein, and to Andrew Blauner, my always receptive, incredibly supportive agent, who brought the book to Steve Rubin at Henry Holt and Co. I couldn’t ask for any better publisher than Steve for
Just Kids from the Bronx
. His support has been steadfast and vigorous. And how fortunate I was to have Barbara Jones as my editor at Holt. Her intelligence, understanding, and warmth made her a total joy to work with. And thanks, too, to Joanna Levine, Stella Tan, Maggie Richards, Pat Eisemann, Leslie Brandon, Richard Pracher, Meryl Levavi, and the whole team at Holt; an extraordinary group of dedicated people.
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude and deepest thanks to Jean Chemay, my ever-helpful, smart, willing, and therefore overworked assistant, who always makes my work not only easier, but possible. And thanks to Nico and Grace, who assisted Jean.
Special thanks to dear friends Henry Schleiff, Roger and Ginny Rosenblatt, Carol Kitman, Marlo Thomas, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Abigail Pogrebin, who gave of their time with encouragement, professional advice, expertise, and smiles of approval.
And to Holly Block and her always helpful staff at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Thanks, too, to Nikki Gonzalez, who willingly gave me a teenager’s perspective of her current life in the Bronx. And to the wonderful Connie Rosenblum, whose positive comments were unwavering. Her remarks, right on.
Special thanks, too, to Michael Bregman, a friend in need, and to Toni Howard for her personal friendship, caring, and help in locating some of the interviewees.
Thanks to my sister Shirley Rubman, and my niece Beverly and nephew, David, who knew the Bronx intimately for many years after I had left, and whose stories awakened my own. And to my wonderful daughters, Eve, Elizabeth, and Beatrice, always interested in, and encouraging of, my work. And to Jennifer, Bea’s partner, an avid listener and questioner.
And deepest gratitude to dear Alan, my spouse, best friend, and confidant, never wavering from his willingness to break the routine by going out for a walk and lunch.
A
RLENE
A
LDA
graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College, received a Fulbright Scholarship, and realized her dream of becoming a professional clarinetist, playing in the Houston Symphony under the baton of Leopold Stokowski. She switched careers when her children were young and became an award-winning photographer and author who has written nineteen books, including
Just Kids from the Bronx
. She is the mother of three daughters and the grandmother of eight. She and her husband, actor Alan Alda, live in New York City and Long Island. Sign up for email updates
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THE KIDS
PART ONE
| FRESH AIR … A LUCKY BREAK
George Shapiro and Howard West
PART TWO
| I SAY IT’S THE TEACHERS … DESTINY
PART THREE
| ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS, WE PRINT … THE GIFT IN THE RIVER
Melvin Glover (Grandmaster Melle Mel)
J
UST
K
IDS FROM THE
B
RONX.
Copyright © 2015 by Arlene Alda. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover design: Rick Pracher
Photo
here
David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Map by Laura Hartman Maestro, born in the Bronx
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows: