I was saddened to learn of the passing of Gerald from
Laszlo's On Lex
I never met him personally, but knew him as one knows a favorite author - through their writing: memoirs, anecdotes, and reflections.
Laszlo's was a favorite ever since I heard about it from Matthew's
Movie Tone News last year. I quickly discovered it was a unique blend of musings from a man of many interests: travel, history, film, theater.
Ten Random Things on Tenth was a regular feature at
Laszlo's that I enjoyed. The post, which came on the tenth of each month, was just as its title described - ten random things, inspired by the writing of
Jimmy Cannon, a 1950s New York columnist I had only learned about through Gerald.
When the series didn't continue through the summer, my assumption was that Gerald had taken a longer-than-usual hiatus.
Then last weekend I was delightfully surprised to see a new post, even though it was a bittersweet one entitled
Closing Time. It was unmistakably written by Gerald, and I searched for meaning in it. "
Had Gerald decided to focus more attention to his travels to England and studies of General Gordon Pasha?", I wondered. Then last Tuesday, I heard the news and read Matthew's lovely
tribute post, which I couldn't finish reading before tears ran down from my eyes.
It occurred to me that
Closing Time prepared my heart for the sad news.
According to Matthew, Gerald passed away in August and had requested that his pre-written
Closing Time post be published after his passing. (His wife Enola posted the final piece,
which you can read here)
Quite a testament.
I don't know the cause of his passing. From his recollections of events from decades past, I knew Gerald was at least 75. I believe a photo of him in London appears in a May 2011 post (
view post here).
He visited my blog, too, and I will always cherish the times he would comment on my posts, which were always thoughtful and insightful.
Over the course of his life he had discovered so many motion picture gems that I have yet to find (his favorite movies could be found on his post
listed here), and some gems I never will find, such as the now-demolished Bronx New York movie house once known as The Devon.
His post on The Devon inspired me to do my series on vintage movie theaters.
When I wrote about Woody Allen, Gerald stopped by to reminisce. Another time he shared a tidbit from a Max Ophuls biography, which helped me in a film class I was taking at the time. A post I did on
Portrait of Jennie inspired Gerald to share some info from another biography, this time of David O. Selznick. (And he had read many many other biographies, too) And after writing about
Titanic, I learned of Gerald's vested interest in the subject, as he was a longtime member of the Titanic Historical Society.
He recalled with fondness the one occasion he was able to speak with Ms Patricia Neal on a cruise ship some years ago. Then there were the conversations with his Italian barber who prefers Visconti over Fellini. He also knew New York bookseller Sid Soloman, founder of The Pageant Bookstore which was featured prominently in
Hannah And Her Sisters. And then there was his friend in Kent England - the "Luddite" - who had no computer, email or television, and would not use a telephone.
I will miss his posts and hearing from him. But I'm comforted to know that he left us with
Laszlo's and so many good stories to enjoy again and again. Just like the filmmakers and authors he admired.
My condolences to his family and friends.
