Chicago 1979-81

June 15, 1979

Dear Family,

Life at the “Merc" is enervating. 1/2 week into my Summer Internship here,
life is very interesting.

My address until at least 8/3 is: 1420 Chicago Ave., Apt 7A, Evanston, IL 60201. (312) 869-4699. The apt. has 3 bdrms, 2 bthrms, AC, and a dishwasher.
The waterbed I am sleeping on has a heater and vibrator. The view (the best in the building) is basically east and south and as I sit here typing I can see the night lights of downtown Chi., 11 miles away.

I am subletting the place from Steve Sherman, a "4-Qtr" MBA graduating student who will be working for Peat, Marwick, and Mitchell when he returns from a vacation out west. I have enjoyed meeting his colleagues.

I arrived Tuesday night and stayed in cousin Robin's dorm room for that night. I reported to the Merc at promptly 8 AM on Wed morning, having been notified of the award only 5 days earlier. Most of the day and some of yesterday was spent at an academic/business cattle futures seminar. Highlight of the event was the opening paper by the noted Lester Telser of U of C. The catered lunches were opulent in their beef (because of a propitious hedge by the caterers we were told). .

As the “1st Annual Livestock Futures Conference” closed I moved into the Research Dept., where I will be spending all my time. Overall, the unit is lean and hardworking, young and enthused. I will be working under Kurt Dew, Senior Financial Economist, whose boss is Frank Jones, Director of Research., and CME VP. My first and possibly only project as it may take me 8 weeks is to write a formal "Justification for Trading the Australian Dollar Futures Contract" to be submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).” Peculiarities to the Australian Currency restrictions make the endeavor tolerable.

Today, as I had finished a preliminary outline and Kurt was away, I hopped
a loop bus over to the Australian Consulate and Trade Commission Office and got myself invited to a cocktail party next Wed. for am visiting Australian Reserve Bank Official and to be attended by area Bank VPs and professional Economists. The Merc's library 3 floors below me is facilitative and somewhat adequate. On a daily basis alone they get the NYT, WSJ, WP, and J Commerce.

Chicago is certainly "Life in the Fast Lane” l catch a 7:20 C&NW to make it to the office by 8:00. With a 12 minute walk to the station, I have to get up before 5:45 to get my 12 laps of the block size park 300 yards from the bldg. door. Once around is approx 1/4 mile. Office hrs. are ostensibly 8:30 to 5:00 but when I arrive and leave at 5, more than half the office is there.
The atmosphere is congenial but the dress very very professional with 3 piece suits the norm. This is an institution and city that like to be tooted as ones that "work”. My train stop has NYT and WSJ dispensing machines. The suburban train riders are as well read as any non NY east coast crop. The ride can usually present an opportunity to meet a new female.

Evanston is fun to live in. I have had a very enjoyable bicycle ride each evening along the lakeshore landfill and in-town. Hardly one of the 30 notices I responded to from the listings at the Office of Off Campus Housing was a palatable choice. Though dry, the town is replete with ice cream parlors.

Tuesday night I had Deep Dish pizza at Myπ. Though $6.50 for a small with
mushrooms, onions, and green peppers, it was also an adequate breakfast the next morning with a cold final quarter. There's nothing like Chi. pizza.

Be well.

June 24, 1979

Dear Family,

So it has come to pass. We are blessed with a generation anew. How honored and fortunate I am to have such a loving sister-in-law and brother. Maazel Tov to you and a heartfelt welcome to Noeh Chen Levinson. I can hardly wait to feast my senses on this new bundle of joy.

Life here is as it was last week, educating and enjoyable. I am proceedng fairly well on the Australian Dollar justification and should have a first draft completed by the weeks end. I received my first paycheck on Fri. and treated myself to a $2.50 Mexican lunch. I also visited our resource library, that of Continental Il. Bank, nearby. While my day is not yet 8 hours of productive effort, it is getting gradually more efficient.

I am also picking up on the transportation subtleties. For example, I am now taking later trains both to and from the city because on the whole they are less crowded and more likely to be carrying nubile women living in this area.

Evanston is exhibiting quite a nascent culture with its "Arts in the Parks" series taking place nearby. It runs weeknights from 7-9 P.M. and last week I listened to a group poetry reading and a young derivative-but-still-pleasant rock n' roll band. Walker Bros. Apple Pancakes in nearby Wilmette provided a sumptuous feast for Robin and I last Sun. morning.

Fri. night I took a new friend, Marilyn McManus, to see a one-man play, "Banjo Dancing", by Steven Wade and afterwards we returned here for a light late salad. Wade puts on an appealing collage of musical and dramatic sketches, the classic funny Jew. His technical competence in the banjo helps. Marilyn is a good person and we have many common interests with the result that we talked until 3 A.M.
Yesterday I attended the annual C.M. E. picnic. Nobody else from my department attended and in general upper echelon types were absent. I did befriend a few floor runners and CME Pres. Clayton Yeutter. I had a good time feasting on the Fried chicken, corn on the cob, and beer. The weather was unfortunately cloudy, windy, and cool. Our 90 + days seem to be over for the moment.

Since the beach is only 3 blocks from here, I have started running down that way on my morning jog. So far I can still feel that I am well under peak speed.

I have two mere weeks of the apt. to myself. This week I discovered that we have a trash chute in the hall. The water bed is proving comfortable.

I made a mistake on the date of the cocktail party at the Australian Trade Council. It is to be this coming Wed and I am planning to attend.

I finally have the details on the fellowship numbers. 76 candidates applied for 9 fellowships. For the summer Research Intern Fellowship (what I am on), 24 people applied for 2 spots. I am the recipient of the Internship in financial Futures. Ed Easterling , an M S student in Ag Econ at Auburn, is the agricultural Futures recipient. To put it mildly, he knows his poultry.
Two acquaintances of mine from UNC are in the 4-Qtr MEA program at NorthWestern. This past week I visited with them and we may get to a baseball game together.

Chicago culture is competent, bordering on cosmopolitan. Noontime music occurs all over downtown and I hope to catch a few lunch-time gallery talks at the Chi Art Inst. this coming week. I also hope to do some noontime shopping for a summer suit. An adequate progressive rock station has turned up in WXRT.

Permit me to close with a reiterated welcome and expression of heartfelt joy and gratitude to our newest and most precious Levinson and her marvelous parents.

July 1, 1979
Dear Family,

Greetings from Cosmopolitan Chicago. These shores ot Lake Michigan
offer a stark constrast to the flat plainness of the surrounding plains.

My professional week took a few turns. On the downside, Kurt mandated that I not attend the Australian Consulate cocktail party because administrative error prevented a formal invitation from reaching Frank, so Kurt was miffed. However, I have basically finished drafting the A Dollar justification and moved onto one of the hottest topics in the whole field, options. Specifically I will be designing the gold option justification. This is to serve as the model for all the commodity option justifications to be submitted. The instrument is quite abstract as these options are to be on futures contracts, and not an the currently traded simpler physical stocks. The entire industry is increasingly dabbling in this medium.
The week's cultural fair was stimulating. Mon. night I helped Marilyn with her flat bicycle tire. Tues. she came with me to an estate auction 3 blocks from here. Predictably some positively awful junk commanded outrageous prices. I walked away with a brown 5' X 8' rug for $8 and narrowly missed out on a 42 piece china set for $35. Thursday and Fri. at noon I headed over to the Art Institute for their 12:15 lectures on "European Art in the Twentieth Century and "Women In Art” respectively. The former was quite educating and interesting. In the latter the guide chose to lecture in the Socratic method, so we all had to listen to everyone's uneducated opinions. As a result we got through only two paintings in the half hour time that I had. Today I took a walking tour of the Chi. "Gold Coast" of the near North side offered by the Chi Architectural Society. The plurality of
homes seen were turn-of-the-century Georgian style.

The farmers market officially began this season yesterday here in Evanston. I purchased some delightfully sweet apple cider, lettuce, sprouts, and spinach. Later in the day I ventured downtown and bought myself a pair of black shoes and a two-piece wash n' wear polyester suit.

Weeknights I try and make it over to the Evanston Public Library near me as the magazine and newspaper collection is exemplary. Additionally, one block from here is a paperback book store. where I recently purchased The Gulag Archipelago for $0.18 and am now well into it. I expect to get a library card next week. Fr1. night at the library I saw the B.B.C. production of “Islam" in two parts, 54 minutes running time. Overall the production was just and illuminating but a little too gentle for my tastes.

This coming week should be fun with the movie "Lolita" showing at NW Tue night and a JSG of Chicago party on Sat night. I have not run this week and hope to get back into doing so again.

New people are coming into the Research Dept. all the time in various
capacities. One of the most recent is attractive Rachel Jacobson, another (different type) summer intern. The big room I am now situated in has been divided by 5' high panels into 8 work areas. The problem remains that half of the room's occupants are in P.R. and talking all day long. Friday I introduced myself to the IMM's biggest enchilada, Leo Melahmed.

This coming week I will also be losing the luxury of this place all to myself. I find unwinding upon arrival home in the evening is best performed unobstructed. My nightly bicycle ride helps. The concerts in the park are still pleasant but the crowd is increasingly pre-pubescent. .
Be well.



July 8. 1979

Dear Family.

Greetings from the top of the working week. I am positively enthused about getting back to work tomorrow. I trust that your week is as enticing.

The past week was quieter socially and cultura1ly. On Monday cousin Robin had supper with me. Afterwards we grabbed the extra 10-speed here and rode around. On Tue. I saw "Lolita" as planned with Marilyn. The story was well designed and acted. Marilyn shared dinner with me beforehand and conversation followed. She has deeper thoughts and current relationships than I originally ignorantly suspected. My tenure here is so tentative that an intimate relationship may not be in the offing. Wed. was. of course. a holiday for us working stiffs and I got basically my only tan of the week then. Fri. night was the movie "Orthodox Christianity" at the Public Library. Again a gentle treatment but nevertheless revealing as it focused on Rumania where 80% of the pop. is O.C. and is what "Rumania" means in Rumanian. Yesterday was a leisurely literary and physical indulgence as I started Hillel Halkin's Letters to an American Jewish Friend and continued on the Gulag. The J "American" SG party was a drag as everyone there did not even pretend to be more than a step or two from total assimilation. The male-female ratio was typically depressing. Today I took the Chi. Architectural Foundation's "River Walk" downtown. I found it much more fulfilling than last week's offering because of the buildings' scope, chronological and stylistic differences, and proximity my place of employment. My appreciation of architecture improved immeasurably. I chose the walk over an Art Institute lecture on Monet. Tonight I got locked out of the apt. twice. once befriending two women downstairs who helped me out and the other time I trekked up to Robin's room and we played a round of "O-Hell” until roommate Steve returned.

Steve King moved in on Fri. He starts work for Data, Resources Inc. tomorrow as an "Associate Consultant". We may even have professional interaction: the CME subscribes to the DRI software package and database. He does not us the kitchen much. So far everything A OK.

I could really write about my job forever as I enjoy it so much. Since it is so highly abstract I decided to leave it to the end with no room left. So I won't bore you with it. I grow daily. Fellow Evanston-commuter-summer-intern (at Continental Illinois Bank) Fern Shapiro turned me on to her subsidized cafeteria (ie Pot Roast $0.60, Sals. Steak $0.50 Chicken&Rice $0.70). Needless to say. I'll return about as often as I can get in.


July 15, 1979

Dear Family,

I am well and I trust that you are likewise. Summer is too pleasant a season for you not to enjoy it. The week here was busy, fun, and productive.

On the professional side, Kurt and I finished editing and reviewing the Australian Dollar justification and he was pleased with it as he said there were no systematic errors and his editing was minimal. It is now before Research VP Frank Jones and if he likes it, he'll submit it to the IMM Governing Board and if they like it, it will be submitted to the Commodity Future Trading Commission and if they like it, the world will see for the first time, futures contracts in A$. This week I also finished the Options on Futures justification. The CFTC met this week and decided to allow this contract on gold, GNMA, and sugar, of which we trade only the first. They'll take market designation requests beginning in October. I am real excited about this one. I think that next I will be commenting on a recently completed justification for futures in Eurodollars written by Kurt.

I spent Tue night with Marilyn as we rode some Evanston city streets, and shared some ice cream and conversation. All around pleasant and enjoyable. On Wed. I shared my salad and beans-and-rice dinner with Maria, the woman who helped me out last week when I was locked out. She spent most of her life Morningside Hts (NYC) and is of Greek ancestry. Though she is going for a Masters here at NW (in Speech Path.) you would not know it from my impression. Thursday night I spent cleaning up for Mother's Fri. arrival (though you would not know it from her). '

We had a very enjoyable time this weekend. Her train was 1/2 hour early after leaving 1/2 hour late. Fri. night we ate at Fritz-That's-It here in Evanston having the all-you-can-eat salad bar. Afterwards we viewed this weeks Evanston Public library segment of Religious study, "Judaism. I had seen it in Brooklyn Hts last October, but it was enjoyable the second time around nevertheless. Sat. morning bright and early was the Evanston Farmer's market, followed by the Chi Arch Fdn Sat. morning bus tour. The tour was quite interesting and revealing as we got to neighborhoods I had no idea existed and we were given lots of historical perspective. Lunch was a small Gino's Pizza Supreme (hold the sausage) followed by a quick visit to one of the city's shopping meccas, Watertower Place. Last night I attended a party here in Evanston given by an office colleague, Richard Bee. One of the party's impetus was this coming week's departure of C.D. Hoyt.
He, and I are to have lunch together tomorrow. Today mother and I had an apple pancake breakfast at Walker Bros. In the early afternoon we meandered through a Block Assoc.'s Open Houses and Gardens in the city. We returned to Evanston and at 3 heard a flute quartet at the Public Library performing an assortment of pieces. Supper was the same sumptuous feast as Fri night. Tonight and throughout the weekend we have walked around here and along the lakefront. Tomorrow Mother is to have lunch with cousin Robin and she is is to leave on Tue afternoon. We should have a good time until then. Her trip here has been one of the better tabs I've picked up.

I'm getting along well with roommate Steve King. He is quite resourceful as he ridded our flying insect infested dining room ceiling of the critters with a vacuum cleaner. I will find out this coming week whether I'll be here until 8/3 or 8/15.

Be well.


July 22, 1979
Dear Family,
Greetings from the beginnings of a glorious summer week. I trust that you are well and joyously involved with this summer's unique experiences I am slightly worn-out and overweight from the past week's intensive visitation from the two women of my life, Mother and Sister.
Judy left around noon today after a whirlwind 2 1/2 day tour. She arrived at our downtown rendezvous an hour late at 9 PM on Thurs night. Later that evening back in Evanston we had some uninspiring thin crust pizza accompanied by a pleasant folk singer. Capping the evening off was a midnight bicycle ride through some of the more beautiful streets here and along the lakeshore. Fri I had to work only a half day as I was at a DRI seminar in the morning. Judy caught the Chi Arch Fdn Loop tour at that time. In the afternoon we took in a series of sketches by Picasso at a gallery, a stroll along Mich Ave, and a drink from high atop the John Hancock bldg. That night Marilyn accompanied us to hear Steve Goodman and Bonny Koloc. We sat on a blanket on the grounds outside the amphitheater band shell. Sat. morning was The Farmers Mkt followed by Walker Bros Pancake House and my Jewel supermarket. Starting our day's journey South into the city we returned to the apt. and explored the corner one block from here where we both bought paperbacks and I bought two work acceptable shirts, white and yellow Long Sleeve. In town we stopped first at Lincoln Park for the County fair and then the near north side where the Gold
Coast Art fair was taking place. It was here that we ran into my colleague Mike Gilman and his girlfriend Karen. At 5:30 we saw a movie of a 1964 rock concert in Santa Monica. The highlight of the weekend cam at 8:18 when Joan Armatrading walked onto the Park West stage. Her 90 minute concert was simply magnificent. Afterwards we had the purported best pizza in Chicago at Giordano's nearby on Lincoln. We ate at Fritzthatsit on Fri night and for this mornings Sunday brunch, both times a very satiating experience.
Professionally, the week passed satisfactorily. Frank Jones liked my proposal enough to pass it on to the Board, who promptly tabled it for the same reason that it got its initial push back in Jan: the A$-US_ parity fluctuation is not highly variable (and hence profitable for traders) and the settlement procedure was precedent setting. My option justification is only now crawling through the typing pool and my current development assignment, for a future contract on certificates of Deposit is progressing, if slowly. Ironically Ed Easterling and I were the two Merc employees to attend the DRI "Intro to EPS" seminar on Thurs and Fri. Thurs. lunch was a sumptuous Spanish Cuisine at Mason de Lago at DRI' s expense.

Mother left this past Tue. after a near full day of touring downtown, including the same Loop walking tour. Both women were overwhelmed by my trading floor, quite a spectacle.

In our office at the Merc we have finally gotten a favorite fantasy of mine, a cathode ray tube plugged into Reuters capable of giving us any current market quote of interest or news headline.

July 29, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings from the weekly Community epistle. I am very comforted and feeling supported by your presence even if your imprint is only felt telepathetically. The winds of change do buffet me around inordinately. Once again I am gearing up to get my act on the road.

It appears that I will be at this address until Aug. 15. I am not exactly sure of my tentative departure date but I expect the uncertainty to be resolved shortly. A bed for me here will exist until at least 8/10 as Steve King is going on a 10-day DRI series of seminars. The third roomate Rapph Merrol should be moving in tomorrow.

My professional week was interesting, if not the most productive. Wed. was exciting as I spent most of it at the Chicago Board Options Exchange assessing their operation to determine what we should graft onto ours in order to handle options. Most obviously, a TV Screen with the last trades displayed will have to be installed in the gold futures pit. Otherwise, their transaction system, underlying good, and regulating authority are so radically different from ours that facile comparisons are not helpful. This was the first of two memorandums that I wrote to Kurt (cc: Frank). The other concerned the difference in gold contracts among the IMM, CBoT, and the NY Commd Exch. The rest of the week I spent researching our gold delivery mechanisms and rules as Kurt wants all the details for the gold option contract worked out. I am somewhat confused because the regulations that we will be operating under are not yet in the Federal Register.

Socially the week was fairly quiet, as I sought to conserve my physical and economic resources. Tue. I spent an uneventful 1 1/2 hrs with Marilyn. Thurs. I took Secry. Kathy Galman on an Exchange floor tour and to lunch at the Cont IL cafeteria for a $2.50 meal for the two of us. Fri. night I shared my Salad and Beans-Cheese-and-Rice dish with neighbor Sarah.

Yesterday I nearly finished Hillel Halkin's masterpiece and cruised through the Evanston sidewalk sale 2 and 3 blocks away. I indulged myself and purchased assorted shirts (mindful of cotton's need to be ironed), shoes, socks, and tape. Today I read the NYT and Chi Trib, befriended neighbor Kay while sunning myself to an efficacious degree, traditionally got this letter off and my wash done, and ran the nearby Parcourse twice.

Parcourse? A Parcourse is a series of exercise stations, complete with necessary physical props, spread over a two mile jogging course. Evanston (and the Chicago area) got its first installed last Thurs, and I have been enjoying it since. It has been a real impetus in my getting back into a physical routine.

Tomorrow is the last work day of Charles D, Hoyt, and I will certainly miss him. Tomorrow night I will be having dinner at the apt. of Mike Gilman and his girlfriend Karen. I look forward to their Lasagna with great anticipation. Next weekend my friend Greg Malkin will be here for a visit.

I am overjoyed at how large the family gathering in Cleve Hts may prove to be. As always we could have some real good times together.

The political communities beyond my control are typically perplexing and/or depressing. Sadly Carter at this point is not the man to be Pres of the US. I fear that M. Begin's physical frailty may prove him not to be the Israeli PM

Halkin's book highlight's the legalistic (at the expense of logical) and veritably anti-intellectual nature of Jewish history that Begin is such an exemplary specimen of.

Be well.

August 5, 1979

Dear Family,

An attempt at an august greeting to you. The weather here has been hot and recently humid. The city bristles with excitement, but first some business.

As I have communicated with most of you verbally I will not be returning to UNC this month. Instead I will be heading down with Judy Aug. 17 to pack up my belongings Aug. 18 and returning north. My exact return designation is as yet unspecified, but I will most likely work at the Merc. through Aug. and spend the first week in Sept. in Clev Hts with you. Permit me a few interviews before I speculate on my final choice of employer.

The process has been draining but support has been forthcoming both from within and without. Among those helping me cope have been U of Chi MEA students and colleagues C D Hoyt and Mike Gilman. Chuck finally left this week-end and last Monday I had dinner with Mike and his woman friend Karen Joseph. Their first attempt at Lasagna was a success and their harmony of values with mine a sustaining reaffirmation. Mike has been very supportive with advice, concern, and potential contacts.

The rest of the working week nights are something of a blur as they were not particularly morally uplifting or productive. Thurs. night I ate at Fritzthatsit, stuffing myself.

On lunches I made out better as I led farmer and banker tours of the exchang floor and received a cold cut sandwich lunch for my efforts. I ate at a Chinese restaurant, Pago Pago, twice, once with Mike and once with Ralph’s (my roommate) family as they treated me to it in appreciation of an Exchange floor explanation. I made it into the Conti cafeteria also.

Professionally, I am back at work on the gold option justification. Kurt did not like the original draft, justifiably, and so I rewrote the paper. The problem was that his original request was for a general justification of commodity options and now he wants a gold specific one. In any event, many other
tasks exist that could demand my attention.

Greg Malkin arrived on Fri. night with his woman friend Karen Tucker. That night we rode around a bit and shared a pizza. Sat. was Original House of Pancakes, followed by the Loop walking architectural tours. We then had a drink on the top of the Hancock, at Great Gritmys, dinner at the Greek restaurant Denny's Den and finally the late show at the improvisational comedy Second City Theater. Today was brunch at Fritz's and then the Oak Park Frank Lloyd Wright Chi Arch Fdtn walling tour. Greg is a real architect buff and enjoyed the weekend enormously. He works long and hard as an entrepreneur and I had a fun time granting him a reprieve. We will certainly chat when I'm in Cle Hts.

I have somewhat gotten back into an exercising routine. Since I am just unable to get my act together for a before-work workout, between my enthusiasm for the Parcourse and Mike's example, I have started doing the course after work. I concede to remain sweaty until the following mornings shower.
As this and most of my letters demonstrate, this summer, the social relationships that I have had with women have been basically nonexistent. Any progress that I have made with Marilyn has been eclipsed by her career troubles and assertion inabilities.

International politics in particularly more depressing than usual as evidenced by the NYT lead editorial today lambasting Carter's indefensible capitulation to Saudi million-barrel-a-year blackmail into delaing with the P.L.O. on their terms.
Be well.



August 12, 1979

Dear Family,

A final greeting to you from 1420 Chi. Ave. This coming weekend I am off to pack up in Chapel Hill. The three occupants of this apartment have all returned so when and if I return to Chi, it will not be here.

The week progressed passably as they usually do; the fare typically urban. On Mon. I had an interview with ACLI commodities and though it went well, my candidacy consideration was contingent on a program participants dropping out, which the individual did not do. On Tue. Ed Easterling , the Agriculture Instruments Fellowship recipient, came home with me and we had supper at Fritz and a bicycle ride through Evanston. At 22 he has both social strengths and weaknesses. Steve Sherman arrived home mid-week and that night we (Sherm, Ralph, and I) ate supper at The Majic Wok, an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. The food was tasty and satisfying. Yesterday I got a haircut and went apt. & condominium shopping. If a job offer here in Chicago comes through, I'll probably look seriously into a condo as total monthly payments are barely equivalent to a comparable rent. Today I attended ChicagoFest, a 10 day concert extravaganza on the Navy Pier with barge stages sponsored for different types of music and comedy. The throngs in attendance today were largely white and teenage. I had to leave early but did manage to catch Henny Youngman. I also consumed 2 beers, 2 corns on the cob, 1 cheesecake, and 1 packet of dry roasted peanuts.

At work I am basically staying with the gold option justification as Kurt continually gives it back to me for revision and editing. The project is currently on a back burner with both the CME Board of Governors and our regulatory body, the CFTC. The demand for the instrument does exist, so I am confident. this justification will not go the way of my previous effort on the A$. As
my time at the Merc draws to a close, I am visiting the trading floor, and specifically the gold and live cattle pits, more often. In the final analysis, auction action is just people yelling out seIl and purchase intentions, but the activity is nevertheless frenzied. So far my hypothetical position taking has not performed particularly poorly. The gold market is currently quite volatile, with recent record price swings and contract volume.

Most of my job efforts have been for naught. The only bright exception has been the results of my association with Michelle HelIer, who runs her own personnel service. She got me last week's interview and, so far, 3 for this coming week. My resume is well suited for the commodities field and she has been able to get it before influential eyes. I am cautiously optimistic of a placement, though probably at below $20,000/yr.

I am in reasonably good physical shape, having run the Parcourse about every other day after work. Because I am winding up my stay here, I have not been eating too much here. I almost forgot that I ate well on Fri. night at a party given by Marilyn and her roommate. The crowd was diverse with dear friends and relatives. The raw vegetables, quiche, and beer and wine were stimulating.

Carter becomes more disappointing with each passing week. Public opinion determines his positions. His newly appointed economic stewards are the only reassuring news the financial world has had from him of late.

I am practically through with H. Halkin' s Zionist Polemic and I have enjoyed it very much. I can see virtually every Jew and Israeli learning from it. I am more determined than ever to get my aliyah act together.

This coming week I hope to see the double feature, "The Inlaws" and "Breaking Away". I'll also pick up my new prescription glasses. I'll be heading out to Cleve and NC on Thurs. night.

Be well.


September 15, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings from down the Street. Chicago, and the futures industry,
is as enjoyable on this side of the fence (brokering) as on the other (market-making). Commonwealth is a fun crew and mutual respect abounds.

I'll be moving into my new apartment Oct. 1, and until then am staying at the Ravenswood YMCA. The building is something of an old dive and the neighborhood is not the greatest. On the plus side, my linens are changed daily, the building has both a sauna and track (27_1/2 laps to the mile), the rent is only $28 per week, and it is 2 blocks from the A & P and 4 blocks from the Subway “El” stop. Since I have only a single room with no running water or refrigeration facilities I am grocery shopping daily. The poverty lessons I see on the street and in the market are of a greater magnitude than those gleanable from West Phila.

My job here at Commonwealth is evolving as I grow into it. My title is "Senior Economist" and as such I am more or less the firm's researcher. Let me hasten to note that trading recommendations come, at the present the from individual brokers who manage their accounts or from Arthur Goldman (one of the two owners of the firm,. the other being Wayne Elliot) who make most of the position recommendations, based on his “technical” (looking at past price movements to predict future ones) analysis. My main research efforts will be on the “fundamental" (background and market affecting parameters) analysis. My first two projects are to prepare a "Precious Metals Report" and to prepare a half hour talk complementing Wayne's and Arthur's spiels on the commodity markets. They hope to take this seminar package on the road soon to such exotic places as TX, CA, Alaska, and Hawaii. As of today I have more or less finished both these projects. For the seminar I have to cover a hodge-podge of stuff, centering on inflation and alternative investments.

The social life at the Y is nonexistent so I get through the daily NYT. In general I have not been seeing too many people. Marilyn ended what was a modest friendship to begin with. I did share a brew with Mike Gilman this week and was pleased to find out that he will be moving to an investment banking position. At the Cont. Ill. library a woman came up to me who
was an MBA at UNC last year and recognized me. I also have befriended some women riding home on the El but I am not too hopeful or expectant of much from it.

The new social excitement in my life is Michelle HelIer. She is the 30 year oId and runs a placement service that got me this job. She thinks very highly of me and has been inordinately kind to me. We had dinner together last night at the Ritz and attended a party she knew of afterwards. With long experience in both commodities and modeling she is very interesting. I am not exactly sure where or at what pace our relationship is going, but for now, at least knowing someone cares helps.

Tomorrow I will be showing my new apt. to three potential roommates. The response to the bulletin board announcement in the office of off-campus housing at Northwestern has not been great, but I am not yet worried. The NW Hillel looks like it may prove to be fun and socially facilitative. I have a ticket to the High Holy Day services there and will probably attend as I met an old high school acquaintance who will also be in attendance.

Be well..


September 22, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings on this New Year's Day! I trust that you are in the best of health and spirits as we enter the fall. I, as a hopelessly incurable romantic look forward to the perennial changing of colors and the onslaught of the barren Diaspora winter. For now, I'll take the Chicago crisp days and cool evenings. I expect at least one more sunning day

As you might surmise, I am in a positive frame of mind, and why shouldn't I be when we make a profit every day. Every day this past week, between Arthur, Wayne, and Larry Goldfarb, recommendations emerged that netted the firm and customer accounts between 10 and 20 thousand dollars. The genius is mostly Arthur's, but everybody helps. The atmosphere grows infectious and it becomes hard to sustain intellectual effort, what I get paid for. Beginning Nov. 1, I'll have my own office but until then I will probably flee the office during market hours. This past week, as Arthur was tied up, I had a minimum of official responsibilities so I drafted what I hope are the first 1,000 words of an investment article. A & W are in NYC again this weekend. There are about 7 brokers in the office and two secretaries. I get along well and party with basically everyone, A sophisticated Hewlett Packard mini-computer has been ordered and the supplementary software combined with our on-line data base service should allow me to be creatively constructive via econometrics and time-series analysis.

I ran only a few miles this past week but got into the sauna daily. My weight is an acceptable 139 lbs. My bicycle, which I had locked in the Holiday Inn lot in Evanston, was vandalized and the rear tire stolen. I have not yet decided how the situation will be rectified. '

Last Sun. night I saw "Annie Hall" on the tube at 1420 Chi Av, #7A and Monday night was "Coming Home", viewed at Michele's apt. I was not all that taken with Coming Home having been predisposed to and in agreement with the WSJ line that the movie took a cheap and damaging shot at the returning Viet Vets. And Jane Fonda always seems like such the liberal/radical opportunist. Anyway, the time spent with Michele was well worth it.

She is truly remarkable as her 4 month old business is doing extremely well. She has refined taste and a good business sense inspired in no small part by her "Yiddishe Kup". While at first I did not take her seriously, I now fear the other extreme. Ah! for sweet moderation. Tonight may tell.

I attended the Hi11el service last night and one of their opening receptions earlier in the week. The members seem reasonab1y serious and enjoyable, though typically a little young. I look forward to their Sunday brunches and possibly Shabbat activities. Their building is actually a house and so the atmosphere is cozy and somewhat intimate.

Thus far today I toured the Art Institute and took out a membership. Their collection is quite strong in Modern Art, with a particular "strengh' in a favorite of mine, Abstract Expressionism. Their collection of Hans Hoffman paintings are as good as any I have seen. Tomorrow, per usual, I'll engage in the typical week's psyche up, the Sun. NYT

Be well.


October 1, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings from an old type and stationery, but new year and location. I trust that fall has brought the onslaught of color and abatement of insects and pollen wherever you are. I am in good spirits and well along in settling down for the next year's (?) pause in my wanderings.

Today I moved into: 1420 Chicago Ave., Apt. 4A, EVanston, IL, 60201. My phone number is: (312) 328-8041. For some of you, I must be on my third page in your address book by now. Everything about the apartment is acceptable and as expected except that my bedroom is painted an unacceptable elementary-school-green pastel. I'll be spending the next few nights painting.

My two roommates are Mitch Lewis and Doron Fertig. Mitch graduated NU last year and is working at a nearby psychiatric hospital this year while he applies to medical school. Doron is a 1st yr. PhD student in Econ from Queens via Stonybrook. After one day, no complaints.

Our mutual furnishings are rather scant, though I purchased and contributed an 8' X 12' brown rug for the living room. Michelle bought a new couch for her living room and sold me her existing one at a very reasonable $200. It opens into a queen size bed and is just what I wanted. The only hang-up is that her new couch (and hence mine) does not arrive until 1/1/80.

There is no news on my relationship with Michelle and I suspect that it is proceeding to the back burner by default. On Fri. I had an enjoyable lunch with Cindy, a Jewish precious-metal-coin office manager.

At work, the finishing touches were put on the Precious Metals Report, a Livestock Report was compiled (as this is where Arthur sees the next great commodity price surge), and my 10 page piece was circulated in-house. Wayne is flying to Jamaica next week for consultations with P.M. Manley about hedging commodities for his country and I am going to try and get aboard the delegation. I have one more month to go until I get my own QUIET office. I currently share what was once the conference room with Wayne Citron, who can only peddle the soft sell and is thus ineffectual and frustrating. With Arthur in the office most of the later part of the week, we spent more time together and he treated me to two meals.

Motivated by a special introductory offer, I joined the Metro Club this week. The Club is composed of 13 Court Club locations, two of which are germane to me: the Evanston and Downtown locations. All of the facilities are available on an unlimited basis except racquetball courts which run from 7-10 dollars/hr. The notable indulgences in physical facilities are a sauna and Jacuzzi. The downtown club has a decent track. The hours are a civilized 7 A.M. - 10 P.M.

Tonight at the nearby Hotel Orrington Ballroom a dance was held to celebrate the Jewish New Year and Breakfast. I was all set to attend but before going in I stood at the entrance and as best I could, perused the participants coming and going. While the m-f ratio was a believable 2 to 1 most everybody was glitter.

The weather has been unseasonably sunny, warm, and pleasant, and I
have tried to catch as many rays as possible and even got some sunshine today before afternoon services. I only hope the weather stays this nice for Father's visit this coming weekend.

Be well.


October 9, 1979

Dear Family,

Two weeks into a new room and I am barely unpacked, so my greetings is still from a relatively new locale. I trust that your turn for the colder was not as severe as mine. Chicago is becoming downright frigid. No mind, as I depart for Jamaica the day after tomorrow.

We will fly to Miami, then on to Kingston and thence to our Host's quarters in Negril. '. The entourage consists of Wayne E1liot, Jack Brogan (V. P. of our clearing firm T. J. Spencer & Co), the broker with the connection, John Hill and myself. Negril is Jamaica’s westernmost beach so our transportation to and from Kingston will be flight only. Friday morning we have a meeting with Economic and/or Agricultural Ministers. They import vast quantities of grains from the U. S. and the futures market offers them a commercially viable means of insulating themselves from the price fluctuations of the market. I am assembling the presentation package and in the best position to present it. Arthur is indispensable on a trading day. Our services are truly beneficial to them, I've expounded the desirability credibly, all tinged with the magic K-I-S-S touch. Tonight I met with a professional commercia1 artist and we hashed out the details of the dozen placards of examples, tabular and graphic display, and definitions.

The office has not otherwise been sedate. Today we spent' two hours with the HP salesman and the software programmer. Because Arthur wants instant "real time" graphics and the frequent data service price quotation errors cannot be handled simply, we will virtually need two machines. Fortunately Wayne Elliot's brother-in-law Sonny Hirsh is knowledgeable electronically and he uses our offices when not trading financial instruments on the CBOT. He knew the right questions to ask.
The cattle and precious metals reports are ready. Arthur and I have to spend the time collating it or at least getting it ready to go out to the printer. We finally got acceptable price charts. They will probably be featured as an enticement in some advertisements that we will run.

Father was here this past weekend and we had a very enjoyable time together. My painting the walls beige and the ceiling white was completed Fri. 2.30 A.M. before he arrived. In addition to the ,Par course, a game of racquetball. and my club's heat room and jacuzzi, we hit the standard restaurants and them some. We shared a drink with Michelle Sun. afternoon at the Ritz .

My social life is no news. I have not seen too much of anyone outside the firm as I have been getting settled in. I get along reasonably well with Mitch but less so with Doron, who seems only to know how to take. I am anxious to get together w1th Mike Gilman for lunch. Michelle and Cindy keep breaking dates. I plan on throwing a housewarming party in one month.

The commencement of my frequenting of Hillel activities will have to wait for a week. I still have quite a ways to go in moving in before I can pop my head out of this mess. Notably I must purchase a plywood board, foam mat, and cinder blocks to make a bed. The bed I contracted to purchase in Aug. was water damaged in storage. I can barely entertain as it is. My 20+ cartons of books sit in the living room waiting to be unpacked onto shelves that have not yet been assembled. Over the weekend I acquired some goodies including some Jensen speakers ($10), Garard turntable and 25 LPs. At the same house sale I also purchased two chairs fit for the living room and a reparable bicycle that may be late for the season. Last night I purchased a 6' X 9' folding mat.

Last week I mailed my 10 page piece out to 24 magazine editors. It received basically no constructive criticism as I lacked the fiber to ask Dr.s Jaffe, Weston, or McEnally to look at it. I was also impatient to get it out

I will write you a tan letter when I return

Be well.


October 14, 1979

Dear Family,

I have just now returned from Jamaica and would like to commence its recollection to you while it is still fresh in memory. Per usual, I trust that your health and environment are well.

We flew into and out of Montego Bay and drove to our base in Negril from there. On Fri. morning we flew in a chartered plane across the island to the capital in Kingston. In Negril we stayed at the Negril Beach Village, a package resort. John Hill spent the first fifteen years of his life there and his brother owns an ocean-front cottage property there.

I had a truly wonderful time as many avenues of exploration and self indulgence were open to me. Wayne Elliott was very weak all weekend from a cold and unfortunately experienced much less. Due to family committments, Jack Brogan left early Sat. morning.

The physical facilities of the NBV were satiating. Along the adjacent beach at 800 meter intervals NBV had placed distance markers. In my bare feet I ran 4 miles per day in the 80 degree heat. On the premises I was able to take out a Sunfish and also snorkeling gear. I passed on the horse back riding (nary a trot or canter on the intermediate trail), volleyball, and other assorted group activities. The setup was like a Club Med. in that all the activities and food were part of the package. My efforts on and below the water's surface were frustratingly unsuccessful, though I did learn how to right a capsized sailboat. The food was good, as I had exercise food at breakfast (Fresh fried eggs, muffins, and lots of watermelon and oranges).

Before getting to Lunch and Supper, I must comment on the patrons and the management's attitude. The not-so-subtle themes of the place must have been alcohol and sex. The patrons were resultingly young and conscious of skin flaunting. People generally came in couples though a prowling single's scene was evident. At all the afternoon and evening meals white and red wine and a rum mixture (including egg whites and grapefruit juice) were constantly offered to diners. Food highlights included: Lobster (of which I had an indulgent 6), a side of beef, Kingfish cutlets, and local fair such as boiled bananas.

The entertainment and organized activities were typically flashy and in tune with the themes above. For example, one after supper activity was the game of pass-the-banana with no hands from between the legs. Another was "flash your contrast" of tan and untanned skin. The floor show Fri. night featured local dancers, a limbo champion, and a contortionist.

The best part of the trip arose because John was a native of the area and was able to introduce me to many of the people in the village. The vegetation in Jamaica is straight rain forest and the colors accordingly vivid. We visited the surrounding "suburbs" where the entrepreneurial class that services the tourist industry lives. Some of the scenes were so third-wordly as to be quaint. The native dialect is too clipped and pidgin an English for me to understand. The best bar that John took me
to was a place called Rick's Cafe where, for a U.S. dollar, the sunset can be viewed setting over the ocean, to the tunes of a live reggae band. On the night of our attendance, the clouds were billowy and simply majestic. While Jamaicans are a friendly people that party very hard, I could compare the area to the only other third world locale I have been in, namely the West Bank. Similarities were as common as differences.

Gasoline is over $2.50 per gallon and not too many people have cars to begin with. The roads are thus full of people WALKING. Because there is no television to speak of, and the weather range is approx. 60-80 degrees people just "hang-out" a great deal. .

In any event, I am safely back and sporting the best tan of the year.


October 21, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings from an unseasonably warm and humid late Sunday night. I trust that you are also sharing the benefits of a civil fall. I am wearied but well and trust that you are likewise.

My apartment is finally taking shape. This week Doron located, and purchased, at a moving sale a 7.5 ft. couch and accompanying love seat for $200. The two pieces are in good condition and the pattern is a sort of brown diagonal plaid. They barely match the black plaid pieces in place. My room is becoming orderly as I unload my books onto the bookshelves. In the process of unpacking after this past career change, I am ready to unload a full 10 cartons of books. I'll start with sale notices at local schools of business. Our routine cleaning tasks are performed anarchistica1ly and a1truistica1 in their motivation. Results are less than overwhelming.

I am at the office for a solid 8-5+ every day but my productivity of late has been below par and the worst is yet to come. Until we move into the office next door 11/1 I will be without a desk. Eileen, our secretary, got married yesterday and will be gone for two weeks and a temporary substitute is not yet in sight as problems are not yet at crisis levels. Finally, Arthur is in no condition to converse about my projects after market hours so we had to wa1t until Saturday to confer and then not to a particularly effective degree.

The time is filled purposefully. The Cattle Research Report is basically through the editorial process and ready to go out Monday, pending a secretary to type the final draft. Tomorrow I will file the necessary application with the CFTC to obtain the status of Associated Person. With the AP status I will be able to handle accounts though I am less sure about "management” of them. In any event it is an end of the business that I should get into. I also make the occasional stop at Cindy's and Miche1le's office. Since they are in the same building one block away, transportation time is minimal.

Last week was my birthday (on Tue.) and I thank those of you who offered your well wishes for your kind thoughts. Miche1le remembered me with a gift reflecting her haut culture, a sterling silver book mark and a dinner date that was unfortunately cancelled. Instead Arthur took me out to a palatable French restaurant, Bastille. The mousse pie desserts and french fries were memorable.

On Thurs. night Cindy came over for supper and we had the usual (need I describe it further?). Afterward I gave her the walking tour of Evanston and we ended up at Peacock's for ice cream. ,

This weekend I gave the NW Hi11el a try as I attended the Erev Shabbat services and meal and popped in on the De1i this evening. Neither event left me with a strongly favorable reoo1lection. Mostly the same people attended both: undergraduates. So far, no one very exciting.

Last night I saw the second hour-and-a-half of Woodstock with the purpose of seeing Hendrix's closing set in a truly masterful performance. The reality was a bit less inspiring than my expectations. Afterward I dropped in on an uninspiring dorm party with live bluegrass music. At
least the "definitional" keg was present.

I also visited my dead 10-speed. It was beyond usage as the frame and front wheel were bent by a car smashing it. All that was -salvageable and of' any value was the lock. On my way home I came across a gun and promptly took it over to police hdqtrs, two blocks away.

The weather was so congenial today that I ran the Par Course twice and had my usual sauna and jacuzzi. My weight is reasonable but my wind is far from top shape. I just do not allocate the requisite time for a run weekdays. Alas I guess I won't be going to Jamaica every weekend.


I emerged healthier and fitter from our stay in Negril but both Wayne and John took most of the week off to recover from colds aggravated by fatigue and hard drinking.

Be well.


October 28, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings from an unseasonably warm October's end. I trust that you are experiencing the amenities of a respite from winter's oncoming. It may have been my last burst of outdoor activity for a while.

I am gradually settling in at both the office and my bedroom. I have decided that the time has come for me to part with 10 cartons of business textbooks. What I cannot sell through announcements placed at local schools of business I will donate to the various libraries of my life. Extra shelf space has been freed up by the decision. I also came across a free box spring and mattress so that my room looks veritably neat and normal.

This week Commonwealth took over Suite 923 for expanded office space. My quiet desk space is still a long way off, though. Befitting my lack of a desk, productivity was low this week. Wayne reprimanded me for my eating at the Cont IL cafeteria as he received a call from our connection there describing their attitude as incensed on discovery of my presence. The firm also had a bad week as we sustained our worst losses in the firm's brief history. The cattle market gyrated with such a great volatility that we were veritably locked into a limit move loss. Corn spreads and generally short positions in the grains were profitable enough to make up for
the losses. The Cattle and Sugar special situation reports have been typeset and should be ready to go this coming week. In a meeting with Arthur Sat. morning we surmised that our first seminar, to be held in Chicago, will not be ready until after Thanksgiving. The replacement secretary, Barbara Walters, is just basically adequate. The good news of the week came in Saturday's mail in the form of a letter from the editor of COMMODITIES magazine. He stated that they might desire to use my article. It is one of the premiere magazines of futures trading and I will probably get paid lf they do use it.

My social life is not fairing particularly well. It seems that I am male friend #2 with both Cindy and Michelle, not a very viable desirable or secure position, so that I am typically on the lookout. Last night I attended a Halloween costume party thrown by an office colleague, Bill Bednar, who lives in Evanston. I may have made a friend there in the form of a veritable neighbor named Joyce. I came as a killer bee dressed in black tights and underpants, a dark blue sweatshirt of Steve King's, and yellow crepe paper bands. On my head was a hanger frame, which came through my yellow ski cap to be wrapped in tin foil and topped by two red balls, forming antennas. At my side I always kept my trusty yellow suction-cup tipped dart gun. I shot to kill. Some office members were in attendance.

Culturally, I have fewer complaints. This week I read the correspondence of Vladimir Nabakov and Edmund Wilson, ed1ted by Simon Karlinsky. I always enjoy reading other people's mail (particularly because of the dearth that I experience) and if the correspondents are even sensitive and intelligent, so much the better. While their discussions of their spec1alty, Russian Literature, barely held my interest, the details of literary life and affairs was fascinating. Fri. night I attended a concert of the intellectual-new wave group, Talking Heads. The large Vaudeville theater had generally poor acoustics and the warm up bands were uninspir1ngly basic, derivative, and loud. The T H were good, though they played mostly from their most recent third album, an unknown disc to me. At the concert I met an interesting U of Chi pre-med Chem senior, who hoped to practice and currently exemplified "Better living through Chemistry." Over the next three weeks I hope to catch some flicks at a Rock N Roll film festival underway here. The Chi Arch Fdtn walking tours have ended until the spring. This week I plan to start reading The Israeli Secret Service by Richard Deacon.

Be well.


November 4, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings from the office on a Sunday. Actually I am here on pleasure, this letter being the main effect. Downtown is also on the way back from Midway Airport, where I dropped the Parents off on their return flight

Their stay here was quite enjoyable, in no small measure due to the satisfaction of a 66 cents round-trip cost on Midway Airlines inaugural flight. We had breakfast yesterday at Lou Mitchell's, a short order restaurant downtown noted for its omelets. Following my meeting and their shopping.. we saw the matinee of the play Annie, a delightful musical. We sat in the front row and reveled in the intimacy of our proximity. Supper, at Arthur's recommendation, was at Charlie Chan's where we had braised (?) beef, plum chicken, and three vegetables with steamed rice. The entrees, like the platter of appetizers and glazed bananas dessert, were well conceived and executed. This morning at Original House of Pancakes, Canadian bacon and eggs, and a cherry crepe were ordered in addition to the usual apple pancake. Capping off the trip was a brief visit to the Spertus Museum and Bookstore of Judaica. Our next rendezvous should be at the homestead at Thanksgiving.

The workweek progressed barely adequately though the situation is getting better. Like the previous week I lacked a desk until Fri. The Cattle and Sugar Situation Reports were printed and should be folded and delivered Monday morning, so that they 'should be enclosed with this letter. I have many projects to work on this coming week including our investment seminars, introductory brochure, and a Grain S R.

The highlight of the social week occurred Wed night at the all-campus NW Halloween party. Many decent bands played, the beer was free, and the crowd was boisterous and endowed with women. On the whole an undergraduate crowd, but such was to be expected. I was again a killer bee. In attendance also were the ubiquitous Neanderthal frat boys, one of whom was adorned in a swastika arm band and broke one of my darts into four pieces. Of those I befriended at least a few should be at my housewarming party on Nov 17. Next week I will be entertaining Pat, Mary, and Joyce for dinners.

On Wed. I also brought home enough carpeting to cover the entire apt that was getting ready to be thrown out from one of the offices in this bldg It is in good shape and a tolerable green. With accompanying padding, it is a true addition to the apt. I am not real pleased that I had to lay and cut it all myself. All we need now are some living and dining room curtains or shades.

I am two chapters into The I S S and enjoying it well enough. On Fri. night I checked out the Hillel dinner and passed it up as it did not appear that nubile candidates were in abundance, ending up at the Evan. public library for the first of a nine part BBC series, “The World at War”. Afterwards, as every night from 9:30 to 11, I was at the Evan. Court Club. I have added weightlifting to the daily regime, though the variety possible with their limited number of stations is scant.

Be well. .


November 18, 1979

Dear Family,

Please excuse the lapse of two weeks since my last correspondence but with Judy here this past week for one final fling, I chose not to make the time and requisite mental preparation. I trust that you are well, in the best of spirits and enjoying the respite of the fall turning into winter syndrome that we are experiencing.

On a professional level I have a new weekly task, summarizing the fundamental factors as reported by brokerage house research staffs in CONSENSUS magazine. Arthur requested this of me as a means of giving the brokers something to intelligently add to their customer pitches and conversations. The magazine arrives Mon. and it should take me most of the day and some of Tue.
to read and summarize. The firm's advertisements are basically ready to be sent out to run on the commodities pages of various newspapers. Our introductory brochure is still in limbo, particularly as Arthur left today for a "working" week in Acapulco.

My social life has recently not been totally unfulfilling but as usual, any perceptions of significance are totally of my own motivation. Last week I entertained three women for dinner. They came, they ate, and they left is the only unambiguous conclusions to be drawn from the evenings. None of them showed at my Housewarming party last night, so the impression that I left could not have been all that overwhelming. I do have pleasant memories and expectations of time spent with Mary Egan though.

Judy's time here was loads of fun and my only regret is that it came to an end. Our gastronomic adventures were a myriad of different cuisines and establishments and our cultural undertakings aesthetically and sensually diverse. The Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit currently on display at the Art Institute was interesting though hardly inspiring. The Second City Improvisational Comedy Theatre we saw was amusing and accentuated by the guest performance of media notable Jim Belushi. The Blues we heard was competent and an acceptable bar band quality. A highlight of the week were the film festivals underway. We saw a good and a fair Rook N Roll movie, and two interesting foreign flicks dealing with feminist issues. The restaurants were on the whole satisfactory and tasty. (Write for a more detailed itemization) Most amusing for Judy was my office atmosphere and the perpetual zaniness of my work environment. We laughed for a solid ten minutes after each of her visits to the office. Her geographic comfort with and feel for Chicago are much better now. We very much enjoyed our visit to the zoo today.

She helped greatly in putting the finishing touches on covering my bedroom floor. All I need now are the couch that I bought from Michelle and something to cover the walls and my decorating days will be through for awhile I bought and stretched some attractive cloth patterns and they are hanging in the living and dining rooms. Curtains for the living room were purchased, so that the apartment is looking reasonably complete.

My physical state is good, though I am well overweight as a result of my eating binge while Judy was here. My weight is an unacceptable 148 lbs. More depressing news from the new scale at my court club comes from the height measurer. I am unambiguously 5'6" tall (short?). I hope that the weather stays as pleasant as it currently is long enough to allow me to jog a few miles in the preferred scantily cladding garb.

The party last night was fun and on the whole a success. Approximately 40 people attended, of which I was responsible for half. Tom Lowrance, a broker at Commonwealth was responsible for the attendance of 10 people and six bottles of wine. I am sincerely grateful to him. The party’s food offerings were ample as the affair was catered by P & J L. Our $80 alcohol purchase was at least $70 too much. We thus have quite a well stocked liquor supply for- any occasion. The attendee whose presence gave me the most pleasant surprise was Marilyn McManus. I also enjoyed the company of four high school peers who reside in Chicago.

Be well.


December 2, 1979

Dear Family,

My sincerest apologies at having gotten out only one letter in the past three weeks but as most of you know, they were extraordinary. I am surviving out here in the Midwestern tundra and even doing quite well, thank you. I trust that you are likewise pleasantly engaged.

A great deal of responsibilities has been coming my way professionally requiring effort and growth on my part. Our ad. campaign is underway with the first draft of the second ad enclosed for your inspection. It will appear in a periodical read by mass bakery executives. As you U .S. readers peruse these words, -I'll be in sunny Floh-ida addressing Soybean farmers near Pensacola. We, the broker whose client is the major connection and I, will probably stay through the weekend after our presentation Thurs. night. We will probably drive to his aunt's place in Tampa. I've been meeting with an artist about placard aids. Most of the exposition will be my responsibility and we may even end up taking along someone whose sole purpose is as a “closer".

More remunerative to me personally has been the arrival of my Associated Person status from the CFTC. With this I am now authorized to act in a broker capacity and accordingly earn commissions. With all the long range planning behind me it is time to dig in and start "Dialing for Dollars.” I have introductory letters and reply postcards available to me so I hope to blanket the professional communities of Idaho Falls and see what occupation turns out to be the best lead generators.

I had better be real good at this game because my clock till aliyah has started ticking with Judy's departure. Win, lose, or draw I'm gone in five years as I must arrive with a degree of nubility left. My reality here is so nebulous and lightweight compared to the memories and values I have tied up with my Israeli kin. There is now basically no one for me to talk with in this country.

From the above derision of this country you could probably surmise that my social life is currently on the weak side. This past week I took a departing friend to a tasty Mexican restaurant, La Choza, located by the El at Howard St. During the week I also attended a concert with Mary and treated her also to supper at Charlie Chants. She is sweet but a little slow on returning the serve for my impatience. Nothing else worth mentioning is beyond the fantasy stage.

My room is beginning to take final shape with the arrival of the remainder of my gear when I returned from Thanksgiving. My three 6-ft. bookshelves are up and bursting with my stereo and books. I was able to sell $128 worth of my old textbooks that I received as compliments during my tenure at U of MN. I brought my cassette deck in to be fixed and was greeted with a minimum $49 bill. Many of the remaining tasks to be accomplished center around providing anchors in the wall and ceiling from which I could hang prints and plants.

I was only half way through Jonathan Raban's Arabia when I had to return it. On Fri. evening I saw Part 5 of The World at War at the Evan. Public Library wherein Hit1er errs in the Napoleonic tradition of trying to take Moscow in the winter. Today I saw a less-than-memorable Rock N' Roll double feature. I am falling behind the NYTBR with an inventory of 3.5 waiting to be read. Sorting through my collection has turned up a few gems I hope to dive into.

I have been having my own office space for the past two weeks but I do not think it will continue for much longer. The firm traded poorly when Arthur was away and even his return has not been totally effective. It is hoped and somewhat expected that Wayne will retum to the trading floor to guard our best interests in executing Arthur's trading recommendations.

The weather has taken a turn for the colder here complete with snow and cold cold winds. My nightly health club jaunt helps make it tolerable

Be well.



December 10, 1979

Dear Family,

A Monday night greeting to you. A day late but never truer felt. The longings to be with you are presently felt as the trip to FL proved once again that there ain't too much here to motivate a soul.

The early part of the week was spent preparing for our departure and getting the sugar ad off. Our first "Almost Everything You..." ad campaign is beginning to generate some responses manifesting themselves as leads for brokers. Our Wed. traveling went uneventfully though I did drum up a lead at the New Orleans Airport cocktail lounge. The Official Summary (1st draft) is enclosed. Okaloosa County where it all took place is sard6nically referred to by its more cosmopolitan residents as L.A., Lower Alabama. Lee and I ran out along the beach and returned along the road twice. The restaurant fare was unnotable, unlike Gwen's home grown feast. The whole family's company was enjoyable throughout. I hope the Jones's stay in Israel next spring is enjoyable.

I regret that the trip was not more profitable for Commonweatth as it was basically quite decadent personally. For example, I finally discovered why cocaine is snorted in “lines" on a mirror, otherwise you can't see what you are doing as white powder is hard to see. Tom split back to Chi. on Fri. morning and Lee and I drove on to New Port Richey, where his aunt lives whose house we stayed at until last night. The town is 20 miles NE of Clearwater, where we spent most of our time and 20 miles NW of Tampa, where we departed from. We spent most of Sun. and part of Sat. afternoon on Clearwater beach though only Sun was totally sunny. I did not mind the 60 degree temperature or the wind. Sat. night we went out carousing and barhopping (or" juking" as the natives call it) ; wherein I entered the first real fistfight of my life.

The circumstances were uninspiring if somewhat predictable. Through informal word-of-mouth advertising, we ended up at the Clearwater Holiday Inn's "Fanny's" with the assurance that it held whatever "action" might be around locally. As I am sure you know, I rarely go to bars to meet women for the reasons that manifested themselves Sat night. I bore easily and I easi1y and unintentionally intimidate (generally Christian) people in general, and nubile women in particular.

Such was the case with Leslie Platania though she had the perspicacity to bear my presence in a corner for over an hour. By the time I first said Goodbye to her the crowd had thinned and I was ready to split. At the time Lee was sitting in a corner with Grace, whom he ultimately went home with. At that point, though, he needed more time to see what was going to happen.

In any event, I drifted back over to Leslie and her friend B.T. Leslie invited me out to her car to drink wine with them and "Steve", B.T.'s Mr. Goodbar of the evening. To make a long story short, when Steve failed to produce some identification for Leslie's satisfaction, Leslie told him he was not going off with her friend. He became ugly and malicious and when I entered into the fray, violent. He had obviously had professional soldier training as he went for my eyes with his thumbs. I emerged with only a small "shiner" as positioned in the car, he was not able to get much leverage or aim on me. Leslie helped by attempting to pull him away. The scuffle ended soon and he left with the scream of “Fuck you Bitch" and ripped her convertible top. A police complaint was filed but I don't think any charges will be pressed. I am certainly not going to press for assault.

Unfortunately I do not think these women learned the right lesson of mistrust and skepticism toward (Christian) males. On the evening’s close I passed up this generation's ubiquitous offer of promiscuity and resolved once again never to go to bars.

We missed our 11 P.M. Sun night departure and had to settle for a 4 AM connection in Atlanta this morning, pulling into my apt. at 8 :30 AM. Typ1cally, I’m going to need quite some time to recover from this "vacation.”.

Be well.



December 16, 1979

Dear Family,

Greetings on the close of a decade! I trust that as usual, this letter finds you in the best of health and spirits. While Chicago is frigid, my heart and enthusiasm are reasonably warm.

In rereading my letter of last week I saw that I failed to speak of the excellent fish that we ate around Tampa. Both the fresh Pompano and Shrimp were notable. In general the food in southern FL was above par.

The biggest news of the past week is of marital plans. Tomorrow in the Virgin Islands Michelle is getting married to Matthew, a 22-yr old Catholic from rural Minnesota, whom she has been dating since our "relationship" ended. I find her impetuousness unfathomable and so I give the marriage
less than 2 yrs to survive. The other marriage plans that came to my attention was Mike Gilman's formal proposal to his girlfriend Karen. They are to be married next summer and I am extremely happy for them. Their future appears to be in either NYC of Chi.

The other news of note was my roommate’s first interview with U of Wise. Medical School. While it is a long way from there to acceptance, this first encouraging sign was well taken.

Here at 327 S. LaSalle, business is somewhat slow as the Holiday markets are choppy and not liquid enough for us to do some serious trading. The office demeanor and mood are OK, but underlying tensions and problems do exist. Any expansionary moves are definitely far off at this point. Wayne, Arthur, and the firm are featured in the Jan. issue of Venture magazine along with 4 other new commodity firms. I'll enclose the excerpt next week. We have completed out latest space rearranging and I now share Room 923 with my bosses, Arthur and Wayne. Because of our ever increasing number of brokers we have also consolidated the organization with Nick Diamond emerging as Office Manager. We will continue to run the "Everything You..." ad campaign aimed at small speculators in some new areas, like Scottsbluff NB, Greeley CO, and Ark., which I am coordinating.

Our Commonwealth Christmas Party was Fri. from about 2:l5-8:00P.M. As with most of our undertakings, the preparations were extensive to the point of lavish. Wayne had a party tray of cold cuts and cheese catered and a clerk from T.J. Spencer tended bar. The affair was well attended complete with boisterous merriment and good cheer. (On Eileen's instigation and initiative a Christmas Tree was purchased, assembled, and decorated. In an effort to promote Hanukah equally she also purchased an 8-candle electric candelabra under the mistaken notion that it was a Menorah.) I was pleased to see Mary in attendance as well as the two women who do various art work for us, Sue Mitz and Tracy Whalen. After introducing them to some of the other people who work here, I think they appreciated me even more.

Last night was the Christmas Party in Apt. 7A. I helped a lot making the hors d’oeuvres.They were four in type: open faced tuna pate on toasted white bread cut into triangles, a cheese-mayo-milk spread on mini-rye breads, cucumber and mayo sandwiches, and devilled eggs. An office mate of Steve King's who had previously catered in the summers supervised and lent the creative hand. All 400+ of them were consumed. The crowd was lively and interesting. I doubt that nubility was in wide abundance, though. I stayed (sober and awake) until the party's end at 4:30A.M.

Earlier in the week I was invited to a dinner birthday party for a woman in Occupational Therapy basically attended only by women. They were unfortunately quite unexciting and unnotable for the most part.

I am trying to get into Hannah Arendt's The Jew as Pariah but have not had much time or success at this endeavor recently.

Be well.


December 24, 1979

Dear Family,

A final greetings to you from the 70's. It's been real. I am well and reasonably fit (141 lbs.) and trust that you are likewise.

Life at Commonwealth is fairly slow at this time as the holiday season is neither conducive nor efficacious for trading or soliciting. Arthur has taken off for a week's holiday in Pittsburgh and NYC so we won't be trading much. I expect to take the later part of the week off and head to the C.H. homestead. My solicitation efforts have thus far been limited to envelope addressing and speaking with friends-potential clients. "Dialing for Dollars' had better start soon. '

On other levels and dimensions life here is pleasant. The weather has been unseasonably warm this past week and as a result I got to run the par course yesterday. My time was an acceptable but nevertheless lethargic 32:30 I derived particular 'pleasure from my ability to do 10 pull-ups, resulting from my weight-lifting every other day. My diet is real simple these days as I endeavor to save effort and cash. Breakfast is typically a PCL choc. milkshake and toasted cheese. Lunch is usually skipped. Supper is ½ cup rice, cheese, and possibly tuna or a vegetable. My only consternation is that my weight has not dropped accordingly.

Socially I have not been inactive but as usual the results are more nebulous and meaningless than particularly fulfilling. Friday night I saw the "World at War" episode at the Evan. Public Lib., took in the usual sauna and whirlpool and then headed downtown for what I thought was the Chi Board Options Exchange (CBOE) party. It turned out that the affair was in the afternoon so I resorted to bar-hopping. Per usual, the observation emerged that if one is not part of the solution (in this case to the oppression of women), then one is part of the problem. Saturday night I attended the Christmas party of Mary Egan. She is a reasonably gracious host though the crowd (read nubile young women) was generally uninspiring. Last night Mary came with me as we attended the Christmas party of Lee Skierkiewicz. I had a pleasant time there chatting with office colleagues and meeting new people. My attire at affairs such as these is either "formal +" or this generation's ubiquitous "if-you've-got-it-flaunt-it" open neck and chest wear. The bite-size servings of cauliflower, green 'pepper, and carrot that I bring usually are partaken of quite rapidly and thoroughly depleted. Yesterday I also saw the movie "Apocalypse Now". I felt that the cinematography was the only unambiguously masterful aspect. The viewer could almost smell (in the commanding captain's words) Napalm as the scent of victory.

I am unfortunately not much further into Hannah Arendt's collection of essays. I have caught up on most of the NYTBRs though. For work-related reading I am expecting to get into Merchants of Grain by Dan Norgan.

Be well.


December 30, 1979

Dear Family,

Here we are in the throes of a new (Gregorian) decade! Change all about and here I sit, the reactionary element. It will not be to long into the next one before we're together again, I expect.

I am back in Chi-town geared up for a prosperous year. Last week the futures markets were thin and illiquid and Arthur was away so we traded lightly, though we did catch some of the spillover of the precious-metal induced rallies. The never-ending motivation for this particular inflation is, of course, the rising price of oil. I am only partially saddened by the imminent dismissal of our general -secretary Eileen. She does not take the job particularly seriously. My solicitation efforts will begin in earnest this week. I'll also probably begin rewriting the "Cattle" report and begin writing a "Grain" report.

Enclosed you should find a copy of the partial feature on us in Venture. Most of it can be included in our introductory letter.

Ostensibly commencing next week we will no longer have our weekly newsletter. Through sheer neg1igence we alienated the brokerage house (family) by arriving late with the check one too many times. They supply us with the letter and we duplicate-it and paste our letterhead on it.

The trip back to the CH homestead was enjoyable as usual. Fri night we dined at the Cheese Cellar to our delight. Later in the Chagrin Falls bar "Greenville Inn" I hung out with the John Grissinger crowd (minus the man) and befriended or rather had the pleasure of acquaintance of numerous women locally and distant (on phone to Albuqurque NM), present and future (introduction to a former office colleague in the building next to me). Please do not fail to note though that I violated a total ban only two weeks old.

Saturday's meal was a very pleasant "7 blessings" celebration at Davis Caterers for David and Brucha Jaffe. Oooh, are they ever fruitful and multiplicative. The hosts were as gracious as ever and the food was ample tasty, and courteously served. The evening's entertainment was primarily an annual party given by the Heights Community Congress at which a festive and congenial atmosphere prevailed, along with an open bar. People unknown to both them and me had encountered Richard and Judy. Familiar faces abounded along with chance encounters of city councilmen. Afterwards we_had planned on taking in the movie "Kramer vs. Kramer" but the line was prohibitive, so we settled for soup at Corky and Lenny's. I saw two high sohool peers there and one earlier in the evening.

The ride back was provided by Greg Malkin who was moving his woman friend Karen up here for her new ADL communication job. Tomorrow he will help me move in my newly acquired (from Michelle) brown corduroy couch convertible into a queen size bed into my bedroom and a bronze glass table top to be placed on cabinets formerly housing speakers and now our booze.

I have been enjoying some of my roommate Doron's albums, such as the latest releases by Neil Young and Talking Heads and particularly the 1978 Blondie release "Parallel Lines."

Be well.


January,12, 19S0

Dear Family,

Greetings from the office on a Shabbat. I came in to make some calls but my lead list has turned out to be all work numbers, so I have the place and its typewriter to myself. I'm here because I'm thinking of you and how we'll all be able to spend a life together. So, how are you? I am always concerned about your health and I never seem to get enough news about what is happening in your life.

Business is both fast and slow as we get back into a routine. The ComTrend machine is still due any day now. Our trading was light as the grains and meats took most of the week to sort out after the unprecedented futures trading suspension in grains on Mon and Tue and precious metal madness still reigns supreme due partially to Iran, Afghanistan, and Carter. The house cattle spread made a touch of money. I spent most of my week drafting 4 paragraphs that are to be the basis of our introductory brochure. My coming weeks will be cattle and sugar report updates for our second round of advertising. Eileen's departure is imminent as her undisclosed but now visible (after 2 months of marriage?) pregnancy keeps her home once a week and perpetually late.

Not much else is new I regret to report. Tue. night the glass top arrived, much lighter than expected. The whole piece is subtle in color and construction, blending in well. Wed. night I attended a Grad. student mixer at NW Hille1. Predictably I am still planning for the next plane out as
no one there struck my fancy. Thurs. night I attended an animated film festival at the Chi. Art Inst., an interesting if sanitized collection. Fri. night I dropped in on a bar/restaurant 2 blocks from my apt., The Keg, where Laura Carnes works. Yes it appears that bars do exist in Evanston. The Keg is not a place to meet unknown nubile women so I soon left. Today I lunched at an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant, The Chinese Buffet. Despite the recommendations, I still enjoy The Majic Wok more. I have no social events planned for this weekend. I am up to 7 days a week on the sauna/ jacuzzi routine. I have modified it somewhat as I now strive for length of stay and number of repetitions and not humidity as previously sought in my sauna stays. I have even taken to reading the newspaper in the jacuzzi relieving boredom and contributing to session length.

The events in Afghanistan are quite worrisome as we may be well into the background of WWIII. The Soviets clearly have designs on Iran probably to be implemented in the chaos following Khommeni's departure from the scene. I am impressed by their ability of arming the local soldiers loyal to the regime and having them bear the brunt of the guerilla resistance. While defections are understandably rampant, the Soviets have established bases near the Iranian border without much delay or military loss. If the Soviets succeed in remaining aloof from the fray of suppressing the rebels, we may see something on the order of the 1931 invasion of Manchuria. Progress in the autonomy talks would be a Godsend.
Be well.
I am well into Conquering Cancer by Dr. Lucien Israel and enjoying it.


1/17

Dear Family,

Odd though it may be, I have a bit to say on a Thurs. night. It has been a reasonably eventful week and while I am drained, I also feel energized. A new routine has been reasonably established and I expect to grow and progress in it. I expect that from M-Th I will stay 3 nights to phone solicit. I am getting the gang of it. Immediately after work I jog (presently 30 laps or approximately 2 miles in 12:57), sauna, and jacuzzi in the Downtown Court Club from 5 to 7 and then return to the office. The facility cost $2 per visit and the ride home on the Chi&NW is double the el at $1.30 is worth it. (I can't ride the normal Evanston Express because it ceases running at 6:15) What I mean
to say is that I expect that the results of solicitation will more than compensate for my time. I am learning and expect results in 2 weeks.

Life at the office is pleasant enough for me as my job security is good. Wayne Citron is to get the ax tomorrow. He is definitely in the wrong business and his presence and space were costly. We have three new brokers coming aboard and at least Elizabeth McCarthy is also to be canned. All Good Jewish Boys with lots of gelt (equity) and chutzpah. Arthur is reasonably back in form (with Comptrend now officially expected 2/1 and maybe sooner) and has been successfully scalping (day trading) all week with daily gains of $100-$250 per program contract. Wayne is successfully back on the floor for the first time in 5 months and generally in for the 9:30 grain openings. For the probable reason that he suspects (the uncertainties wrought by the grain embargo), Wayne has not been doing well trading for himself in the wheat pit as of late, but he could not have amassed his millions without acumen so I expect his mastery and abilities to help the firm on the floor will soon return.

I have been reasonably busy with Monday devoted to summarizing the Consensus, Tue the Sugar Report, and today a new advertising campaign, only Yesterday was substantially idle. As our intended audience is businessmen interested in Sugar markets, we are going to advertise in sugar growing and processing areas local newspapers. Specifically Saginaw and Bay City Mich, Stockton and Brawley CA, and Fremont and Portsmouth OH for Beet Sugar interests; and Franklin and New Iberia LA and around Lake Occachobe (? inland west of Palm Beach) FL for Cane Sugar interests. The campaign should run around $1200 for an average 4 exposures with 8 column inches and maybe a total 1 million copies. From previous campaigns we have generated the best quality response from Hawaii. The response to our artistic sugar-user oriented ad did not occur. The ad ran and not a single response came in. (I'll try and remember to enclose a copy of the actual ad). Unlike the cane interests of Hawaii. the beet interests have to date been dead-beats. The OH and CA cities this time around are also cattle towns (particularly CA). and we' ll advt accordingly.

My soc1al life is typically blasé. Pleasantly, Debby Kanter lives virtually across the street from the Dwtn C C and I stopped in to see her. We are probably to get together next week.

Sadly I am much more excited about my new sauna routine wherein I allow the air to remain dry by not humidifying the chamber with water poured on the rocks. Humidity only clogs the pores and inhibits healthful sweat. I was chauvanistic (?) in my practice. The better and Scandinavian method is repeated doses of a dry chamber. My recent running combined with no time for supper and sometimes lunch has me down to 139 lbs.

Recently I believe that my immunological defenses failed me and I have a viral infection in my right ear. I am to see a well-reputed doctor tomorrow for probably some antibiotics for this minor problem and consultation about reconstruction of the ear as my health plan covers 80% and/or everything over $2500.



1.19.80

Dear Family,

A good week greeting to you from its inception on Sat. night. I trust that you will enjoy this semblance of a double letter for the price of one. Somewhat alone and disaffected I am reaching out to you. On the nights when I am not soliciting (i.e. not actively working to get there to be with you) I will try and share my thoughts with you, along with lesser desired digressions, rationalizations and assorted other foibles.

Yesterday I finished up the ad campaign by mailing out the copy. More or less we have exhausted all the beet and cane growing areas and the processing trade in said immediately surrounding areas. Hawaii has been so good that Wayne wants to repeat the ad there. The report itself is being held up for want of a graph with the responsibility falling on Arthur. The problem is the copywritable nature of a graph. We were to get it from the CompTrend office across the street but their representative over there, Pat Nolan, is rarely in these days and his secretary is uncooperatively surly. The net result is that I hope I can obtain a printable high-Iow-close bar chart of spot or nearest expiring future from Steve King through DRI's data bank.

In the afternoon I traveled to Hinsdale, 20 miles W, to see Dr. , Ricijard Wiet about my right ear. From my ear he removed an accumulation of foreign matter and internal secretions that remotely resembled an emaciated cigarette filter. The infection is minor and the prescribed cure is a daily
1 oz. dousing of 1.5% Acetic Acid. Further discussions of corrective surgery were hypothetical until he saw the X-rays. I am to visit him next month. The train ride out there reminded me much more of the commute to Lower Merion and other Phil suburbs than my commute N on the C & NW.

I finished reading Conquering Cancer and enjoyed it thoroughly though I did only skim the second half. Though belabored, his stress on treatment of cancer through a conjunctive effort of all the therapies available to oncology is well taken. This week's purported production of human interferon, an integral anti-viral agent with oncological uses through commercial gene splicing holds promise. I think my next undertaking will be The Nickolaus Technique, a 30-exercise program that I should be able to do in the sauna.

Tonight I am attending a birthday party of John Hill, by and for him. I am unescorted as the five-day. notice he gave us was insufficient lead time for me to locate an available date, so my appearance will be relatively cameo I suspect. The affair is in the heavy duty bar hopping neighborhood, so I
may indulge.

Gold's price movement is positively depressing. For the last 3 months in a row the price of gold has opened higher on Mon. morning without exception. Gold broke from "limit up" ( a situation wherein no trader is willing to sell at the maximum allowed price for the day) only once all week and $64
($6,400 per contract) was there for the asking on Thurs’s opening. Still at $808 per ounce Arthur could not consider going home long over the weekend.

Tomorrow brings the usual sauna-jacuzzi routine, a woodwind quintet at the Evan. public library at 3, and the annual $400,000 per minute extravaganza at 5:30, the Super Bowl. It is expected to be anything but "Super", and I am going for the subliminal seduction.



1.20.80

Dear Family,

Sunday night brings the traditional setting for the week's communication and I am not particularly want for things to say, but let me tie-up a few loose ends on my going's about. On the last day of this packet's trilogy I trust that, as ever, your health is stable and environment supportive.

Fri. night I ate supper with Mitch and friend Carla at Edwardo's Pizzeria on Howard St. We had a stuffed spinach pie that was an acceptable "local" version of Giardano's. The tomato sauce was reasonably fresh. I had a Sat. morning brunch of a "Mexican Breakfast" at the Blind Faith Cafe, 3 blocks from my apt. at 800 Dempster. This vegetarian self-serve restaurant's version of a MB is: 2 eggs on a tostada topped by alfalfa sprouts, whole grain rice with onions sprinkled on top and pinto beans, all for $2.95. I expect to frequent the establishment more often. Today I had a Walker Bros. Apple Pancake to go, that I picked up after shopping and split with Mitch.

The firm got some free publicity through the embargo via the appearance of Wayne and brother-in-law Sonny in pictures of the CBOT floor in Newsweek and Business Week respectively. Wayne, one of the traders in the photographed wheat pit has his bald side to the camera.

Commonweatlth has hired a replacement for Eileen. Leanne is to start in a week. The wisdom of hiring a competent woman who happens to be attractive and single is still being debated. I hope that the net effect of her presence is the resulting uptempo-successful environment envisioned by the optimists as opposed to the increased tension and distraction that I fear. Alas, discrimination is of course out of the question.

Today's Woodwind quintet was an hour of pleasurable chamber music, subtle and enlightening. The Super Bowl was an OK affair all around with the right proportions of sex and violence. I got so good at predicting ad appearance and content that I correctly foresaw the industries (beer and
cars) about to appear in the next commercial break sequence. Hobnobbing with office coworkers and interesting guests at John's party was more pleasurable than the bar hopping beforehand. The musical set of a local Neo New Wave group, B B Spin, at a Loyola U. bar afterwards was basically competent


January 27, 1980

Dear Family,

I trust that you are well and ready for another chapter in this lifelong saga. I would certainly share enjoying yours. The winter here is very mild relatively and I trust yours is likewise.

In retrospect the big news of the week has probably been that gold open mixed. Quick profits were available, though a $143 per ounce drop on Tue. was unsettling to say the least. I cannot imagine that gold won't open higher tomorrow. Carter's performance is typically playing to the polls rather than performing his job and leading as we pay him to do.

I had a good week at work though only 1 night of soliciting on the phones. In the early part of the week I summarized the Consensus (a compilation of brokerage house research) for "Bullish" and "Bearish" sentiment and facts, as usual. I also finished up the cattle situation update (enclosed with the sugar update) and second round of Hawaii ads. While the printers, supply store, and professional typist are either in the building, across the street or 1 block away (in reverse order), the interface takes time away from my office presence. I utilize two printers, basically nearby Samuelson Printers for our camera-ready ad copy and Arthur's friend Bob Tigerman, ½ mile NNW for everything else.
Beth was to have gotten the ax on Fri. but never came in. I was hampered most of the week by Eileen's typing turnaround slowness. She is to help out this week in the transition. I only hope the $4,800 secretarial salary expense increase is justified.

The highlight of my extra-occupational week was the Evanston Pub. Lib. quarterly book sale. I picked up a whole myriad of fiction and non-fiction at less than bargain-basement prices. I must now have a library that will take two lives to get through and at least "7 lean years" worth.

I purchased replacement yogurt making cups and Mitch made a first 'batch. His enthusiasm should help keep us with a continual inventory from our 11 cup production capacity. Actually, 5 of the cups are 6-oz. capacity. A yogurt fruit frappe is 500 calories less than the choc. milkshake that it replaces.

John's birthday party of nine days ago still lingers in my mind and deserves more comment than I have given it to date. He rented a hotel suite and had both a turkey and stroganoff brought in. In addition to officemates in attendance were many of his friends, predominantly black. A model-author Renee particularly captured my fancy.

That affair nevertheless did not compare to today's birthday party for Father. Mother laid out a scrumptious spread that bested 37 people. I failed in its tertiary goal of account closings. Fish, fruit, rice, bagels, and eggs abounded amidst other mainstays and delicacies. A "jogger" t sheet birthday
cake was appropriate. Family later was a pleasant finale. The flight on Midway was a bargain $33 from Chi-Cleve and $0.37 from Cle-Chi due to their bargain day today.

Debby cancelled out of our date and that is how my social life has been running lately. I cannot even console myself on how I used the available time resulting from the lack of courtship activities and obligations. I did little book reading during the week. barely staying abreast of the NYT and WSJ.
My night's worth of solicitation did go well though, as I am getting introductory material out to people I call and I expect to receive funds to open 2 accounts @ $5,000 each this coming week. Both are friends of friends and one sought me out.
Be well.

February 2, 1980

Dear Family,

A Shabbat greeting to you all. On this special weekly day I am grateful for my health and for your existence. Alone I'd be helpless. In any event, I am in good spirits and trust you are likewise.

My good mood stems from the enjoyable past week I have had. Life at the office was progressive and fulfilling. Our new secretary Leanne, at age 22, is competent and conscious. Word flow was expeditious. The brochure I designed has met with Wayne's approval and I should get Arthur's feedback Mon, so it will probably be going to press next week. I have completed all my current
projects and will be searching for new tasks this coming week.

As for the profit generating activities of the firm for myself, I am continually learning about both the market and attributes and detriments of the individuals of our firm. Different brokers have varying qualities of expertise to offer. Arthur has been somewhat “gun-shy” as of late. $10,000 should be coming in soon and I may have to manage it somewhat actively, a thought of no small consternation.

The evenings were spent quite enjoyably, if not particularly productively this past week. On Monday I had a late (subsidized by Tom) supper with Tom and Lee at a contemporary seafood restaurant, The Sausalito. We had raw oyster and oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer, I had a light entree of broiled fish with mushrooms, rice and corn, and a chocolate banana crepe for dessert. Because of Tom's inarticulation we ordered a half carafe each of rose, burgundy and chablis. The experience was basically acceptable though hardly worth dwelling over or on. On Tue. afternoon I attended a seminar sponsored by The Net York Mercantile Exchange at the Hyatt Regency on The-#2-Heating Oil Futures Contract. I had originally planned on not attending but at Wayne’s request I had made reservations for him, Arthur and myself. Of course I was the only one that ended up attending. The seminar itself wasn't quantumly different from my basically one man show in FL and I accordingly slept through a bit of it. The reception following was well worth my time as I enjoyed the company of two intelligent women, Jayne Ball, research director of the NY MerQ and an office colleague of Steve Kings at DRI, Suzanne Burchiet (sp?). I expect to share an evening next weekend with this enchanting econometrician. On Fri. night I saw the Art Institute's 5:30 showing of "The Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man." The film was well edited, poignant, and enlightening. I can appreciate better now that the guilt instilled through Judaism is relatively mild and cerebral compared to the fixations of Catholicism. Through today, I did not miss a jacuzzi or sauna the whole week. On Mon. I went through the Nickolaus Technique 30-exercise routine and ran my only mile (at 5:57) of the week. My weight is comfortably on the underside of 140 lbs.

This weekend a friend and debtor of mine, Jeff Roberts, is in town to locate an acceptable theatre site for a Chicago laser light show. He is staying with me and I may help him look at sites tomorrow. Ostensibly he has enough funds ($200,000) to get the project going in this virgin market. Tonight I am to have supper with an-acquaintance from Monticello Jr. High, Peter Tenney who lives in nearby Winetka and works in the International division of Kraftco. I am planning on attending the Grad. student brunch at Hillel tomorrow.

The mildness of our winter ended abruptly this past week with snow accumulation of 8 inches and temperature below 6 F with wind chill.

I am so disappointed in Carter's inability to lead. The Soviet use of Mustard gas in Afghanistan in addition to Cambodia is an unsettling precedent that requires more fortitude and resolve than JC is prepared to demonstrate.

I am almost prepared to accept Bush at this point. The only good news of the week was the Islamic conference in Pakistan's universal condemnation of the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan despite Syria and the PLO's overt support and the beseechment of the Iranian hostage captors for an immediate release.

I forgot to mention that on Wed. night at a "midnite special" sale at a local audio store I purchased a 3 1/2 watt cassette player and two 3 oz. magnet speakers for $40 for my car. I should have my rolling machine boogying soon. Be well.


February 10, 1980

Dear Family,

I trust you are well and braving the depths of winter with patience and strength. Here in the provincial capital of the Mid-West, commercial and cultural life goes on despite our first 1/2 ft. of accumulated snow.

With respect to my job, the week proved to be reasonably significan1. Checks have arrived for me to broker and as they will clear next week, I will truly begin brokering. Unfortunately this came at a poor time for the "program" per se. Arthur's ego is evidently not as secure as I had originally thought so he is judiciously trading very lightly to the point of ineffectuality. Other arrangements can and do exist within the firm but they will unambiguously require greater monitoring on my part than if an unambiguously successful program were in existence.

The Commonwealth introductory booklet is finally complete and at the printers. With all the running around and coordinating it took most of my working week to get it done. Still, I am searching for the proper use of my work time.

In most other aspects the week was fulfilling and fun. Notable among my endeavors was the befriending of Harriet Rarris. But let me start at the week's beginning. Jeff Robert's stay here was enjoyable and fruitful. He now has a site and an eschrow deposit. For his meal on arrival here we went to The Majic Wok. It was there where Harriet and I caught each other's eye; she-was lunching with her sister. I gave her my card and asked her to call me. Sat. night Jeff joined Peter Tenney and I for supper and we ended up at Blind Faith Cafe after hearing we'd be waiting in line for an hour at Fritz's. Peter seems still to be as I remember him, intelligent, high-strung, and repressed. Jeff and I had My Pie pizza Mon. night before his Tue. departure. Harriet called me Tue. morning and we had dinner at La Choza. She is 27, Jewish, a secretary-receptionist at an Advertising agency, sincere, sensitive, and self assured. Her beauty is unambiguous. We also shared Fri. night together as I steamed fresh filet-and oysters for dinner. A wedge of lettuce, the standard PCL beans-cheese-rice and chocolate éclairs were offered.

Yesterday I installed the cassette player in my dashboard and while the cosmetics are not yet complete, as usual, the mechanics are in place and functional. Last night Michael Gilman and his fiancée Karen Joseph came over and we dined at Fritz's (despite the 45 minute wait) and spent the evening chatting and going over my postcard collection. Their ability to identify the artists was impressive and we all learned from the effort. My only regret is that I do not see more of these U of Chi southsiders.

The highlight of my art week was the Fri, Art Instltue noon lecture on "Daniel Burnham's Chicago Plan" which was very insightful on Chi's geography and layout.

On the two night's on which I stayed late to 'Dial for Dollars. I was able to get to the Dwtwn Court Club to run averaging 12:20 for two miles. I won't bore you with my satisfactory weight measurement. I have no trouble sleeping on a day in which I've sauna'd and jacuzzi'd. I am up to 40 sit-ups and push-ups in the sauna.

I am starting to fall behind on The NYTBR, a situation I hope to rectify after I finish King of the Jews.
Be well.


February 17, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings on a Sunday night. I am not particularly in a joyous mood so if I do not come off sounding like a bundle of cheer, you'll please understand that my life is like that and bad goes with good.

On a professional level, I have made two trades, a small winner and then a large loser. The loser could have been a small winner or at worst a "scratch" and it is only through my sheer negligence and haphazard manner the loss occurred. The only problem of this education experience is that it resulted in a shortened life for me and capital depreciation for my client. I trust it will not occur again. The principle means of complying with the axiom "Never let a profit turn into a loss" is by continually raising stop order execution prices.

Turning to my physiology and immunology, last Fri. I saw Dr. Wiet for a second time and the bacterial infection in my ear has not dissolved in the acetic acid solution so he prescribed some antibiotic drops. Worse news was that a reconstruction of my ear would be primarily directed towards controlling the drainage and the quality of the hearing restoration is dubious.

The last major souring agent of my mood is my social life, in particular my relationship with Harriet. We are already quite intimate and it is thus the process of spending time together that reveals further insight. Alas the more I find out, the less enthralled I become. We spent a very enjoyable Wed. night at the Playboy Club Cabaret. For $15 per person we got unlimited cocktails, an entree of steak or fish, unlimited wine, after dinner coffee drink and a three act show consisting of
a juggler, comedian, and a singing sister trio. I was uncomfortable, with the exploitive-chic atmosphere, unlike Harriet. We got in in the first place courtesy of Steve Sherman's key.

Fri. night I attended the birthday party of Susan B. Anthony at the Evanston Women's Liberation Canter. It was a pot-luck dinner and I brough1 the inimitable PCL salad. Unfortunately the women in attendance with any articulated feminist consciousness were not the nubile ones. About 25 women and three men were in attendance. One of the other men was the State Representative from Evanston and the other was veritably hostile. The NOW representative in attendance approached me and straight away asked what I was doing for ERA, not yet ratified in IL. I'll be writing to my legislators and Governor.

Last night was a party given by an acquaintance of Doron's from High school, now a grad student in Audiology. Both the participants and refreshments were uninspiring so I left after 45 minutes. These two weekend social events aggravated my ill disposition because I did not manage to give out 1 invlte to the leap year party that we are having on 2/29.

Today was fun despite a cancelled brunch date by Harriet. I heard the NW Univ Jazz Band at the Pub Lib, a textured and aesthetic experience. During the show I scanned the latest issues of Billboard and Variety. As usual the economic and in this case political news from Israel was not good. 75 Ibs. for a movie ticket must hit pretty hard. Begin's heavy handed TV henchman Joseph Lapid has evidently no respect for the 90% of Israelis who get their nightly news from the tube. I am beaming over the capture of the Eurovision Pop contest championship for the second straight year. Disco is evidently experiencing quite a flourish in the Holy Land.

My physical condition has been good, as I got my two mile time down to 12:16 this past week. I do not perceive that I move along the track particularly quickly, but nobody seems to pass me. I was under 140 all week.

I finally finished the Epste1n novel, enjoying it thoroughly. I am listening to a lot of new music by both familiar and unfamiliar artists. My latest tape is music by The Police and The Pretenders.



2.24.80

Dear Family,

Sunday and this opportunity brings the weekly retrospective and prospective outlooks. These thought context's would be meaningless without you to communicate them to. Per usual I trust that you are in the best of health and welfare to enjoy the latest episode in this at-some-tlme-ending melodramatic saga.

This week's portion does not find our protagonist in any particular daring physical adventure though buying PBK (a pork belly contract for May delivery) on Friday might be classified in the minds of many as a daring commercial venture. It did in fact turn out to be a losing proposition more than offsetting the previous day's win in PBK. Money was consistently made for customers in long WN (July wheat) and short CK (May corn). I am greatly engrossed in the daily market as I active1y manage accounts. As market hours consist of most of my working hours, I will have to resolve the conflicting demands of my attention {salaried economist vs. commissioned broker. I cannot afford to repeat last week's minimal performance for my salary.

The company is unambiguously growing with both Arthur and Wayne capable and desirous of exploring new avenues of opportunity. Our introductory brochure was professionally typeset by our printer Bob Tigerman and he should have them ready soon. We will probably have a Boston-based group of salesmen by the end of March. Managed-performance-oriented pooled funds are also under discussion. I may be getting to Hawaii for a seminar by the end of March.

We have been experiencing pleasant temperatures and with the snow mostly me1ted I was able to run the par course yesterday. I have the expected satiating soreness today. I will probably buy a good bicycle for the coming year, as the $180 over-refund check I received from NW Orient airlines this week should cover a Raleigh Grand Prix adequately.

This weekend was enjoyable socially beginning with the Hillel Shabbat dinner on Fri. night. where I compared tastes in new Wave music with Andy. Last night's festivities commenced with a Chicago Grad student Hillel party downtown. I was the most formally dressed male in my "cruising" purple
bow tie and shirt and gray pin-stripe suit. After that we stopped in at a bar where office-mate Lee works. I drove Doron and his friend Steve as well. At both locations I befriended attractive and intelligent women who complimented me for various reasons and promised to show at my party on 2/29. We capped the evening off with 2 A.M. crepes.

I have busy weeknights coming up. Tomorrow I will be shopping for more prints and cloth-stretchings with Mitch. Tue it is addressing and writing letters with the Evanston NOW chapter on behalf of E.R.A. Wed, I will be attending a Wharton alumni reception at the Union League Club with a seminar on financial instruments. It should be ideal for contacts. Later that evening I'm going to Tuts, a bar where a guy I know will be playing. Thurs. night will be a lot of work cleaning up the apt. and preparing the hor's doerves for Fri.'s party. I am expecting a good turnout for the party with maybe a doubling of last party's 20 guests of mine.

My reading direction this past week was not particularly focused as I drifted through a Henry Miller interview in Jonathan Cott's Forever Young. Two books I will ardently tackle this week are Merchants of Grain and Secrets of Origami; The Japanese art of Paper Folding. Wayne wants me
to write an inflationary doomsday scenario research report which will take up my available idle thought time.

I have some hope for the U.S. political process. If my man John Anderson can place third in NH, we may have cause for a less than cynical attitude.
Be well.



March 2, 1980

Dear Family,

Hello, how are you? I trust that you are well and in the best of spirits. With spring not yet around the corner, thoughts and dreams of warmth and sustenance must suffice. Here in Chicago winter's resurgence could not have come at a more inopportune time.

The day of my party witnessed 4+ inches of snow and sub-zero ( F) temperatures for the first time in nearly a month. The hors d'oeuvres (tuna pate on toast triangles and quarters, melted mayo'd cheese on cucumber sandwich triangles, all garnished with some combination of cherry tomato, small pickle slice, black olive sliver or carrot slice) and reserve dip (cauliflower chunks and Doritos in sour cream and powdered onion soup) went as planned but the weather conspired with the social behavior tendencies of the people I have acquainted to keep my guest size down to barely 20 in number. Doron had many more peers in attendance this time, so the overall crowd size sustained the necessary ambience. The atmosphere was good enough that the 3rd year Econ PhD students of 7B who were hosting a party folded theirs into ours. Most disappointing was the absence of nubile prospects. I was pleased that our music kept the dance floor hoping and the segues minimal in duration. Mitch had to work until 11 P.M. and the party more or less ended when he and co-workers took off to go downtown to barhop at 2 AM.

I did not get to go with him Mon night as planned to purchase cloth stretchings and he went Tue with Doron (because his girlfriend changed her availability at the last moment) and much to my chagrin returned with a racecar in action, complete with Valvoline decals, and an uninspiring red-orange sun behind black tree silhouettes on beige cloth for our living room. The racecar's suitability in particular is still under discussion. A truly undesirable turn of events is that he has set up a TV in his bedroom as I, of course, vetoed its placement in the living room.

On Tue. I addressed postcards to legislators on behalf of ERA for the Evanston NOW chapter as planned. The women in attendance were basically neighbors of the hostess and barely informed on the issue, let alone feminism. Most notable was the hostess's husband who I had coincidentally spoken to earlier in the day about the Wharton reception on Wed. that he was organizing The only thing notable about the seminar was that it was given by Bob Shutman of Conti Currency, a firm and man whom I had an interview with.

Work is going reasonably well particularly my relatively inexpensive education to the reality that for the most part, nobody knows anything. I was disappointed by my inexcusable negligence that resulted-in a $200 loss per customer. Simply it took me two days worth of statements to discover
that I had only liquidated half of the long wheat positions and the futures price had declined 4 cents per bushel in the interim. The Comptrend has arrived and is working and Arthur is due back from 2 weeks in NYC tomorrow. The machine is truly a toy come true but as it has no computative software programs or data other than prices. My fundamental research capabilities are not enhanced. My only conviction currently is that May corn is going to trade at below $2.60 per bushel (based on the price of spot sorghum as formulated in my senior and MBA thesis) held with such fervor that 1'11 probably put my money on the line soon.


March 5, 1980

Dear Family,

How about a very fast mid-week page? I am reasonably at peace with my situation and have some residual news that I was not able to relate in my last letter due to lack of space.
Professionally I have accepted my status as Senior Economist and in lieu of a successful house "program" I will phase out my brokerage activities. I am truly an amateur in a professional's game. It is very difficult for me to take a losing day and not consider 3 beers at lunch, let alone concentrate on research. Arthur does not seem much better for the 10 days he spent in NYC; a little more physically fit, but not much more prepared to face the market. Today I was able to concentrate and focused my efforts on the Inflation Situation Report requested by Wayne. It is close to finished. I have some creative ideas on remodeling our imminent brochure for a financial instrument hedging mal1erthat I'd like to work on next.

Materially, On Wash Birthday Holiday, I went walking and stopped in at the Salvation Army Thrift Store at Dempster and Chi. and purchased 6 work-acceptable shirts @ $1.50 - $2 each, all 14 1/2 or 15 X 32" or 33" and fashionable.

Politically, I am getting enthused about the prospects of voting out Jimmy Carter in Nov and voting in John Anderson. Tomorrow evening I will be attending a League of Women Voters meet-the-candidate night of beer and banjo at the Playboy Mansion, in preparation of the Mar. 18 Illinois primary. Anderson will be the only national candidate in attendance. Open to the public, the affair is limited to a crowd size of 400 and costs $7 with a cash bar. Afterwards I am headed to Skokie for a slide show at the JCC of Jerusalem. I am impressed by Anderson (possibly ironically as I was drawn to Carter in 76) as he talks the issues of dependency on Arab oil and the soundness of the American economy. I will probably be phoning to get out the vote for him during the next two weeks on an occasional basis after work. I'll do anything to get Carter out for an acceptable alternative.

I have been plowing through Merchants of Grain recently. It is very enjoyable reading in every sense. The five companies that dominate the trade are, except for the McMillans and Cargills of Cargill, for the most part from Europe with heavy Jewish representation. The majors are still privately own and family run.


March 9,1980

Dear Family,

Greetings from your local ':Anderson advance man." I received the dubbing inadvertently at the LOWV reception in an entertaining story to follow but first allow me a query into your health. Are you emerging from the grip of winter intact? Are you want for anything that I may be able to provide? Incoming communication to Evanston has been light as of late.

The IL primary on 3/18 requires party members to vote for delegates w/o having their Presidential preferences listed alongside. I felt that lists of Anderson delegates would be constructive to distribute at the reception so I stopped at the Hdqtrs on my way and arrived with them. An LOWV official saw them and jumped to the above conclusion as to my status. I did not make any use of this dubbing as the affair was much too crowded and I enjoyed just mingling and totally missed Anderson's appearance.

The basic reception and candidate introduction was in a room fit for 200 and there were 400+ of us. The room was elegant and discreet. Playboy mansion and foundation staff are not bunnies. The art was Picasso, Kline, and Rivers. The stereo, which we never heard as a competent Dixieland band entertained throughout, consisted of competent Marantz and Dual components in a Boulton and Seeburg (giving dial a function with jukebox accessibility of LP albums. The record library behind a door in the back was what one would have expected of H. Hefner when he lived there until he split for L.A., jazz. The beer, wine and soft drinks were served by elderly butlers.

My most notable conversation occurred with Ted Kennedy's daughter. She held herself well though not particularly impressively. Her knowledge of Boston is scant as most of her life has been spent in DC. I did not feel comfortable about discussing her father's personal integrity or politics.
I only regret not inviting her down to the CBOT trading floor, a natural tourist and campaign stop.

If you explored, the mansion had more to offer. In the back was also a stairway leading down to game rooms, a pool and a bar with a glass window into the pool. This bar was reached by either an additional stairway or sliding down a pole. It had couches and illuminated slide blow-ups of centerfolds on the wall. The games which were of course all free were generally pinball with some video. I convinced Mitch to attend and thoroughly smashed him in three games of air hockey. I was enjoying this adolescent fantasy so much that I did not brave the crowd upstairs for a glimpse of Anderson whose appearance was quite brief.

I rushed out to Skokie immediately following and caught the slide show of J'm by a tour guide in its entirety. Though little in the photographs was foreign to me the city's radiant beauty kindled in me heartrending desire to be with my loved ones.

One of the most enjoyable experiences of Chicago is the Reader, a free weekly newspaper with excellent community news and entertainment announcements and free advertising to non-profit organizations and causes. I found out about the above two activities and most of what I write about, beyond the personal, through it. Last weekend through an announcement in it I was informed of and attended improvisational comedy by undergrads here in Evanston. Today I went to a Buddy Holly music and slide show. Both were entertaining and thought provoking. Jewish Singles Groups certainly avail themselves of its columns.

I am aching for spring to get here so I can start jogging again. My weight is an acceptable 138 only because I skip one meal per day. At least the daily 40 situps and pushups in the sauna do not faze me.

I am currently reading The Stories of John Cheever and Samuel Johnson by W. Jackson Bate. I have temporarily shelved my inkling to learn Origami as it is taking more patience than I can muster.


March 12, 1980

Dear Family,

Not two weeks ago I sent you a brochure that I wrote and it is now already out of date. Rereading it just now, I also see at least 4 grammatical errors remaining. The update is material, though. Arthur Goldman is no longer associated with Commonwealth Commodities Corp. This state of affairs was initiated by Wayne. Evidently Arthur has not been a contributing member of the firm for awhile. I found out about it today as I arrived at work and I do not think he had much more of an advance warning. I imagine he will move to NYC to start over with a hospitable friend in an existing structure, ( The other update is our new telex).

The implications of all this remain to be seen. Expenses, particularly the $1,000 per month per salesman telephone bill, are clearly draining Wayne’s resources. The firm is a viable idea provided productivity increase or expenses decrease. 7 of 10 brokers have less than $20,000 equity in. Today Wayne gave them 4 weeks to being in $20,000 or they would be fired. To my, Larry's, and Nick Diamond's face, I was declared among the essential core. I am not anxious or even remotely considering a new job yet, but I do hope to have lunch with Wayne soon to clarify the uncertainties I have as to what he perceives my job is.

I completed the inflation special situation report and received comments from people around the office. I will have it professionally typed tomorrow and off to the printer thereafter. We will be starting the advertising Campaign to promote it in Pacific Business News, a weekly Hawaii newspaper, where we have had good success thus far. I designed the ad copy and text.

How are you? Feeling political I hope and ready to vote out the current incompetent Likud and Democratic administrations, wherever you are. Anderson should get at least 40% of the Republican votes on Tue. I may yet get escort him to the CBOT floor on Mon.

Be well.


March 19, 1980

Dear Family,

In triumph I send you a hearty mid-week greeting. I have joined the ranks of the professional writers. Enclosed please find $216.60 worth of effort in the form of my article, "The Effect of Inflation On Investments." Its appearance in the Commodity Journal March/April 1980 issue was a total surprise to me when the check arrived on Mon. The publication has a gratuitous circulation of 110,000. My issue is Vol 15 No. 1. The piece is quite dated by this point in time. It was written last Oct. and I had not heard from this journal since I submitted it. The updated Inflation Situation report that I will be sending you next week is superior.

Meanwhile I am struggling with the legislatively impeded path of coping with inflation and Carter's latest attempts to subvert my choices with his 15% reserve deposit of non-interest bearing cash for money market funds. I expect to settle on a $1,000 unit of the Paine Webber Liquid Asset issue coming out nest week. It consists of Eurodollar (dollars in Europe) loans to European banks worth $3 billion or more. Finally and most importantly :the Banks are outside US reserve requirement jurisdiction and hence, able to pay a higher rate.

The past week has been reasonably slow professionally. Wayne left yesterday for a vacation in Acapulco until 3/26. Arthur is taking his time departing and leaving not a particularly pleasant memory in my mind. He is making plans to open a firm of his own on Lake Shore Drive. I wish him the best though I am quite skeptical of his management capacity. This week he traded impulsively and poorly. His immediate travel plans are exotic.

Since I wrote a week ago I have had lots of fun and growth outside of my livelihood. Fri. night I had a late dinner with Judy Condit, a 29 yr old Psych Doctoral candidate of Irish-Catholic ancestry. By this stage in my courtship and friendship career I overwhelm women acquaintances with the intimidating intimacy of these letters early in a relationship and find out inexpensively in terms of time and money that I am too much. Judy handled them and me well. We had a pleasant supper of stuffed spinach souffle pizza at Edwardo's. Sat and Sun. I spoke to you or saw you from and in Buffalo.

Mon. was St. Patrick's Day and Tue. was the primary. Chicago must be the only place in the world where a holiday in which everyone gets blind drunk is followed by a "blind" presidential delegation selection process. My celebration at Alcotts Mon afternoon led to inebriation. This Irish bar is ½ block from the office. The females present were basically ethnic girls from the south side up for the parade. I did stop off at Anderson hdqtrs and made some last minute confirming calls, and found out that the celebration election night was at the Marriott at 560 N. Michigan Ave. I showed up at it with Judy. The affair was pleasant enough except that we did not have a victory to savor. John Anderson conveyed to the crowd that he was undaunted and in it with his issues until the convention. Still, the prospect of Ronald Reagan who captured 350,000 votes out of an eligible 5.7 million IL voters, (in the general election» vs. Jimmy Carter in Nov. is now all but inevitable. Depressingly I may have to offer Ronnie and Nancy a second honeymoon.

Tonight was a futile $10 gesture of supper with Harriet at the Italian Welcome Inn. Our waitress cut a truly tragic. figure in her mini-dress red-orange polyester outfit and the telltale bruise of brutality on her thigh.

Be well.


March 20, 1980

Dear Family,
Since I forgot yesterday's letter this morning, permit me to share another moment in time with you.
After all, everyone needs practice.

I trust that spring has come for you. It certainly has here in more ways than just taking off the snow tires. The sun is setting later and temperatures are rising. Today in the drizzling rain I ran my first two outdoor miles of the season over an abbreviated par course. Earlier in the week I had run a 12:15 two miles. A later setting sun should enable me to get home early enough. The ensuing Court Club routine is enhanced as the jogging starts the internal perspiration that leaves the pores in the sauna. OK, enough celebration of self.

A new individual hanging out at the Commonwealth offices is Wayne Harrison. He is setting up a commodity pool to work through and utilize the services and expertise of Wayne and Larry. He is professional and comes to us from Boston and his association their with Michael Raymond, a broker at our office, working in the tainted Lloyd Carr offices.

Michelle HelIer is quite in the news these days as she warranted a paragraph in Business Week's feature on successful women entrepreneurs 2 weeks ago and a whole column with picture in this week's U S News & World Report similar feature.

Her office is up to 5 employees, with the delightful role reversal of the only male being the secretary, and she is opening at 30 Broad St., NY, NY next month. Her kindness and helpfulness got me

my current job and if I perceive that exposure to a larger corporate structure is in my better interests, it can be in hers as well. My resume is beginning to fill out.

Next on the corporate agenda is an advertising campaign for my Inflation situation report and a publishable interest rate hedge example. Socially this Sunday night I am having dinner with high school cronies Gary Ellis and Howard Katz.


March 24, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings on a Monday night. Please pardon the routine upset but I do prize variety. I trust that you are well and winter is but a vague memory. Alas, here in Chicago snow is still a possible threat and the wind-chilled lakefront still keeps me indoors. Mayor Byrne is vacationing in CA and maybe like my fantasy of Nixon defecting to China she will have a breakdown or something and remain out there. (All “her" (the Byrne machine candidates) fared poorly in last week's election.)

Life at Commonwealth goes on. Wayne should be returning from Acapulco shortly and in his absence I am developing my own routine and reporting to Larry. I have ceased my brokerage activities and returned the deprecated funds to the respective investors. I was really not being fair to my clients, employer or myself. At least now I can sit in my screen filled office and concentrate 90 % on what I am doing. I keep on resolving to start on an article of an interest rate futures hedge for a state banking periodical but I do not seem to actually commence. Ah, for subtle distinction.

The past weekend was alternately exasperating and illuminating. Fri night started out well with a Japanese children's animated film. The movie creator and a Japanese Soc. Prof. specializing in the role of comics spoke to the audience through interpreters, redundant for most of those in attendance. I then performed an abbreviated nightly ritual and headed downtown to the singles bar scene. The interpersonal contacts were fleeting and inconsequential, unlike the property enforcement authorities who towed my car from the Jewel supermarket parking lot at 1 A.M. Having WaIter Troost NC plates on I approached the inconveniently located Towing pound Sat. afternoon with trepidation. They had it identified as an IL plate anyway and were less desirous of impeding their processing of my $45 than I was so the car was driven away expeditiously and regardless of details. The afternoon was followed by a visit to the Evanston Bird Sanctuary ecology center's opening month tour. The grounds are only 1 block wide and the center has work yet to be done; nevertheless it is inspiring. I hope to find out more about the Cook County Forest Preserves, bird watching, and the local Prairie Hiking Club, this spring.

Yesterday I had the traditional Sun lunch at The Majic Wok and took Mitch with me. Afterwards we stained and varnished our dining area radiator cover and took in The Who movie “Quadrophenia". The flick was enjoyable for me on many levels. My supper was at the residence of Hts High peer Gary Ellis and also attended by another Tiger alumni, Howard Katz. Gary is a 4th year PhD Bio student with half of his 120-page thesis written (to go?). Howard teaches law at Northern 11 Univ. Howard and I provided quite the lively discussion of politics. I am still ABC (Anybody but Carter) though, despite Reagan's reactionaryism. (In his defense, see reverse).

My ear seems to be relat1vely clear of infection. I was experiencing pressure, though, and I still take out formidable masses periodically from my ear canal swabs so I will have three appointments with Dr Wiet the week of April 15 to give him an adequate chance to clean and remove accumulations
Be well.



March 30, 1980

Dear Family,

Welcome back to a routine Sunday night. I trust that life's interruptions have not strayed you from your chosen path. Progress does seem ever so slow. My important and more concrete wish is that your health and happiness are with you currently. A week into spring and winter has not yet left. Where winter was mild spring is inhibiting. Have you broken out the gym shorts?

I am satisfied with my past week as I had a variety of satisfying pleasures. I made good progress on completing my interest rate hedge example for a country banker audience. The manuscript is tentatively titled "Prudence in Banking" and I feel comfortable about sending it some former professors for some good criticism. Wayne returned Thurs. afternoon, tan and queasy, and we are finally to get around to having lunch together tomorrow. I imagine that he has a variety of increased duties for me.

On Tue. I attended a Post Office auction of unclaimed goods. Prices were generally not particular bargains. I did pick up an exquisite atlas for Noa Levinson (with two for myself, all in one package) which should be arriving by mail. Shopping carts full of paperbacks went for $60-$80. A size 39 Navy Blue suit identical to mine and for which I paid $45 sold at $30. The problem was the three hours of worktime it took.

Thurs. was great fun as the Midwest Eoon. and Fin. Assocs. were having their annual meetings at the Palmer House. I drifted over to see if any part-time teaching was available in the area. Two such opportunities were listed in the job loose leaf folders at Chioago State U and Mundelin College. I fortunately crossed the path of Dr. Marie Madison, Director of the Mgmt Program at Mundelein College and the woman who hires the adjunct faculty. She was quite encouraging about my candidacy though not for this year. More enjoyable was crossing paths with Sun Khang and Roy Grohs of the UMM Econ faculty. They were in attendance still looking to fill the spot that I temporarily had. Speaking with Roy and hearing of those who remained in Morris reinforced my absence of regret at leaving the farm league (non-research) domains of academia: As at most conferences the one-armed representative of Worth publishers succeeded in convincing me to take a complementary copy of their basic econ text's latest edition. The sessions did not impress me from their tittles or participants as high-powered. Seeing the movie "Robert et Robert" that night with Judy precluded my attending any of the cocktail parties. This Claude Lelouch comedy was cute and mildly affecting. Judy is good company and we enjoyed our time together before and after the flick.

After work Fri. I joined Steve Sherman and friends at Happy hour on Rush St. I had no difficulty procuring names and numbers but I discarded the information as soon as reflection set in. Not many bars had particularly inspiring hors d'oeuvres. I will probably be joining Steve and some others for 4 days in the Las Vegas sun and desert around May 1.

For the weekend Father came in and I guess I am not quite the young man I used to be as he ran me ragged over my own home turf par course. In cold windy weather we ran the course twice in two days followed by an s & j. Meals were omelets at Lou Mitchells, stuffed spinach pizza at Edwardo's (where we ran into Mike Gilman and family preparing for the wedding) and a 3 meal equivalent brunch at Sweetwater. We continually ran into prohibitive lines, preventing us from seeing "Being There". We settled for the Hancock bar view

Larry managed the trading quite well this past week as the markets were in absolute turmoil with everything plunging precipitously in price and he shorted the right things. We had some shake-up as one broker brought a firing upon himself. A very satisfactory $120,000 was brought into the firm last month. I have given up on saving $1,000,000 by the time I leave at 30 and will now settle for $50,000. I also envision growth in my corporate experience as something to take with me. (A familiar theme and so as I digress away into the night. I will close and remain sincerely yours)

Be-well.



April 6, 1980

Dear F'amily,

A heartfelt Spring greeting to you! Open the windows, let some light in and take in the cycle of life anew. I trust that as ever your revolutions are engaging and fulfilling. I had a good Passover week. The holiday experience was constructive and meaningful.

My seder went well. Steve Sherman came with his current girlfriend (pronounced rhyming with Jimi) Mimi. His turkey saved the day and most of my week. His mother was flying through Chicago and she gave him the cooked bird and other foods at the airport. The other couple was Jeff and Sharon Karp. They brought delectable chopped liver which also lingered on. I added sweet potato string beans and mushrooms and the seder plate. Wine was brought by all. Considering that the Hagaddah was Radical Zionist in perspective, the evening went smoothly.

On the Wed. morning el ride I befriended Carole Chaloner who lives in Wilmette with her parents. She related that on Wed. night the library showed movies. Arriving home at 6 to 41 degrees F and a stiff wind intimidated me out of running so I called the Wil. Pub. Lib. and found out the movies of the evening were, "Terra Sancta: A Film of Israel" and "Jerusalem: Center of Many Worlds” Both of them were educating and uplifting and the former was quite moving.

On Thurs. at 7 PM I attended the bi-weekly meeting of the Chicago NOW chapter. We addressed envelopes and letters to legislators about ratifying the ERA amendment in IL this year. Lots of demonstrations and events will be occurring in the Chicago area including a 100,000 person siege. At the table, and session for "new" people I befriended Nancy Kasher, an Evanston resident who gave me a ride home and ran the par course with me this morning.

Fri. night's highlight was the Evan. Pub. Lib. shown BBC production, “The World at War; Part 12." This particular episode documented aerial warfare development, a delightfully precise combat technology in an explosively growing period. As in Palestine the British emerge as not the most civilized of combatants with their indiscriminate night bombing and substantial loss of Flying Fortresses. The Mustang seemed to have arrived not a moment too soon.

The weekend has been very satiating from a physical perspective as I ran the par course twice yesterday and today. I mellowed out on the roof catching rays, drinking Olympia beer, and reading the NYTBR. I also gratified my fascination with the landing of jets at O'HaRa and scanned their approaches through binoculars. The real news of the weekend is my unwitting connection with a Sun. front page NYT article. Of the FBI's 10-most-wantedlist, numbers 2 and 8 are FALN terrorists who were captured 3 blocks from my apt. along with numerous colleagues and a cache of arms in their stolen vans. They are currently incarcerated at the Evan. Police Hdqtrs. and yesterday I heard the shouts of demonstrators supporting their cause of an independent Puerto Rico.

Life at the office has taken a mildly adverse turn. A shuffle of desks put brokers Bill Bednar and Alan Rohrbach into my office. I will thus be searching for some quiet space throughout the day. These particular brokers( I guess as all brokers do) take themselves seriously and live to talk. My lunch with Wayne on Mon. proved to be anticlimactic. Basically everything is as it was. I finished my "Prudence in Banking" manuscript and mailed it off to assorted professors and banking related people I know for criticism. I will start on a new Sugar situation report as the firm is definitely traveling to Honolulu this summer for a presentation and to scout out the possibility of opening a branch there. I do not think I will be among those going. As for trading, Larry continued his luck while riding the limit down cattle moves much of the week. I still remain skeptical of his prowess and proclivity.

On Fri. I got a haircut and had the part moved to the middle of my skull. It represents a cheap and amusing revolution.

Right now I am pleasantly sore and ready for a new week. Earlier in the evening I attended a disco night sponsored by the "Jewish Professional and Business Single Group" at a hangout of Mitchs, Coconuts. The scene was facile and superficial and so I left shortly after my arrival.

Be well.

Dear Family,

Greetings on a brisk April night. The arctic winds are still formidable this time of year. I trust you are basking in the sun. The week generally mirrored the weather with little notable to show for my efforts.

Life at Commonwealth was both quiet and noisy. With the new desk arrangements and Wayne's new assistant, Joan, I see much less of him. I will be writing a cattle report this coming week but otherwise, after the weekly fundamental news summary, my time is my own. Alas I may have to get ear plugs to block out the chatter of Bill and Al, my new neighbors. I tried the Art Institute Library to some effective degree. Most days Wayne is on the CBOT trading floor making a living. Larry continues to trade brokers' equities into a sizable commission revenue. He generates both winners and. Losers and has both street-wise market savvy and the selected inability to learn from certain repeated mistakes.

The big night of; the working week was Wed. when I attended the Chi Veg. Society northside dinner in Rogers Park. The affair was disappointing as the other two men and two women were egocentric in their vegetarianism and their personal psyche. My food processor salad was the highlight of the meal. Afterwards I attended the opening of the Evanston NOW chapter at 1604 Chi. Ave. The chapter has 110 members and has nightly letter writing efforts on behalf of ERA. The function was pleasant and instructive. I met Nancy Kasher there and afterwards she tried the Evanston Court Club sauna and jacuzzi when I did. Amusingly on the same side of Chi. Ave on the next block is the Women's Club of Evanston Hdqtrs and the Natl Hdqtrs for the Women's Christian Temperance Union. I expect that I will join the Evan. NOW chapter. As for the evening's close I found out subsequently that the Hillel Grad Student function that I passed on was predictably not much.

On Fri. night I saw some more "Wor1d at War" and cruised down to the Lincoln Park area for a party at a newly built townhouse condominium. The spread of food was elegant and tasteful as was the wine. The party was peopled by attractive women. Upon engagement in conversational dialog they reinforced my convictions of remaining here in Evanston. As a motivator their enticement wore off fast. Trips to the big city are unambiguously fun.

On Thurs. afternoon I got my IL driver's license and stocked up on French white wines at $3 per bottle from Zimmerman Liquors nearby. It was well received at the party Fri night and at dinner last night when I entertained Ann Novak, an OU friend of Steve Sherman's from Berea. I steamed the by-now standard filet of sole and oysters along with salad rice and string beans. She is a sales rep. for Union Carbide and looking for new employment. She will probably come with me when I attend Michelle Heller’s office opening 4/1

The weekend can be characterized as physical indulgence as I ran the par course 4 times. Responding to a notice in the Reader I showed up today at the Foster Ave. (5400 N) beach for an expected 3 mile run for the Amnesty International of Loyola Fund. I saw no trace of it on arrival. Tonight I saw. a movie of interviews of children of Holocaust survivors with the film' director present. That Israel -was not mentioned once--seems to me as indication of why the alienating unknowns festered for 30 years between parent and child

Be well.


20.4.80

Dear Family,

A spring greeting to you. I am well and trust that you are likewise. Our breeze here on the shores of Lake Michigan are not quite the chamsin (hot dry wind) of the Judean dessert, ours being of Arctic in origin. Wind chill factor aside the environment has been downright hospitable.

Everything changes and yet remains the same. The best news of the week occurred in a correspondence from Dr. Marie Madison, director of the Mundelein Management Program. She tentatively indicated that I will be offered a teaching opportunity. Details remain to unfold but my impression is that the course will be a core Mgrl Finance or elective Investments in the weekend program for undergraduate working women, generally in their 30s, as an adjunct faculty.

My productivity professionally was reasonable enough though I did "fade on the close." Principally I added to the "Prudence.." piece, wrote a correcting and instructive Letter to the Bus. Ed. over an interest rate piece and finished the cattle and sugar situation reports. I have had the real motivation to find the nearest publicly accessible libraries for some quiet and reference. The most proximate and resourceful is the Depaul at Wabash and Jackson, open 8-8. I will have to live with no quiet space for the foreseeable future at least until we take over the space of Mr. Discount stockbroker next door. I can't say I mind getting out of the office. The situation will require more self-discipline on my part.

Speaking of which, I am somewhat distraught over my inability to dispute Milton Friedman's Permanent Income hypothesis that individuals in post WWII US consume 86% of their income. I am saving and always looking for ways to increase my income but I have regretfully lost my frugality of late. Constantly keeping in mind the havocs to be wrecked upon me (us) by the ravages of war and inflation over a lifetime is taxing. Life's tough.

To me foreign policy seems like a dream world. Carter's similarity to the LBJ of ‘64 is frightening. His policy of gradual response will inevitably provoke a no-win situation. With USSR troops massing on the Iranian border and a similarly poised Iraqi regime the events resulting from our mining the Iranian oil harbors will not be the expected response. Carter, Vance, Brezinski and Saunders exclusively make policy and to disagree with the Administrations view is to be unpatriotic.

On Fri. I attended Michelle's new office opening with Ann. I had a pleasant time and an ample dosage of Chivas motivated an extremely early retirement for the evening. My most pleasing acquaintance was that of Bob Rossi, who heads commodity personnel hiring for Merrill Lynch. I laid my article on him and Michelle gave him raving compliments of me. .

Yesterday was indulgence. I trekked down to S. 43 for a Chi Pol Dept. auction of what I had expected would be some bicycle. The items were all small from a central warehouse. I ended up purchasing a goodly quantity of items (headphones, 21 cassettes in case, Kodak Ektralite 10 instamatic camera, Norelco Triple Header VIP electric shaver and Motorola car FM converter) which are in varied states of disrepair. With Mitch I then ran the par course s/j, ate and roller skated. Spontaneously at 10 PM I decided to attend the disco/splash party at the Playboy mansion to benefit Metro-Help, Inc, an organization which serves as a runaway switchboard and clearinghouse of info. The unattached were as expected, predominantly male. Consequently I cruised only slightly and went heavy on the free pinball and electronic games.
Today, in addition to the usual, I postered the immediate neighborhood with notices about the ERA demonstration and march in Chi 5/10. Typically I am physically worn out and aching at the weekend's close and look forward to an abridged working week to recover..

The abridgement is because of next weekend's indulgence as Thurs. morning I fly to Las Vegas. A lifetime of frugality leaves residual anxiety of guilt feelings over this obvious consumption. Beyond this I aam enthused over a fun time with the two Steves of 7A.

Be well.


Dear Family,

A sincerely apologetic tardy greeting to you. I trust that one day late is not too unsettling. At the least I have thought about you all day. You may well have surmised that I arrived home late last night. My time away was pleasant and acceptably productive and self-indulgent.

Thursday's 4-hour departure delay precluded any tanning action upon arrival in "Lost Wages:' Nevada. For our first four meals (supper, brunch, s, 'b) we fell into the buffet at the Stardust hotel-casino, a subsidized meal 1 block away. On Friday I ran and skated but most of the day time was spent between the sundeck and jacuzzi engrossed in print or music. Nights were for gawking at and being seduced by the more commercial glittery consumption. My vices and fantasies were kept under reasonable control and I emerged from the den of iniquity morally and financially unscathed. Our Sunday brunch was a champagne carnivore’s delight on the 27th floor. The view from there and to a certain extent from our hotel room was good except that there is not much to see in Vegas. Anything majestic emerges only from the surrounding mountain ranges which managed to evoke in me, as do any formations of credible size, thoughts of Israel.

I have some research ideas that I was able to mull over and formalize. I think my next effort will be a compilation of free investment information sources. After that I might try an expository piece on the effect of newly introduced renegotiable mortgages and the assistance that futures may be to render Savings & Loans' now uncollateralizable inventory of mortgages.

Life at Commonwealth goes on. Larry's trading record this past week has been disastrous and gobs of house equity has been lost. Nick Diamond, administrative/sales manager, slowly digresses into manic/depressive behavior, qualuding/drinking into oblivion/heart attack. I could accept his tragedy if it was not threatening to become mine. I may end up with some of his responsibilities. In two weeks of attempting I have been unable to talk to Wayne alone about this matter.

The good news at work is our new P.R. agent. I support her ideas of daily gratuitous AM radio news-market summary broadcasts and weekly radio and print 250 word/ 3-5 minute pieces. Primary responsibility for the latter would fall upon me. Hopefully our marketing effort will be more disciplined and controlled

Spring arrived here briefly last week and Evanston proved highly amenable I expect that I will be here again next year and possibly with the same roomates. I guess I'll never shake my suburban inclinations. This coming Sat. is the Evanston Police annual bicycle auction and I am hoping for a bargain. This weekend I also expect to attend a party being thrown by Gary Ellis, a high school crony receiving his PhD in Bio(?) this spring or summer. He has been studying the sexual systems of hamsters for quite some time (I cannot seem to remember exactly why) and wrote his dissertation in only 6 months. In high school he was voted most likely to succeed and was editor of the newspaper. Last year he received an NSF fellowship as a science feature writer for the Charlotte Observer.

Today the weather was lousy closely approximating my assessment of my social lives. I may see Ann and Jennie Edgerton, an Antioch Chem Co-op Student who I met on the e1. More to the point, I got the movie "Terra Sancta; My Land of Israel" and a 35 mm projector from the Evan Pub Lib (the movie being from a regional collection) for Sun May 25 when I hope to have an initial meeting of a Judaica Literary Group. I will send you the flyer to be sent to synagogues and centers. My best notification means will be a free classified Reader notice

The good news I received today was an IRS refund check in the amount of $781.40. Combined with $450 in commissions generated last month I should be able to salt another $1,000 into a money market fund.

While I was away Leeann typed 12 cover publication submission letters for me to, what are in my estimation, the most likely and leading banking periodical editors. I am also hopeful on the interest rate future Letter to the Editor that I submitted to the NYT getting into the WSJ as a similar response

Be well.


May 4, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings and glad tidings. I trust you are well and enjoying spring. Chicago's weather was quite hospitable this past week and I tried to make the most of it.

The big news of the week was the acceptance by Alvin Youngquist, editor and publisher of Bankers Monthly, of my manuscript "Prudence in Banking." It is to run in the May issue, published on May 15. My compensation will be only $100 or $150. More than the money, the article will establish my creditability in banking, a first step towards a professional career in Israel. The speedy acceptance, 5 days from mailing it out to acceptance phone call, motivates me to dust off and update my Federal Funds piece that I wrote last year and to send it off again. My aspirations the first time around were evidently not high enough. BM has a circulation of 32,000 bank presidents and vice-presidents and financial officers. Most gratifyingly it is referenced in the Business Periodicals Index so that henceforth whenever I go into a respectable English speaking library I should be able to' find my name. Wayne was pleased also, showering me with praise at the weekly sales meeting. The Commonwealth research folder is beginning to fill out.

Life at the office is better with last week's demotion of Nick Diamond. Wayne had already decided to can him before I spoke out. Nick pleaded with soft-touch Wayne and retained broker status. Phyllis, our PR agent, is making progression in lining up AM stations for us to broadcast over. Larry's trading was poor last week and he is in danger of burning out the equity of most Commonwealth customers.

I ran the par course again this week on a regular basis. Otherwise, my extra-professional interests and demands were light this week. I took Leeann to lunch at Giordano's pizzeria downtown on Thurs. to celebrate the results of her typing efforts. Her efforts are what make the research process so effortless. On Fri, I attended the noon lecture at the Art Inst. on the Chagall windows, a worthwhile endeavor.

Fri. night following the "World at War Part 15" at the Evan Pub Lib I attended Gary Ellis's party. He passed his final oral presentation and is waiting for notification on post-doctoral fellowship applications that he has outstanding. His academic friends were typically and depressingly self-absorbed. A party of Doron’s colleague Sat. night was unfortunately peopled with similar types, unable even to ask relevant professional questions.

Yesterday I attended a bird walk sponsored by the Chicago Audubon Society at 7:30 A.M. We saw wrens, herons, blackbirds, robins, geese, and other types The flicker is an attractive bird, looking like a gray pinstriped suited executive. Afterwards I attended the Evan Police annual bicycle auction and picked up a. 25 ½ " frame Schwinn Varsity for .$80. It is in good condition and required only 2 brake pads to make it roadworthy.

This morning I got up early to Run for Israel in an annual event. I completed 7 miles of the 10 total in 52:35. My time progressively worsened after 4 miles: 28:40, 36:30, 43:30. Overall I was pleased. The rest of today I spent lounging in the sun with Mitch and two women friends. This afternoon and evening I spent with Anne Novak as we ran the par course together and shared dinner and conversation.

Be well.



May 11, 1980

Dear Family,

A spring greeting to you. Leaves are finally appearing here en masse. I trust the temperatures in Israel are more tantalizing, but at least not this week's politics.

Yesterday was the massive ERA ratification march and rally planned for IL, basically by NOW. I had put in a number of hours postering, calling and letter writing to legislators and had high hopes as did organizers of up to 100,.000 people showing up. I attended a meeting Fri. night to learn the ropes of marshalling. I chose to be a runner and brought my bicycle down in Mitch's car (gashing his ceiling because of my impatience). I ended up hanging around the assembly site info. table and made a few announcements to the assembled 40,000(?). The assembling process was the only problem as the unmarked columnar alphabetic orientation was neat in the abstract but in reality unwieldy. Filing out people in rows of 20 took unexpectedly over 90 minutes. People came from all over including Alaska, HI, CA, FL and NC. Most delegations had their own purple, yellow and white banner. I did not recognize anyone in the Clev or Col NOW groups. I only listened to Jane Byrne, Maureen Stapleton, Marlo, and Betty before I wearied of the effort. The vote in the legislature. may come as early as this week though in my estimation it all reeks tragically of deja vu. Tomorrow I am to leaflet after work and Tue. is lobby day in Springfield, but I do not think I will go. I will be pleased when we can finally get off this issue and on to more pressing local concerns, like physical safety. At training and later at the march I befriended fellow (bus) marshal Kim Holter, a. psych/poli soi major at NE IL Univ.

My personal news of significance is that the NYT accepted a letter of mine to the Business Editor now expected to appear 5/18. I was called and asked for editorial permission to condense it, which I readily granted. Another feather in my cap and I now feel ready to speak with Wayne about next year. I expect to ask for a salary increase of $5,000, a title boost to V.P. of Research and two unpaid weeks of vacation in addition to the two paid weeks for Sept 1980. I do not feel uncomfortable with any of these requests and expect them to be readily acceded to by Wayne. I think we are expanding massively next week with the takeover of an existing retail operation. This week I finally began to have access to the office of Wayne's fellow trader friend, Bob Sorkin, 1149 in our building. If this is not satisfactory Wayne has said he would spring $130/month for my own office in the building. My production this week was barely satisfactory as I polished off the updating of my Federal Funds piece and progressed 1,000 words into my Investment Information article.

This week I attended an Art Inst noon lecture on Impressionism, a subject I cannot get introduced to too many times. My lack of privy to the artists' inside jokes means that my only perspectives available are cultural, aesthetic and historical. The Impressionists break with the French Salon in their stress on light, atmosphere and color was no less than revolutionary.

Today I ran the par course twice, did the daily sauna/jacuzzi, saw the exhibit "Children of the World Paint Jerusalem" at the Museum of Science and Industry and had (i) pizza at a southside Giordanos, though mistakenly not the award winning one. The franchise chain is on the whole of good quality and I am ecstatic that they are building one 3 blocks from here. The exhibit was revelatory and entertaining.

Motivated by laudatory praise of others, I began taking a daily Vitamin B-Complex capsule. I have something of the expected reaction in that I am waking up an hour earlier just as refreshed.

Other news at the office: New broker Joe Smith has been picked by Wayne to be sales manager. Joe has much experience and is a welcome replacement for Nick. Newer broker Judy Crawford is sharing my desk with me until hers arrives, much to my displeasure...Sonny has installed a sound system to broadcast radio through 4 ceiling speakers.
Be well.


May 17, 1980

Dear Family,

An early weekly greetings to you. I have come into the office to get some time alone with Wayne and as I am early and am locked out of my desk's office I will begin the weekly epistle at this time. I trust that you are well and in good spirits. The weather may yet warm-up.

I have had a good week with lots of good news and I am therefore all smiles. The best news was that I will be teaching Corporate Finance as an Adjunct Prof. of Mgmt. at Mundelein College this summer. The format is five sessions (6/21,28 7/12,26 8/9) from 8:30 A.M. - Noon to a class of 25 working women, 28-35 years of age, for which my compensation will be $800 ($46/hr ?). I am quite enthused about the opportunity particularly as the text already chosen is Essentials of Mgr Fin by JF Weston, the book I am most familiar with and would have chosen. Unfortunately the support facilities are not particularly generous as no computing network is available and getting things duplicated for distribution will be a pain. I also received a letter this week from J. Goodman of Chi State Univ expressing interest in setting up an acquaintance appointment and keeping me on file for any openings.

The of her news that may prove to be of even more significance is the good fortune of Steve Sherman's brother, Neal, who currently works in the White House for Donald Maggin, head of the to-be-created $2 billion Energy Security Board. Neal is his appointment sec., go-fer, etc.. and is rapidly meeting the most influential names in the Carter Admin. Anyway if I end up in DC before the election remember the prescience of this letter. This avenue is also of help in funding any energy research ideas I may be able to associate with.

Right now I am not desirous of leaving Commonwealth for any other brokerage firm as things are going well here. We have finally been enabled to rent an additional 1,000 sq. ft. on the fifth floor of this building commencing the first week in June. From that area space will be made available for a private office for me. We continue to grow by leaps and bounds and this week changed clearing firms to a larger one, Collins Commodities, that clears on all the major exchanges (as opposed to TJ Spencer which clears only the CBOT) and has a significantly larger line of credit. Both our retail brokerage and pool business is expanding on schedule as we continue to add brokers.

Alas, having just broken from you to talk with Wayne, I have no. definite salary idea as to next year, but I did get the permission to take an extra two unpaid weeks of vacation so I will get my travel plans rolling soon. Wayne assured me I would not be unhappy but he wanted to wait until my first year was up giving him further time to assess how the company is doing. Since I will be rewriting the introductory brochure this coming week I will broach the idea then to Wayne about my title promotion. In short, though I only got the essential information at this time, it was all good.

Monday night I worked hard for ERA standing at the corner of LaSalle and Jackson from 4:30-6 P_ and asked the 1,000 or so people who passed if there was "Anyone for Equal Rights?" It took the whole 90 minutes to find 40 affirmative responses. I then got an irritating speck of dust in my right eye but had no time to remove my contact if I was to make the last Evan Express to get home in time to call from the Evan NOW office. The critical day was Wed. when the House was to vote on the resolution. Anyway, I nursed a painful situation for naught. The House vote did not come up as pro-ratifiers lack the necessary 60%. It has yet to even be brought up in the Senate this year and I am beginning to sense tragedy in our efforts.

Not to belabor my job, but just having to spoken to Wayne again, I am now Research Vice-President. I guess I will order new cards as well.

My social life is typically non-existent but I am not too concerned about it. Wed, night I attended a big charitable social function for singles, "Anonymous Santa Claus Night. It was massively attended but the quality was nothing to speak of. Tonight I am attending the party given by the Steves and Ralph of 7A. This afternoon I will be supervising the hoer’s d’oervue making.


5.26.80

Dear Family in Israel,

A holiday weekend comes to a close and I am in touch with you all for the most part. Still I never find it hard to motivate a letter to you. I trust you and the little one are well. I am making progress.

The true star of the past weekend was Grandpa Moe who is looking, eating, feeling and thinking_ with renewed vigor and youth. I really expect that I may see him here and conceivably even in J'm with you. His disposition is friendly and positive and he laid $3,000 on me in the form of a check on his Merrill Lynch Cash Management Account. (An effective blurring_ of the Glass-Steagull Act which prohibits brokers from banking_ but until recently, principally vice versa. The check is drawn on Bank One of Columbus, OH). Hopefully the trip to Boston was a first step. He is also self conscious about the burden that he imposes on Ralph and Ruth and I suspect might like to spell them of the responsibility. They are very conscientious, courteous and deferent towards his needs and desires. His life is now literally dependant on daily pills. His face and hands are tanner than I have ever seen him from sitting in the back yard. He is reading quite actively with the aid of 400 watts and if possible large type. It is unfortunate that Ralph does not bring a daily NYT into the house though they get 2 daily Buffalo newspapers. He can get a good seat in front of a large TV color console and heaven knows with the cable network that that R & R have combined with Ralph's almost Warholian preference for the congenial background of the tube, he probably gets a goodly dose. He also may be bored. When we arrived on Sat. Ralph was at a Blue Jay - Yankee game in Toronto until dinner. Amy is something of a paradox in her academic/detached study of the Middle East and I fear the professional and personal identities she is pursuing (in her words at Cornell women are characterized as either pre-med or pre-wed) are not in Israel. Joyce feels she will go into either computer science or psych and my assessment leans toward the later. She got through Thomas in Calc this year.

As for the folks, I would suspect that they will now remain here in the States until you go back. Mom can talk Dad into Israel in terms of Family reuniting but has difficulty with it herself (as would I) with you over here. They could even conceivably sell the house to be closer to you in Phila.

I am doing well as I gear up for Mundelein. I brought back a suitcase full of filed papers for the class and ordered desk copies of the texts. These were the same papers that I brought to Cleve . around Thanksgiving only now they had managed to accumulate lots of dust and grime. I also pruned the remaining inventory by one box. I may be teaching Intro to Acct. (commencing 9/27) or Mgrl Fin (commencing 10/4) in the fall.

Looking through today's NYT Travel section, I may end up on a 3 week junket. I will try to-resolve the exact dates this coming week so as to be able to tell you when I. speak with you and because Air
fares will be going up 6/1.

Commonwealth may be moving out of 327 S. LaSalle altogether as our designs on the fifth floor space fell through and we are constantly feeling the space constraints as we take on new people. Most promising is 3,500 sq ft, 3 times our present size and offices for everyone, in the Insurance Exchange Bldg on the other side of the CBOT at 175 w. Jackson. We are close to a written agreement on it with the Bldg mgmt

What I am most thrilled about at Commonwealth is my idea for Commonwealth Financial Services which would initially consist of a newsletter and consulting. I think I could talk Wayne into making it lucrative for me even after I leave the firm.


June 1, 1980

Dear Family,

Hello, how are you? Well I trust.

I try to move along and this week left me in an enthused life affirming state of mind. Lots is happening and the tempo is going my way. If only the summers were not so humid the climate would be desirable. I may break down and buy another lightweight suit.

Commonwealth's office situation now appears to be headed for a 7/15 departure from 327 S. LaSalle altogether for three times the space at 175 W. Jackson (the building on the other side of the CBOT). I should have my own office. The most exciting office development of the past week was Phyllis Kierig's ostensible sale of a weekly commodity news summary and analysis (totally under my direction) to a local TV CHANNEL for a half hour show once a week BUDGETED AT $12,000 per show. My remuneration should be at least $500/week. The whole proposition still seems to be in the "iffy" stage to me but she is soliciting enough cable and independent studios that something may very well come though. I have fantasies of upstaging Louis Rucheyser's "Wall Street Week." I am moving along on developing Commonwealth Financial Services but I am afraid it may have to wait until we move. Phyllis's daily radio feed stations are over ten in number and I now have the routine down to a standard format and may be able to begin delegating the task to Leeann. On Fri. she finished retyping my Fed funds piece and after a final proofing by Sara it was sent forthwith to Alvin Youngquist at Banker's Monthly. I would certainly accept the 5 day interval from mailing to acceptance notification that befell "Prudence. My "Gathering Investment. Info." will probably be polished off and submitted this coming week though as of now I know not where.

I do get pangs that I could experience much of this growth at twice the salary I am making so the resume has been rewritten and sent off to a WSJ classified ad and to Neal Sherman. . Tragically while we continue growing Larry's trading of Commonwealth house accounts does not get any better. I am also getting the feeling that publishable ideas are not going to be sprouting from this brain with anywhere near the rapidity of my performance of the last two months record. Other than salary and current lack of private space, life at the office is as usual, super. Sara and especially Leeann are thinking, attractive, efficient and most-important, fun. Wayne was in Costa Rica much of the past week soliciting a "big dough" account.

Tonight's initial meeting of the Judaica Literary Group got mixed reviews from this corner. The group was around 12 in size and generally youngish with everyone coming in response to the Reader ad and not a one from any of the synagogues that I mailed the flyers to. Our next meeting is to be 6/24 at which time yours truly will lead a discussion on Rabinowitz's Survivors:New Lives... I chose this because the group felt the book should be in paperback, reducing the choice considerably. I served apple juice and cake, showed the flick and gave away paperbacks.

Yesterday I "endured" 7 ½ hours of a low-budget ($500,000) 22-scene-in-four-act 1978 German film subtitled in English, for the most part, entitled "Our Hitler." It had gotten rave reviews and I am always one to laugh at my own expense ($12 worth). The flick was in fact interesting and I did manage to stay awake through most of it. I had never seen any acknowledgement let alone remorse or grief over the Holocaust in German society prior to the film and I had hoped to find some grasp of this monstrosity. To this effect the movie brought out the Hitler that was in each German and the German in Hitler. Still I walked away without feeling that the radical questions and proposals necessary to render Germanic Christianity harmless or benign were addressed.

Fri. night was joy, intimacy and pleasure on a blind date with Marla Besbeas, a friend of Sara's. We shared experiences that have too long been absent from my life. She is a kind and good person and I may see her again.

Earlier in the week I shared (read paid for) a Berghoff lunch of Salmon steak with Judy Dobis. She is reasonably witty and appreciative, only on a Dutch basis for me, thanks.

Be well.


6.3.80

Dear Judy,

Thank you for your aerogramme of 5/19 which came today. I enjoy your stream-of-consciousness immensely and do so hope you will keep up the inspiring work. The concrete descriptions of your peers are the enticing tangibility. I greatly look forward to the month I will be able to spend with you to learn your environment and feel your Israel. Keep writing to ask how my Hebrew is doing. Start a Hebrew dialog. Should I rig up panniers for some heavy-duty bicycle touring? I take home $950/month from Commonwealth.

How is Kol HaIsha? From parks to museums, Jerusalem can stand with London and Washington as the dignified capital in the Mid-East. Can you now lay the feminist claim? To me, the affairs are literally history in the making. What would be an appropriate monetary donation on my part? Consider yourself as now having a 2,000 lira line of credit on unpaid phone bills. How much should I send?

Your wimin friends sound divine. Yes, there is nothing like living in a, Jewish state. Life in Chicago is not producing anything which could remotely stand as a rationalization for staying. Please bear with me through this transitional time. I am continuing to expand my professional reading but could easily conceive that the freshness of my ideas may become a more taxing constraint. I am alluding to the pattern of a burst of intellectual creativity as a young man with no familial burdens or responsibilities and a concomitant slowdown as demands arise. I could foresee this pattern for me so I would like to get my ideas together now while my knowledge is fresh and dynamic. To date I have a limited work experience and am itchy to broaden it, fast. I don't know where I get this energy considering how often I get stoned but perhaps it is coming from my upset schedule at Commonwealth. We are definitely moving next month and I am so desirous of some quiet office space that I am ready to go up the walls around Bill and Al. I have always been plagued by my inability to cut out the dialog around me. Tangentially and since I am in an expansive frame of mind, I have become interested in my own psycho-neurological development as it was affected by the loss of right ear hearing. My belief is that the predominance of orientation at birth is right half pre-consciousness and that around 5-7 the shift takes a radical acceleration to emerge in the conscious mode of thought. This might explain why under normal conditions individuals can generally recall vivid memories back to age 5 or so. Under hypnotic suggestion or psychoanalytic interpretation the earlier memory might be gleaned. Anyway, all this has to do with me is that I lost hearing in my right ear, which unlike the eye inputs to the same hemisphere of the brain, at age 11 and I am wondering if any lasting effect resulted.

I would imagine that you read my family euphemism correctly that I shared a sexual experience with Maria. She is all of 20 yrs old and having dropped out of Loyola worked her way up from clerk to asst. manager in a psych. hospital Acctg dept. I have many reactions to this though fortunately guilt and regret are not among them. I would like to think that time spent with me is interesting and enjoyable, though feedback here to date had been scanty at best. Maria is sensitive enough to ask the right questions and open enough to take in my high-brow erudition. Right now we are both having too good a time to be particularly introspective. My truly initial motivation for this correspondence was to seek some advice on questions of clinical sexuality but probity demands brevity and discretion reducing me to the observation that while simultaneity is desirable, there is no substitute for a giving and sensitive person.




June 8, 1980

Dear Family,

Hello from Research Central. I trust that this letter finds you in the best of summer spirits. Other than a deserved red-light-crashing and expired-plates ticket this afternoon mitigated by the day’s second running of the Parr course a few
minutes ago, I have cause for only a good disposition and outlook. I sing you no Blues this week.

I am most pleased to announce that "Fed Funds and Repos: Parts I & II' will be published in Bankers Monthly in the June and July issue. 22 pages was evidently too long for one issue. This was the manuscript that I had pronounced dead at UNC after if got rejected by lesser journals that were not appropriate or defunct. Alvin Youngquist the editor and publisher evidently has a dearth of competent articles submitted. In most issues 2 out of the 6 or so articles seem to be by names appearing almost every week.

Life at Commonwealth was slow for me this past week as I have no new research ideas that I am working on and typing turnaround is slow anyway with Leeann and Sara tied up with the administrative burden of transferring the accounts from Spencer to Collins. Everything still is go with the planned move though the signed final lease is not yet in hand. Com. Fin. Services is moving along as is my manuscript "Gathering Investment Info", both of which are currently in the hands of Phyllis and her husband for editing and review. So far, 2 hours of my day are still taken up in the radio broadcasts a relatively distracting and draining endeavor, which I am: increasingly growing to resent.

With two weeks to go until class time at Mundelein I am beginning to grow a little anxious. My preparation is on schedule though the limited support facilities available will require a more disciplined and planned routine. After seeing previous course syllabi I now see how the text was mastered, generally by covering less than the chapters, not a method I am comfortable with. I am going to totally ignore the ancillary paperback. I am coming on board with relatively little notice and for summer school ( probably the most expeditious way to get on the bus) and will thus not have all the amenities, particularly a locked desk, available when I become official in the fall. The campus is quite compact, mostly two nearby buildings, 1/3 of the distance between my apt. and office. .

I have been caught smiling when I arrive at work a disproportionate amount this past week and I believe a correct attribution would be Maria. We spent a pleasant and quite domestic evening together yesterday and I look forward yet again to her company.

Doron took off yesterday for Wash. D.C. and his summer sublessor,John Malm, moved in. John just got his BS (?) from the U of Wisc. and began employment with a landscaping consulting firm around the corner from here. He seems affable enough with no problems thus far.

Certainly the Toy of the Week Award goes to my new Casio c-80 digital calculator/wristwatch purchased and delivered to me by Father. Thank you,

The newsletter that I sought most to be published in was the C.M.E. weekly clips, put out by librarian Cathy Carter. Gratifyingly she included my Letter to the Ed. when I pointed it out to her. I hope the same fate awaits . “The Case...”. . I find the Clips an excellent reference on topics of concern to the industry. I've gotten Michell hooked on collecting them.

My ticket was a bitter ending to an otherwise pleasant outing around the South Loop Printing District on a Chi. Arch. Fdtn tour, my first of the season. Thurs. at 5 I attended the opening of the exhibit at the CAF Hdqtrs of' "Holibard & Root, 100 yrs" with Judy Dobis.

Be well.



June 15, 1980

Dear Family,

How are you? Today I am a man, sort of. of. I trust that summer has reached you, though I can scarcely say the same Hot and wet/cold have been our alternate dispositions here this week. I evidently pay it no mind as the hits just keep on rolling.

Permit me to tell you of Friday, one of my best professional career days. to date. It started off well with Joe Smith, Sales Mgr and photographer of the series that I distributed to you, informing me that of his 700 frames that he shot last month and routinely forwarded on to an associate who sells pictures to ad agencies for placement in business magazines, the ones most liked by this associate were of me. I signed a release form with my share as a 1/4 of any show's gross. A color session is slated for tomorrow. 2 hours later, Arnold Workman of Savings Bank Journal called to follow-up an earlier discussion we had by commissioning me to write "Renegotiable Rate Mortgages and the Interest Rate Futures Market" for SBJ. In fact I may be overly sanguine about the prospect of a 2,000 + word piece due in two weeks, but such is life in the fast lane. Before noon I also spoke with Dan Brindle, an acquaintance of broker Judy Crawford's who will be supplying the Commonwealth Fin. Services newsletter with biweekly camera-ready technical interest rate and currency analysis.

With Wayne's return, I also discovered that it was not required of me that I should be obligated to spend two hours a day dialing radio stations, it being part of Phyllis's duties. Her husband John now comes in daily to perform that task and to gainfully apply his English teacher skills. On the fundamental question of firm "viability" the news was not good as Larry’s absence on vacation has not rectified the trading void and Wayne took a $125,000 trading loss in his first week back on a Corn spread of over 2 mil. bushels, on his personal account. No lease is yet in hand but we are still scheduling to be totally into our new quarters by Aug. 1. Monthly operating expenses are expected to shoot up to $40,000. With broker productivity quintessentially abysmal, I cannot imagine that my Oct. raise will be anything to write you about. .

Mon. and Tue. nights I spent preparing for my Corp Fin class as Wed night I attended an introductory session at the Learning Ctr/Lib for summer session faculty. Of 60 courses being offered, 8 faculty showed. I was well received as the outgoing (non-renewed) prof in the subject is an unapproachable ogre. Contrary to Dr. Madison's assertion I have ready access to a software econometric package for my students which I hope to employ. So far I am on schedule

Thurs and Sat night were spent with Maria, an experience that continues to grow more enchanting as we become more relaxed and informal with one another My outside news of the week, that my resume motivated an inquiry as to my age by the White House, saddens me most in leaving her.

Sat morning was a bird walk wherein I witnessed a kingfisher in action, indigo bunting (?), t-bird and assorted familiar ones. The first 2/3 of the tour had misplaced values for what we lacked in bird quality we more than made up for in mosquito quantity. This afternoon I took the Chi Arch Fdtn tour of Old town. Actually I convinced our guides to lead our group of 5 (with a norm of 40) due to the windy/wet weather on the tour and was able to reward the troop with a tour of a brownstone on the city's most famous block, Wayne's abode. Nothing internationally reknown, but interesting residential.

This evening I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Michael Gilman and Karen Joseph. LA bound, with Michael's salary twice mine, I am overjoyed for their achievements and opportunity. They have both just graduated from U of Chi with an MBA and MSW respectively. Karen's fluent Spanish should assure there being no employment problem.

My health has been basically good, with a superior weight (136) and par course time {29:36} and bothersome accumulations in my right ear. The situation is under control but Chi. moisture has got to go.

Enclosed please find "The ease for Interest Rate Futures". As ever, I would appreciate any comments or feedback.

Be well.

June 22, 1980

Dear Family,
Greetings from the longest sunlight weekend of the year. As per usual hopes and expectations for insight were sought and achieved. I trust you are enjoying the full blossoming of a summer. Yesterday I ran the Par course in a record 28:49 and tonight I weigh less than 135 lbs.

The week (as opposed to the "strong" days of S & S) at Commonwealth was marginally productive as I drafted and finished the sugar amidst accolades, kudos and plaudits from all despite its obvious grammatical mistakes.
The frustration encountered was in the writing of the SBJ commissioned piece as the even-now-broadened topic of "Alternative Mortgage-Instruments and the Interest Rate Futures Market" contains two unrelated topics. The risk in mortgage origination faced by Savings Banks that is hedgeable also exists in the current standard instrument. I am not yet exactly sure of the final product orientation but one or the other will get lopsided treatment. On a positive note I toured the new office with Wayne and lobbied successfully for an office with a window and basically enough space. 5 weeks and counting. During the week I became alarmed over the withdraw1 by our accountant of his trading account funds that he had maintained since Commonwealth's inception. The alarm proved to be false as he assured me the firm was surprisingly profritab1e in its first year but another firm he audits was willing to pick up the tab for his infrequent losses.

I spent a significant amount of time preparing for MGMT 301B, the first class of which was yesterday morning. The class was gratefully only 22 in size with two male students. They were alert and forthright in their demands. I started running out of things to say and thus stretched out the second half of my lecture, which I guess not so suprising1y got better reviews and acceptance; So far, so good but as the course is now in full swing the demands are increasing on my time. It would have been helpful for me to have stayed a little more current with the literature.

During the week I attended a no-wave audio-visual performance of a woman singer-songwriter and her band performing to a backdrop of slides and movies. The effort was unfortunately only mediocre and quite loud and I left barely an_ hour into the performance as it brought out my propensity to fall asleep. Thurs. afternoon I spent three hours at the Cook County Jail bailing out broker Richard Sherman on assorted drug related offenses. Life in the big city.

I was with Maria Mon. night and yesterday afternoon and at dinner in 7A. Our time together gets only better and we have a good understanding of one another’s responses. Fortunately we can share simple pleasures.

Chicago has been experiencing the coldest June on record with 4 record setting night temperatures in the 40s. The lack of sun11ght leaves me looking positively anemic. Today’s overcast clouds drove me to a CAF walking tour of Kenwood, the neighborhood north of ,Hyde Park. I still managed to run the Par course and, tonight I feasted on on whole wheat spaghetti with tofu balls and tomato vegetable sauce at the Blind Faith Cafe with Mitch.

Thurs and Fri morning I roamed through the display of 20,000 books on sale for 25 and 50 cents at the annual Chi Pub Lib book sale. I managed to pull away with 40 winners for $18.

Be well.


6.30.80 5:15 A.M.

Dear Family,

Greetings from your very busy Chicago relative. I only wish my hands were as happy as they are busy. How is your summer going? I trust you are feeling well and getting lots done.

Most of the burden I feel stems from "Interest Rate Risk Minimization in the Mortgage Origination Process, my SBJ commissioned piece. It is quite well along at this time but I really must complete it today. The smallness of the journal's circulation and an absence of any monetary compensation are the motivation killers. Drafting whole paragraphs (plagiarism) is the result.

Otherwise, life at Commonwealth moves on as expected. Last week broker Nick Diamond was finally given the total ax and he cleared out. At the weekly sales meeting on Thurs. Wayne was livid with anger as we continue to run up expenses and generate little sales. Four brokers are responsible for most of our business and I suspect most of the 10 others will be fired before we move. We will be officially moving Aug 1 and repairmen, phone men, etc. will be working on the office from July 15 on. Enclosed you should find my latest Sugar report written for our Barron' s "What's Up --Sugar advertisement. Comments are, as always, welcome..

Tue. was my heavy Judaica day as I viewed the first of the Art Institutes Yiddish film series "Tevye" the original Fidler on the Roof. The flick was moving and well done. That night I led my literary group discussion of Dorothy Rabinowitz's New Lives. The group was 9 in number, with 4 new people. The discussion went well giving me a renewed optimism about the effort's worth and viability.. On 7/22 at a home in NW Evanston we will be discussing S. Y. Agnon': In the Heart of the Seas as a respite from heavier themes.

Sat. morning was my seoond Corp.. Fin. class and I regret that I prepared inadequately for it. Throughout the week I received calls from half the studen' about the assignments and text. I will obviously have to spend more time in preparation or I will not be teaching at Mundelein any more. Steve Sherman spoke to the class for an interesting and diversionary hour. Sat. evening was a pleasant and quiet one spent with Maria. Per usual our time together keeps getting better

Yesterday morning was a birthday brunch for Judy Dobit at Jerome's restaurant. In the afternoon I worked on the paper, attended a. barbecue and then went to a showing of Jerusalem. the Eternal City sponsored by the Singles of the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish United Fund replete with cocktails and dinner. Alas, I barely met one consequential person the whole day. J'm is always touching and this production whet my appetite for my upcomlng journey.

I usually skip lunch as I barely have time and I am growing tired of the choices available in the immediate proximity to the office. Recently though I have been frequenting the Federal Center cafeteria, 1 block away. There I can get a speedy subsidized and adequate lunch. On Mon. when I had no time for lunch or supper I weighed in at a post-junior high low of 132 lbs.

Be well.


July 13, 1980

Dear Family,

Remember me? Last week's absence was due to my having seen so many of you that I felt it difficult to motivate a letter. Yet here I am two weeks older and only slightly wiser. I trust your summer is of a temperate climate and characterized by growth and progression" .

I finished the manuscript "Risk Minimization for the Mortgage Originator," and sent it off to Arnold Workman. Tentative publication is set for Sept. issue. I finally got good criticism though it has come late. I should make the effort of correcting misperceptions that I perpetuate from earlier pieces. I have started a new piece on foreign currency trading and finished the latest Commonwealth situation report on precious metals. Turnaround time has slowed perceptively as the task of typing 8,000 names and addresses, transferring a file drawer’s worth of client clearinghouse papers, learning trading operations and being Wayne's personal secretary takes all of Leeann's time. 3 weeks until we move and our already frantic office is picking up its pace in anticipation. Al Rohrbach left the firm this week, a long overdue move. The list of handout seekers courting Wayne' s favor now includes Nick Diamond. Wayne, Larry and Joe were in L.A. the past few days to attend the $5,OOO per table Danny Thomas-St. Jude Hospital benefit dinner.

The weeks float by as the nightly par course run and sauna jacuzzi leaves me time or energy for little else. Usually I live for the weekends. This past week I have been even getting up at 5:30 AM to prepare for my class It went well yesterday and I do not think I will have too many uncomfortable dreams between now and the next one. Joe Goodman of Chi SU called me to offer the opportunity to teach a daytime course at an insufficient wage for me to even consider it. They are short one Finance faculty member for the fall though and a s1ight chanve of me being offered an Asst Prof at $21,000 exists

My weekends are brightened by seeing Maria and her endearing trooper status was reconfirmed yesterday as she put in 4 solid hours helping Mitch, Kathy Kramer and I prepare for our party. The result was the best spread I have ever hosted. Of course we had the now-standard cheese and tuna pate hors d'oeuvres to which was added fresh cut vegetables and chips for a sour cream based dip and water-, honeydew and cantaloupe melon balls served in a saw-toothed half watermelon shell (also including blueberries and after midnight, rum). The other unprecedented aspect of the party was that women outnumbered men all night. Our last guests left after coffee at 2 AM.

Mitch and I each had about 20 guests. We moved the date from 6/29 for John and he inconsiderately did not help prepare and showed up at 11: 30. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

My room was growing unruly with no place to file my teaching papers and store my continuous acquisition of' books so I recovered some cinder blocks and purchased a 1inch X 12 inch X 1 ft for some shelving in front of the radiator and I am signing a lease for another year here with Mitch and Doron. Unless I split for NY or DC I see no reason to move.

Last weekend in Cleve I attended the wedding of Rick and Janet at Fairmount Temple. To my benefit, I ended up spending all but 5 hours wiith Mother and Father. At the wedding I renewed acquaintance with a Northwestern friend of Rick's, Jim Nathan who now works for the Dem Natl Comm. I'll not be back to the homestead until Thanksgiving.

3 miles/day on the Lutheran East track helped contributing to today's sub-28 minute par course run. The heat wave that we are in the midst of helps keep my weight down and grain future prices up.

July 20, 1980 8:05 PM

Dear Family,

I trust you are well and weathering our current climate in no distress. I have not yet had to check into the Cook County Hospital, as I am feeling OK, if somewhat unnewsworthy.
The big move approacheth. Commonwealth is undergoing other changes as well, including our logo. "I finished the precious metals situationreport and it is now in the hands of a new Commonwealth Printer/Broker, JohnPerlick. My only real pleasure out of it is knowing that the task is completed. I have completed the photocopying the relevant and accessible parts of the articles on foreign exchange transactions cited in the last 9 months worth of the Business Periodical Index and started highlighting and digesting. Currently I expect that this will be my last article before my month in Israel, 8/25-9/22. On the "Employment Elsewhere" 0-100 scale I have probably moved from an 18 to a 23. This week's weekly visit to Michelle, wherein I deliver to her the weekly CME article clips, procured me the view of my old resume on her desk and my new title and article can only help. She is to speak before my class.

Otherwise I cannot report much. The heat wave we are in the midst of was accompanied by humidity this past- week, adding further discomfort to the unpleasant weather. I am usually drenched in sweat after riding home on the el or running the par course in the barest of attire. This week I assembled a solar face reflector from a real one's outline made of cardboard and aluminum foil. Today it worked to great effect.

I suspect that my relationship with Maria has begun to decelerte in its growth and may stop growing shortly. She works long and hard hours, so our time together is not much to speak of.

If the pressing issues of the US economy and defense were not so dominating, I could afford to feel affronted by the Neanderthal Republican platform on ERA and abortion. I am somewhat surprised by my welcoming Reagan (actually dreading him the least) considering that 4 years ago I vowed to myself to leave the US at the prospect ,of a President Ray-gun.

Be well.


7.27.80

Dear Family,

Greetings! As ever I trust your health and welfare are excellent. I am beginning to live for next month so the somewhat inconsequential days pass with ease. We're getting up for the kickoff.

Next Sat. is the Commonwealth move. I am enthused about the prospect of having my own office and two chairs as plush as Wayne’s. The SW window exposure is not particularly inspiring. We are 3 floors away from Michelle's office. The precious metals situation report should be ready for distribution this week. Ed and Wayne want a Grain report next week. Arnold Workman called and after sitting on my manuscript for two weeks without reading asked for two elaborate examples and gave me three working days to send it off Federal Express. My role at the firm is still just Senior Economist as I am no closer to managerial decision making. I do think that we will be terminating Phyllis Kierig's media consultant retainer. She delegated the account to her husband John who was quite an accomplished English teacher, rugby player and copy writer but not much for generating useful assistance. We will be hiring a secretary/receptionist to free up time for Leeann to assume more formal responsibilities. I may yet convince her of her title as Office Manager.

Tue. night was the monthly meeting of the Judaica Literary Group. Of the 15 people in attendance 8 were total newcomers with the average member age rising appreciatively. Agnon proved to be a fertile choice and we will continue our discussion of him on Aug. 19 on his 21 Stories. I'll relish the ability to understand the nuances and subtleties of his Hebrew. I expect that our Sept. meeting will be held on Sept. 23 with a full report of Agnon's Jerusalem.

Thurs night kicked of Evanston's annual "World's Biggest Garage Sale with the quarterly Evan Pub Lib book sale and merchants sidewalk sale. I, of course indulged in two large shopping bags worth of books for $20 and purchased two suit shirt & saddle shoes and other assorted goodies. I passed up the flea market at the Public Garage as premonitions and first-hand accounts dissuaded

Fri. night I attended the Judy Collins concert at Ravinia Music Center, a Blossom-type arrangement without the natural amphitheatre. We had pavilion seats in the 2nd last row. Her first half of generally older material was quite good. 1 went with Judy Dobis and assorted others in the Sylvia Dapler­related crowd. We had something of a picnic on the lawn during intermission.'

Sat. morning rolled around with quite a thunder as I received much flak in: class from students and Dr. Madison over my performance. I am quite discouraged and may not regret not getting a fall appointment. I have not put in adequate preparation time combined with unreasonable demands on my students. Four classes down and one to go.

At the risk of sounding premature, 1 may once again be totally unattached. When 1 spoke with Maria on Thurs. she had forgotten of our plans and was sorry that because of her schedule "I can't help you.” So much for this particular progress and development.

Last night was a party next door to Sylvia at Doty's. It was pleasant for an hour as I indulged in some Elvis Costello inspired dancing and chocolate (the cheese having been consumed prior to my arrival) fondue. It did rapidly wear thin though so I finished the night off with a short bio of Albert that I picked up at the Lib sale.

Today was somewhat frustrating as I sat in my car for an hour and a half. Traffic pileups inspired by the air and water show at the lake fronts caused me to miss the walking tour I had driven downtown for.

The unfolding Billygate drama hightens the liklihood of a President Reagan. The country will be better off without this pious moralizer from P1ains at the helm.

Be well.

8.03.80

Dear Family,

Greetings from the "new" professional PCL: I trust that you are experiencing happiness and fulfillment in your string of 'the L success stories. Chicago is pleasant and may yet produce a.weekly page of text.

We are moved into our 'new location and more of less ready for business tomorrow. My desk and storage space are among the missing pieces. I am initially skeptical as to the improvement of my working environment primarily from the noise generated outside my door in the main salesman area, where 4 rows of five desks cannot help but contribute to a "boiler room atmosphere. On the opposite side of this area is an electrical digital price display board with moving numbers. The whirring of the moving numbers may prove to be unexpected assistance in muffling sounds. Allocating space for a filing cabinet may prove to be constraining. Location movement as with any change, was somewhat exciting and almost fun with the possible exception of the ever-present always-overbearing Ed Weitman. Leeann's fiancé John Cawley, wallpapered and painted most of our new location and I enjoyed his R&R consciousness.
As for my current research efforts, I am in the midst of drafting a grain situation report. With the rejection by Arnold Workman of SBJ of th first 8 pages of my latest manuscript I sent them off to Alvin Youngquist of Banker's Monthly and mildly hope for the best. I am beginning to think that I will not be finished with my next planned research endeavor, a descriptive analysis of US foreign exchange institutions and practices, by 8/25 so I will probably take the material with me to J'm along with the next JLG reading selection.

Both professionally and socially' my White House connections played a role in the week's excitement. The correspondence on the reverse side indicates that I am in the running for a position in the Synthetic Fuels Corporation as soon as a CEO can be chosen and ratified. I will continue the dialog with some of my latest manuscripts. I am mailing out 4 passive resume responses to ads, most of which are anonymous from today’s Chi Trib & NYT. The White House figured in my social life as I befriended Karen, a Sr in journalism at NW, while riding home on the el. She spent a qtr. internship at the WH while Jim Nathan, a NW friend of Rick Grossman, was there and knew him slightly. The other woman to possibly enter my immediate future is Eva, who I befriended months ago at a Hadassah social function-fundraiser. After giving her my initial JLG flier I did not hear from her until this week. Closing this paragraph on a sadder note, what I shared with Maria is quite evidently no longer. Today's second stand-up by her of an expected date registered loud and clear.

Today was generally quite pleasant as I got in a par course and s/j a oonversation with my darling brother and niece, the Spertus College of Judaica first-ever book sale, the Chi Arch Fdtn tour of lower Michigan and a few late hours of rays on the roof. This week on Tue I set a par course record of 27:43 but after yesterdays moving in which I consumed more calories than I burnt off, I tipped the scale at 140 and feel bloated. The book sale was not great but I did manage to get _ paperbacks and hardcovers (2 copies of Exodus and a Torah) for $6. Most of the paperbacks are anthologies of one sort or another, nothing particularly Jewish. The sale should be efficient as a fundraiser as the prices were not the bargains of the Pub Lib sales and $1 admission was charged today and on Wed, the sale's last day, prices will be reduced.

Be well.

August 10, 1980

Dear Family,

The tenderest of heartfelt greetings to you! I appreciate your correspondence and accordingly miss you greatly. As usual I wonder how I would have made it through a week without you being there.

I am finally and totally into my new office space. My credenza has not yet arrived but my desk is set up and ready to go. For assorted legitimate and illegitimate reasons my output was practically nil this past week and I am obliged to finish the grain report early this coming week, hopefully soon after the USDA crop estimate of 8/11. Office life otherwise is pleasant. I attended two interesting Art Inst. noon lectures this week: "The Expatriates: Whistler, Sargent, and Cassatt" and "Amer Art in the 40's and 50's". I also learned this week that the ave age salary offer to an '80 MBA was $23600, a fact that will enter my salary discussion with Wayne. I am going to try and get Wayne to rent a display booth at the Chi. Oct. annual convention of the Amer Bankers Assoc. Most of the Commonwealth hardware is up and running so our next major growth with be when we become a Futures Commission Merchant(FCM) of the BOT. We will then be able to receive funds and will be treated by our clearing firm, Collins, as a pool rather than individual accounts as is the current practice. We have already begun the hiring of an individual with the requisite knowledge.

This stationery (Mundelein College) may be inappropriate after I turn in my final grades. The week before I leave for J'm I will call and see what the fall schedule looks like. Yesterday I gave my last class in the summer session of Corp Fin. I peeked at some of the student evaluations of me and had both pleasant and unpleasant surprises with a number of surprisingly high and low ratings and characterizations of me ranging from "helpful" to "a junior Don Rickles." The final session proceeded smoothly, if typically disjointedly. At least I can now clear off the loose papers that have been cluttering up my bedroom and once again the academic pressure is off.

I heard live music twice this past week, courtesy of two complimentary tickets from radio stations. Mon night was two bands at the the new Tuts via a ticket from WNUR and Thurs I attended Chicagofest (2 weeks of continuous concerts on 6 stages at Navy pier) and was quite enthralled by the performance of Steve Goodman.

My social week was varied, if somewhat uninspiring. On Wed. I cooked supper for Karen and yesterday I went bicycling along the lakefront with Eva. Alas with both these women, one dose was enough. Today I attended the play "The Elephant Man starring David Bowie, with Judy, Sylvia, and Doty. I am a real Bowie fan and he did not disappoint me. Afterward I shared dinner with Judy and then went to Sylvia's barbeque. There I befriended Gayle who at least has an Israeli and New wave music type of consciousness and whom I am to accompany to Chicagofest on Wed.

I am into S.Y. Agnon's 21 Stories and enjoying it. Last week I started the Letters of Vincent Van Gogh but now it will have to wait. As usual I only manage to get through the daily WSJ and NYT because I read them on the job.
Be well.


8.17.80

Dear Family,

Greetings from your intrepid traveller! A solid year since I put any serious miles on this life and the coming departure has me overcome with anticipation. I trust that you that your surroundings did not mirror Chicago's dampening (particularly on the weekends).

Your VP/SE had a reasonably productive week as the Corn, Wheat and Soybean situation report was finished and typeset. We should have copies by Wed. The new brochure should also be done at that time. I was finally able to capsulize the weekly CONSENSUS magazine for brokers after a three week lapse. Our new sec./receptionist Diane now types all my work and gratifyingly she is reasonably prompt, though she lacks Leeann’s meticulousness. So far I am prepared to concur that having a quiet office has helped my productivity.

Mon. night I attended a Chaplin double feature, "Modern Times' and “The Great Dictator." They were both quite moving in their own way, the later quite personally. For a 1940 flick it showed compassion and prescience in its treatment of the doomed shtetl life and inhabitants. Its probing was as accurate and insightful as many contemporary works. Of course Chaplin the director/actor is nowhere near the artist he was of the-silent MT of 1936.

Wed may have proven to be a significant in my life as I shared my first evening with Gail Dubinsky. She prepared us a fried whitefish dinner and we spent most of the night at Chlcagofest, followed by a brief appearance at a new wave bar/disco, Neo's. She is a 26 yr old pediatric nurse whose choice of profession was partly motivated by a month on a kibbutz. We share a great many values though I am concerned that her first step is towards the casual rather than the serious. I daresay that some of my increased productivity effectiveness has come about because of the sublimination that has resulted from our acquaintance

The major manifestation was that I finally got around to grading the finals of my Corp. Fin. class and am thoroughly finished with it. I turned out to be quite liberal with Bs and gave 1 D. I no longer have an excuse for an unruly bedroom.

Yesterday I also made most of the purchases on the shopping list for goods to take to J'm. The $500 was dominated by a 12-speed and accessories and 2 Dacron sleeping bags. The bags alone will practically take up a suitcase. Fortunately it is all in good cheer and for the best of causes

I am over half-way through Agnon's 21 Stories and they range in quality and interest. He does make an effort to entice all the senses in his evocative narratives and successfully synthesizes much dreamlike material With Saul Friedlander's When Memory Comes now available in paperback, I hope we can get to it next or at least soon.

For various reasons I have been lax in my physical fitness regime and tipped the scales tonight at 141 1bs. The Evan Court Club 1s now closed for repairs so my next s/j will have to wait until my return. I expect to get a workout on my Israeli bicycle sojourning and hope my diet consists of weight reducing fresh vegetables and fruit.

Be well.

28.9.80

Dear Family,
A renewed greeting to you from Evanston, IL, USA. I am well and apparently settled back into the life I had of one month ago. Nothing seems particularly worse for wear. I trust that you are into a peaceful, healthy and colorful fall. Mid-western falls are colorful but brief.

Professional opportunities elsewhere are not in the immediate offing so I am set to make the most of the opportunity available to me at Commonwealth. One week back and a metals (Gold, Silver and Copper) report is due tomorrow that will be featured in our WSJ ad of the coming week. In the 4 weeks of my absence the firm's equity has gone from $600,000 to over $2 million. Most of the increase came on two accounts of $750,000 and $500,000. A few brokers have been added but the corporate structure has been otherwise unchanged.

CCC's Friday open house was a reasonably fun success. as I fraternized with a few guests of mine and the office women. The catering and bar were quite professional and 100 people may have shown. I trust that a sufficient critical number of them were the desired present/prospective clients. I brought in my wall of postcards and gave a number of modern art introductions. My apt's party that night proved to be something of a success, if costly. My 6 guests were Howard Katz, Kathy Vessels (of UNC fame), Gail, Shelley and Gary( of JLG fame and also my guests earlier in the day) and another woman in the JLG but they all had a good time. I collapsed on my bed around 1 AM.

My trip home was pleasantly uneventful. With no reason for pausing in NYC I was in my apt. by 1 PM Tues. I futilely thought I could make it into work that day and now regret I did not venture into the city to catch the opening of the day at the Whitney where 350 works of Hopper went on display

I saw Gail Tue night, Fri. night and today for lunch with Mitch at The Magic Wok. One week back and I am still reorienting myself to the relationship and its direction, if any. I find her sweet and comfortable to be with.

I am in reasonably satisfactory physical shape and I ran the par course 3 times this weekend at only a 10% increase over my best time. I am also back into my Evan Court Club routine. I renewed my membership in it and the Art Institute. Last night I went with Doron to see the Cincinnati Shakespearian troupe perform Catch-22" in an Evanston civic cultural entre. The play was satisfying but I was really too tired to make the most of it. Today I mostly just read the NYT ate, read and wrote


October 5, 1980

Dear Family,
Greetings from sweet home Chicago. I trust you are well and enjoying the fall. Last night we set a record coldness when the mercury hit 31 degrees. Days are even more tolerable as I even managed to get in a shirtless par course They are getting shorter though, so my outdoor jogging season may be drawing to a close.

My week went OK, no great shakes My "Tri-Colored Bull" precious metals report was printed and should be set for dissemination tomorrow. At this moment I am not particularly pleased with the text. The dissatisfaction stems from the unorganized manner with which I assembled the facts. The process was not particularly uniqed to this report but the result was not becoming the effort. Principally I did-not mention the Iran-Iraq war. I am currently attempting- to move forward on a foreign exchange article and to narrow in on topics in the field. I expect that early in the week I will hit Wayne for my raise

The only unambiguous accomplishment of the week was my reading of the four NYTBR that I had missed on vacation. The effort was a literary delight never failing to captivate. Fri. I started African Call lope: A Journy to the Sudan by Edward Hoagland. It is recent and comes highly recommended. Starting tomorrow I will have the NYT delivered to me at work.
The week's fun occurred last night at Leeann and John's wedding reception. I went With Gail and also in attendance from Commonwealth were Wayne and Joan, Larry and Trudy and Ed and Mary. In the right situations with a little alcohol Wayne can be quite amusing. I was honored by the choice of the bride and groom to spend extended time at our table. The evening's combination of Inglenook Chabl1s and inhalant left me incapable of driving so Gail drove my Pinto and I spent the night on her couch. Earlier in the day I bought the couple 3 albums.

This coming Wed. I will be attending the opening press party for Jeff Robert’s Laserworld. Needless to say, I wish him only success.
Today I caught 2 hours of rays _ and went on a consummate Chi Arch Fdtn tour of the Magnificent Mile, N Michigan Ave. The docent was extremely knowledgeable and his sarcasm amusing and appropriate.

I am somewhat distraught that my _social life is somewhere between slim and none, with slim on his way out the door. Otherwise I am ready to weather the winter coming in at 138 lbs and this week’s 27.5 minute par course.


October 12, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings from a new ribbon and salary. I had a fun week and am

in relatively good spirits and trust that you are likewise. I do have a mild continual pain in the ankle from a rock on the parr course path today so I can hope for some empathy with your pains if you'll pardon my presumptuousness.

In the final moments of salary discussion Wayne offered me a 15% raise and then rounded it up to $3,000. I did not have much choice and he was being fair. The lesson I came away with was the mistake I made in getting my MBA at CSU. I'm afraid it still haunts me. Most of my week was spent on the text of our upcoming Soybean feature report to be advertised in the Mid-western edition commodities page of the WSJ. This coming week I will write the middle section of the report on this years crop including the critical OCT 1 USDA crop estimate. Last week I plagiarized the first, technical background, part from the CBT Trading manual and I drafted the third part, long-term outlook from the NYT and other sources. I have totally abandoned the idea of a newsletter and am concentrating any spare energies on an Int'l banking article which is proceeding at a lethargic pace.

At the 12:15 Art Institute lectures on Mon and Tue my favorite lecturers, George Sneider and John Parker gave tours of Inside and Outside the AI, thoroughly enjoyable walks. I discovered that as a member I have a print gallery open to my private perusing with many notable works availab1e

Wed. night I attended Laserworld's Press Party and first show. Jeff's role as executive producer, creator and writer was quite evident. The effects from the nine slide projectors was good and the two-watt Krypton Argon Ion Gas Laser with its 300 adjustable knobs has tremendous potential but the machine is new and the man directing the live performance is a 22 yr old Cuy Com Col grad who is competent but not the best that money could buy in an otherwise lavish environment. The movie screen was rarely more than 10% filled with light. The hors d’oeuvres were competent and the crowd uninspiring.

I had two amusing near misses this week that may bode well for my future. The amusement came primarily from a Paine, Webber back office clerical error that resulted in the registering of my name as the purchaser of 20 Boeing call options with the value of this $3,600 investment having appreciated to $5,500 by the time I was notified 5 days later. Unfortunately everything got straightened out and the right Levinson got his calls. The other ,”call” that was close to tasty was from Karen Forbes, the woman who successfully placed Neal at Citibank, that she'd like to set up an interview with them for me for a Sr. Fin Ana. _position. As of now I am waiting for a plane ticket.

I am enjoying African Calliope immensely. Hoagland has a lot to say on how to live with Arabs and the desert. He doesn't lose sight of the abject poverty of the southern region where the airfare to NYC is ten year's income.

Be well.



October 19, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings from elder and hopefully wiser Paul. The anniversary of my birth passed uneventfully and was not the traumatic event of the week. The weather is getting cooler and the spectacle of fall is in the last embers of intensity. My winter mindset is even beginning to set in. I trust you are faring better. .

The Soybean report is complete and awaiting price graphs and USDA statistical summaries, hopefully published in tomorrow's trade journal, Consensus. The editor of this journal called me and among other requests asked if I'd like my situation reports published in it. The decision on this matter is Wayne's to make and he is not keen on the idea and I am only selectively favorable. The journal does not reach our target audience of small speculators, educates our competition and my situation reports (sr) are generally not highly original. I can hardly believe it but I am getting only positive feedback on the TRI-COLORED BULL report, principally on the USBM statistical tables included. I spent most of the past working week on our next s r on platinum vs. gold. Commonwealth is to have a presence, possibly a booth, at an upcoming investors conference in New Orleans and this report will be our featured item. Sara took me out to lunch on my birthday. I am less awed by my recent salary increase after reading in the NYT that I needed 16+% increase just to compensate for taxation progressivity and inflation .

Tue.. night was the meeting of the Judaica Literary Group.. Shelley led the discussion of Sophie's Choice. The discussion was mostly between 5 of the 12 in attendance. I had trouble with Styron's lesson's and observations on the holocaust and others articulated similar discomforts. No

one volunteered to lead the next discussion so I offered to lead on Jonathan Raban's Arabia A Journey Through the Labyrinth. I am preparing for the group's failure as the majority is not assuming much responsibility for reviewing. The next meeting will be held on 10/11 at Shelley.s coach house 6 blocks from my apt" After the mtg Shelley, Gary Riskin, her boyfriend who she met through the JLG, Gail and I socialized while bar-hopping at Loyola..

Wed. I had supper at the home of Jeff Karp, our accountant, and his wife Sharon. They have 2 18 yr old daughters at home. My farmer's market vegetable salad helped the meatballs and spaghetti entree. The evening was fun as the generational differences were manifested oddly.

Shabbat dinner with the "Shalom Singles" of Temple Sholom. I met two interesting people, Steve Lass, a lease officer with Wells Fargo and Linda Berman, a copywriter at a medical publishing house. The reform atmosphere turned me off and most of the women were lawyers so I do not plan
on returning..

Wed-Th-Fri I caught 3 good 12:15 lectures at the Art Institute: “Monet”,"The Amer Impressionists," and "Dega sand Manet.

Sat morning I shopped at the farmers market and while my selections were not as unusual as last week’s shaft of brussel sprouts, the tomatoes carrots still have that homegrown taste. At 9 AM I participated in a bird walk at the northern beach of NW Univ.. Mostly we saw Bonaparte, Herring and Immature Ringbill gulls, but Sanderlings sprightly patrolled the beach and a raft of Scaup dacks settled within binocular range.. The day's majestic falcon was a Kestrol Sparrowhawk. I then briefly stopped in at the Evan. P.D. bicycle auction and then headed for a couple hours of rays on the roof. I was invited to dinner in 7A" an oriental meal cooked by Ralph and his Woman-friend Maureen. He has taken oriental cooking classes so the meal was succulent and the company pleasant especially 91 yr old Jewish Rose who lost the use of her right arm when she fell.

Today I attended a 3,000 (1) strong rally against the Nazi's at NW as the Nazi's marched in Evanston today. Anderson was slated to speak and did so. I was moved. Afterwards I attended the Hyde Park walking tour of the Chi Arch Fdn.

My social horizon does not look so bleak as I added 5 female names to my bulletin board telephone directory list. I expect this coming week will have numerous lunch and dinner engagements..

The traumatic event of the week was that my ankle took: until Thurs to heal so I have not gotten a last burst of exercise on the par course before the confinements of the Chicago winter to take place shortly.

Be well

October 26, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings from a wintry Sunday eve. It is the first day of a dark 5 O'clock and I'm naturally not thrilled by the prospects. Today's walking tour of the North Loop was fortunately a brief 90 minutes as the weather was inclement. I trust you are experiencing a peace and warmth of soul and environment. I'll very much enjoy sharing experiences with most of you this coming weekend in Cleveland Heights.

Commonwealth moves forward. The firm does nothing but grow. Our order room now has two comely female phone clerks. Sara and Leeann are getting an office across the hall. Our big hardware is now in a sealed enclosure. The order room is shedding the xerox machine, postage meter and file cabinets. Everyone of the sales desks is peopled by at least one broker. With our FCM status in Jan. we should be getting an LA sales office. Wayne unprecedentedly arrived in a suit almost every day. On Tue, his birthday, a suprise singing telegram, belly dancer (who gyrated to the kazoo beat of Hava Nagelah), $100 cashmere sweater from the Commonwealth women, wine and cake nearly succeeded in flustering him. He succeeded in remaining charming and collected throughout.

My progress is no better than scheduled. The printed Soybean Outlook reports arrived for distribution 2 days ago and the gold vs. platinum report is due tomorrow. The bulk of the writing is being done this weekend. I am reasonably pleased with the greater quantity and quality of research and originality in this effort and may make the case to Wayne to try for its republication in Consensus. I could certainly use another line on my resume at this time and the creditability it would lend to the firm couldn't hurt. I sent off a letter to the Chi Tribune along the lines of my NYT note and while it is not as timely, I have hopes.

My week.was socially active as I had 2 luncheon and 2 dinner engagements with 4 different women. I'm afraid most of my amusement stemmed from a detached and animated viewpoint, the subject of novels yet to be written by me. In general through impatience I soon come to a tentative assessment that I am not going to intellectually respect this person. If a physical coveting strikes I'll play mind games for conquest; otherwise its thoughts of the future and the girl in the magazine.

The biggest investment I made in my future was $38 for a humidifier and $31.50 for 119 assorted books at the E P L book sale. Resolving to avoid last year's dryness, I had little choice. The book sale is always unexpurgated joy and the rows of books: in front of my window now reaches above the windowsill ledge, 4 stories high. When I arrived home from the sale I gave my neighbors 11 of their choice from among the collection.

Arabia is slowly unwinding its nooks and subtleties via Raban. The JLG meeting should be educating as I've scheduled films on Egypt and Saudi Arabia and.Taysir Khalib, Deputy Director of the Arab Info Center (the guy who answers the phone), will speak. I can only hope this glint of knowledge will efficaciously combat my racist tendencies or at the least, in a liberal fashion, turn my contempt into pity.

With the Pres election 10 days away, I am getting ready to write off my man Ron. Wayne & Larry think he'll win but I feel his only shot is a superior performance in Cleve.

Be well.

November 9, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings from a new presidency! I hope it marks a more enlightened era blossoming. My major reservation stems from Charles Percy (R-IL) replacing Frank Church as Senate Foreign Affairs committee Chrmn. I am also apprehensive about Strom Thurmond as Chrmn of the Judiciary Committee replacing Ted K. Ron has made only sensible moves to date. I expect though that my fantasy of Milton F. as Treas Sec will remain just that. With the outcome predicted by NBC at 7:15 here, I canned plans to attend the Republican bash at the Hyatt O'Hara and spent an abbreviated evening viewing the results in 7A with occupants and woman friend. Steve Sherman announced his engagement to Mimi to me. I regret to report my. skepticism of his emotional maturity and to a lesser extent hers.

Work this week was a big push to get the sugar report completed in three days. It should be ready on Wed and enclosed with the next letter. I am satisfied with the text and may submit it to Consensus as I did with the enclosed old Platinum report. I both appreciate and resent the structured demands of this ad campaign. Next year we will take out a contracted space in the WSJ foretelling that my job will increasingly become this perpetual push. I have certainly been writing more at home in the last few weeks. In three days a Copper situation report is due and I envision it will have the shortest text and most display of any. I wrote about the metal a scant eight weeks ago and not much is new.

I greatly appreciate Jeff Karp's new full-time association with Commonwealth. He is a better trader than anyone else in the firm and his continuous proximity means I can lean more on his expertise if and when I start trading on my own account. Jeff is also a duplicate bridge player with over 100 master points. He lives nearby and we went to a local game Thurs night and against meager competition were better than average. I expect we'll play regularly.

The Art Institute noon lectures on Mon and Tue were an enjoyable gallery talk on Degas, Renoir and Monet and slide show on Winslow Homer. The distinction of Degas as more in the traditional school of line as opposed to the Impressionist concerns with light, atmosphere and color is now clearer to me. On Tue at 5 PM I attended the opening 0:6. the "Keck & Keck" exhibit at the Archi Center.

Fri I went to the Chi Pub Lib Business Division in an unfruitful search for Copper news. For lunch I crashed the bldg's cafeteria for Encyclopedia Britannica employees. The turkey cutlet was $1.34 and tolerable. On the walk back to the office I encountered Jefffrey Firestone, who I had spent 8 weeks with 10 years ago on my Masada Israeli tour. At first I thought he was another Jeff of my past but I called out his name and we exchanged greetings and cards. He is a semi-Dati entrepreneurial lawyer married and living in West Rogers Park. He may join the JLG. Fri night I attended NW U Tech Institute’s open house and caught the play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" at the Student center. The play was a vulgar expose of straw caricatures, not particularly enlightening.

I started yesterday with a Flea Mkt acquisition of 26 books at a local community center. Mitch treated me to an all-the-pancakes-you can-eat breakfast at the YMCA. I finished Arabia and ran the par course twice during the afternoon. Last night I crashed a dorm coffeehouse and heard a phenomenal band that I' d like to get to play at a party of mine,

My social life is nil as I was shabbily stood up last night and I had an inconsequential luncheon engagement today. This afternoon' s entertainment was a flute trio at the Evan Pub Lib.

Be well.

November 16, 1980

Dear Family,

A cool Fall evening greeting to you. The leaves are down and the hibernation season is beginning to set in. No mind; I'll survive as long as I know you folks are safe and warm, healthy and happy. Are you?

Most of my work news centers on the early part of the week when I pushed to complete the copper report. I expect the pace to slow down somewhat until we begin advertising anew next year. On Fri. I renewed y effort on a foreign exchange piece. I am at the stage of clipping or summarizing quotes onto index cards and titling them. Jenny, a Commonwealth phone clerk has time to help me and I am hoping this assistance will make a difference. She lives in Evanston and I ran into her running today.Fri. I also was taken out to lunch at a Sushi (raw fish) restaurant where we sat next to the local NBC TV anchorpeople. I was treated to this exotic and succulent repaste complete with raw ginger (for a breather) and warm. saki by broker Phil Beham, a recent ex-housemate of Wayne' s. He is classically divorced Jewish father. His initiative and connections will get the exclusive private disco Faces to be the location of our Holiday party. Phil is a fun guy who lives in a very fast lane (he's off to Europe this week) .

In general I am beginning to find more people to go to lunch with. Once a week I now lunch with Sharon Foley who has my job at Conti commodities and is studying for an MBA at U C in the evenings. I still skip lunch, eat it hurriedly, and/or take in Art Institute Lectures most of my lunchtimes. This week on M and T I heard gallery talks on "French Landscapes" (inappropriately title. and "Early Abstractions" respectively, by my favorites Parker and Schneider. I
On Mr. Schneider's recommendation I am into Sam Hunter's Modern Art and thoroughly enjoying it. I am also reading Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, a helpful and concise tract, if somewhat dry.

The ma jor literary event of my week was the Judaica Literary Group (J'LG) meeting on Tue. night. On Tue. afternoon Gail invited me to supper before the meeting and I shared her salad and turkey casserole. The speaker recruited by the Arab Info Ctr at the last minute was an Arab Christian who left the West Bank in 1960. Arabia was well written and our discussion illuminating. Jeff Firestone and I were the only ones with the initiative and knowledge to intelligently discuss the area. Our speaker was an honest and frank enough individual to admit that public expression of his views would bring on him a harsh reprisal by the PLO. As expected, some of his positions were incongruous: We numbered 10. At the meeting's close no one volunteered to lead the next discussion so I am ready to call it quits but afterward David Singer volunteered to lead a mtg on Martin Buber's I and Thou, which we'll probably do on 12/23.

My weekend was quiet. Yesterday I attended a postcard show where I pickel up 60 art cards @ $0.20 each. Later in the day I perused the contents of an estate to be auctioned at 1633 Chi Ave. The Monet, Cassat, and Dufy advertised in the NYT were only watercolors. My two-times-a-week par course running may soon drop to zip as sub-freezing temperatures and darkness are not my bag.

So far Pres-elect Ron is playing sharp. James A. Baker 3d, a moderate outsider to the Reagen circle, as Chief of Staff is a wise move by a secure leader. To avoid the pitfalls encountered by Margaret T., I hope his final economic team is not so well balanced.

Be well.

November 23, 1980

Dear Family,
Greetings anew from Chicago! How is the-world on your end? Warmer I suspect; I'm not overly upset with our climate except that we only get 14 cloudless days per year. The city has what to offer.

Work was both slow and fast this week as the formal demands on my time were slight --but I am under pressure to complete the int'l bankng piece and start on "Who Makes Money in Commodities and Why' as requested by Ed Weitman. I have begun drafting the article. Facts and hypotheses of interest are assembled on index cards in groupings of topics forming the background quotes. Alternative employment opportunities continue to be explored. I am moving ahead with my trading plans.

'The' fun news of the week occurred Thurs. night when Jeff and I came in first at the duplicate game, no mean feat considering my play and the competition. We will hopefully master this game a few more times-before hitting the big time. Jeff is truly an inspired player, befitting his ACBL status.

The weekend was instructive and at times amusing. Fri. night I went with Mitch and friend Carla to a club called Lucky Number in the Lincoln Park area . The place was for the most part disappointing as the linoleum floor and general layout reminded me of any one of a number of Univ Hts basements. The music, ostensib1y new wave, was totally foreign to me and the almost homosexual atmosphere of the place left me without a dance partner. I guess I was hoping for a junior high mixer morality. In my few dances I did discover that to overcome the self conscious in art; one can return ti the basic. After finishing -Hunter's Modern Art earlier in the week, the cigarette machine yielded a gold mine of info about modern marketing and visual appeal. Most startling to me was that red and green sell best. I guess the Christmas materialist colorsare no fluke.

Yesterday I caught- some moderately efficacious rare rays and attended a rock concert at the Aragon, where I saw my last concert a year ago. . Headlining were The Police and XTC opened. XTC was an almost state-of-the-art one year/album ago;-yet they have not grown and the field has. Their performance was competent and energizing. The Police are a trio focused on their bass player Sting. He is truly charismatic with-a riveting voice. He lived2 up to the acting performance-he gave in the movie “Quadrophenia". The -place was packed and we arrived only 1 1/2 hours early to a general admission seating. From the guy next to me I did learn-that the chairs could be stacked one on another, so we did see over the heads in the balcony for a good view. The-concert- volume left my ears ringing into today. The concert ended on a personally sour note as from our parking spot in front of the library, Mitch had the battery taken from his car. Whi1e there were a p1ethora of T-shirt vendors, an item of similar demand proportions, buttons, were not hawked nor are they marketed systematically. A product-waits to be developed

My food processor has been out of commission for close to a month, upsetting my breakfast and supper routines. Homemade yogurt strained for 8 hours through a cheese cloth has become a spreadab1e substitute. The mfg assures me the paid-for replacement will soon.be. "in the mai1”. My exercising is about at zilch so I could certainly use the cutdown on meals (calories).

My Jan. 10 pre-inaugural ball is shaping up. By permitting the Hillel to co-sponsor it, the affair can be held in the Northwestern Student center over looking the lake. The band will run $150. This and
refreshment costs will be divided among several parties. I expect to have a phenenomenal time…Former actor R. Reagen may even appear. Peanut farmer J. Carter sends regrets.

Be well.


November 30, 1980

Dear Family,

Greetings from the end of a pleasant holiday weekend. It is now back to a regular working week at Commonwealth, though maybe not. Last week I completed about 7 pages (1600 words?) of the Intl Banking manu­script. I expect to finish off the piece next week with about as much more. For the next "Who makes money in commodities" manuscripts I will gladly take all the technical assistance that office colleagues can render. The office pace is slowing down for the Christmas lull.

My uncertainty over whether I will resume functioning again at CCC sterns from a phone call I received on Wed. from Lew Anderson of the executive search firm Doheny Assoc. calling on behalf of a $100 million S & L Bank in Chicago that ran an ad for a "Mgr of Investment Analysis" to which I sent my resume and a few article reprints. Though he felt I was a little "light" for the position, we are to talk tomor­row over the position which pays an annual salary "in the low thirties. Needless to say, I hope for the best and expect the worst. Meanwhile I took the advice of the Wharton Alumni placement office and circulated my resume to the 40 significant members of the Assoc of Exec Recruiters Cons (?) (AERC). Tomorrow's interview is the first acknowledgement of inter­est in me that I have received from an unidentified ad.

The almost 4 day weekend was made sweeter by my parents presence. Our schedule was quite active and all parties are going to need varied but definite dosages of rest to recuperate. On Thurs. we took in my Chi Art Inst, the Hancock view, a succulent unconventional fresh fish Thanksgiving dinner at the Waterfront restaurant, and the trip's moment of mediocrity, Goldie Hawn's movie, 'Private Benjamin.- Fri I showed them my office, the museum at the Spertus College of Judaica, and NWU at night. Wed we dined at Peking Express for lunch and Mr. Ricky' s salad bar/deli for Supper with the Karps. Sat. breakfast was at Blind Faith Cafe and supper at Heartland cafe. The day's activities were Evanston by bicycle, Par course and Court Club. The evening's entertainment was a competent $3.50 improvisational comedy troupe in Chi. We capped the evening with a 1 A.M. Edwardo's stuffed spinache souffle pizza in fit­ting style. Brunch before departure at Fritz that’s it provided the icing. The bicycle riding proved taxing and injurious to my mother who was limited in subsequent activities. On my expected next vacation, 12/25-­1/5 in NYC and maybe Phila, they may use the apt.

I am halfway through Less Than Slaves by Benjamin B. Ferencz and enjoying in a morbid sense the documentation of the penurious attitude of Nazi/German industrialists towards those who toiled under the con­stant threat of death and were treated like scraps of sandpaper for the industrialists direct benefit. Small shareholders were scarcely more humanitarian in their attitude towards a settlement of Jewish compen­sation claims. I am also enjoying the first issue of my new subscription to the American Spectator. The magazine is high-brow right, and thus should give a good insight into the dominant political and economic thoughts floating in and out of government in the coming Reagen years.
12/1 4:30 P.M.

Post-Interview Update:

Not much changed from our initial phone contact. He was quite impressed with my credentials and publications but I remain "light" for the position. Either Uptown Federal Savings would have to change their search parameters or I could be slated for a No. 2 spot. In any event probably nothing will be resolved until at least January.

Be well.

December 7, 1980

Dear Family,

A warm greeting to you from an unseasonable Chi. My heart would be warmed if I knew you were secure and happy.

The good news that befell me this week is potentially the most pro­found occurrence of my life. My life will be defined as before and after. Phyllis Kierig dropped by to say that she has contracted for satellite dissemination to 44 cable networks and for studio time at the old RCA facilities. After taping a Dick Cavett show for Chi’s annual mammoth travel industry convention, she is gearing up to produce a one-hour daily investment show (and repeating twice more when shown on networks) with the help of yours truly. For the show (which I have presumptuously ten­tatively titled "What's In It For Me?") to begin broadcasting next Sept. as scheduled a gigantic staff will have to be assembled and honed into a working crew. I will broach the idea of a written contract with Phyllis soon and can’t imagine starting on it full time any later than April. The contingency of greatest importance is the marketing of the ad time at $8,000 per minute. I am skeptical that the level of sophistication of her initial target audience, traveling businessmen, will be maintained.

I am enthralled about a $30,000 raise and the necessity of moving down­town and immersing myself in the world of TV. As would be expected, I am least enthused about having to join the 97+% of Americans who actua­lly own one of them. Phyllis's initial funds are from venture capitalists.

At Commonwealth during the mid-week I thrashed out a 'Grain Market Alert" as per Wayne's request. Printer turnaround time was acceptable though most of the brokers had split by the time they arrived at 3 on Fri. I am twelve pages into the "Int'l Banking and For Exch" article and with the last third, operational proscriptions, yet to be done, I am falling behind schedule. The firm is undergoing a transition as Jeff has joined Larry and Wayne to form the Directors of Commonwealth and Wayne is easing Phil Beham into the sales mgr. position.

The company I seek and. the consolation for the absence of social life that I derive arises from the women of Commonwealth. Fri. night I ventured into the fast lane of chi. singles at Faces. While promiscuity was my motivation I found the prospects ignorant and rude beyond tolerance. The friendly formal relations at the office are easier to take.

On Wed. I heard George Sneider give a lecture on the '78th annual Chi Art contest. Afterward I approached him about viewing my postcard art collection and he should drop by the office in the coming week. I am currently reading Modern French Painting by Sam Hunter in which a trans­formation of some 2 score years altered the consciousness of modern art. I am also into The Evolution of Human Consciousness by John Crook in which the evolution of humanity seems to have taken millions of years and still not reached a satisfactory equilibrium state. While we have gone from nespotic altruism to reciprocal altruism to our current code of ethics, the patrilineial descent structure has been destroyed only to leave a void in its place. Yet to be read + sitting on my desk is A Philip Roth Reader.

Sat. at 6 PM was the commencement of a book sale for the Noyes Cultu­ral Arts Center. At the sale I purchased 72 paperbacks for $17 (69 for $12 and continue to find less and less room on my bookshelves. Last night I attended a Hanukahfest at a Wilmette synagogue. The affair was well attended but about as sincere as all the polyester present. Of all the booths, the only two unmanned ones were Israeli, the Aliyah Council and AIPAC.

I attended a Hillel Hanukah dance on Tue. night and it, at least, was an acceptable MOR disappointment. Steve, Hillel pres., will meet on Mon. with the Norris director and hopefully band leader Todd to work out details for 1/10. Sadly, Reagen’s classic "Bedtime for Bonzo" in which he bottle feeds a chimp and which rents for only $40, is already booked.

Be well...and stay tuned.

Dear Family,

A chilled greetings on a short day! I trust your spirits are warm and glowing enough to keep you from freezing in the dark. My equilibrium is rather tenuously balanced at this time.

The most pleasing professional news is that my "Int'l Bnkg & For Exch piece is finally DONE. It runs 16 pages and I truly hope it finds a reputable home. The most recent predecessor appears doomed to surviving only as part of a Commonwealth piece. I am currently working on, "Who
makes $ in Commodities and why?" I am currently out of research ideas and will be able to spend all my time on the ad campaigns next year. Wayne will be in LA this coming week opening our branch office and Larry is on the second half of his Caribbean vacation. ..

On Tue. I received a call from an Exec Search Firm that I saw written up in the NYT and sent my resume to about a Bank VP position in charge of futures for a Seattle institution. Phyllis is in NYC this week. She has verbally confirmed me as prod/Dir starting on the pay­roll Apr 1. The 40+ resumes I sent to Exec Recrtrs produced zilch.

My week was otherwise quite tame. Jeff and I are currently on less than amicable relations so we played no bridge on Thurs. night. Instead I introduced Jenny Gantner to the Evan Court Club facilities and shared a few of my brews (beers) with her. She is a new order clerk/receptionist at Commonwealth and lives in Evanston. Fri. night I attended an exhibition opening near the office and had a fun time consuming the wine and cheese and chatting with competent and attractive women and dangling TV jobs in the process. The show, a collection of photographs by a female photographer, exhibited a female sensibility but I was pressed to find more. Yesterday and today I was able to run the par course despite the sub-freezing temperatures and wind chill.

The reading material of the week were mostly books previously mentioned and the perennial NYT. I hope to start Television Production and I and Thou this coming week. Finishing The Evolution of Human Consciousness gave me a renewed appreciation of the centrality of mother-infant rela­tions in all that follows.

Of the topics of the day, I am most disappointed that Ron could not see his way to handgun control from the death of John Lennon. The bit of trivia I did gain from the endless anthologies appearing was that it was Budddy Holly's "Crickets" that inspired the insect name search that culminated in The Beatles.

My trip east for 12/25 - 1/4 is up in the air as Wayne gave me a holding pattern decision of no commitment.

Be well.

12/15 After a second call today from Ann Carter, I may be spending my vacation time in Seattle.

December 21, 1980

Dear Family,
Greetings on the shortest day of the year. It can only get better. My week's worth of activities was quite inconsequential, though only marginally related to the light and somewhat caused by the frigid temperatures. I trust your scorecard documents something more substantial and joyous.

I sent my "Intl..." piece off to The Banker and am in the pro­cess of getting some criticism locally. I am well into the 'Who makes money in Co. . ." promo piece and expect to complete it by Wed. The firm’s management is in something of a state of flux as we open our LA office and Phil takes the rein of sales and advt mgr. I am still getting around 10 minutes of supervision per week. Tomorrow is the CCC "annual Christmas party" to be held at Faces. The affair should be quite lively by Chicago standards. Somewhat sadly, it is the only party I have been invited to this holiday season.

Most of my week consisted of the routine, quite unnotable. I did run the par course today and three unbelievable (17:35) miles at the Downtown Court Club on Wed. Not a single social evening out and no bridge. Doron is home in Queens and Mitch is with his fam­ily in their FL condo so I have plenty of quiet time to reflect.

I was able to take some consolation in the progress of my exploration of modern painting. Through reading, a Mon. CAI lecture on 'Post-Impressionism" and a Fri visit to my office of George Snyder I gained significant insight. While I am still unsure as to whether I will be traveling in the next two weeks, I would cer­tainly appreciate the opportunity of taking in the art from DC to NYC

I have no news in the search for alternate\employment. I still have nothing written from Phyllis and nothing new from Seattle First.

January 5, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings after a fulfilling and exciting vacation. I trust you are warm and safe against this cold winter. I concur with the climatologists explanation of a general cooling trend. ­

My journey was all but abandoned until I got in touch with my old roommate Brad who graciously allowed me to use his center-city Phila. apt. while he took a vacation from buying and selling shopping malls to vacation in Columbia. I flew to D.C. Fri morning and took in the Natl Gallery, Hirsh­orn and Phillips collection amidst record cold temperatures. I inappro­priately took my lined raincoat when I should have taken my parka. I succeeded in delivering my party invites to Carter and Reagan at the Executive Office Mail Room. The flight in was on time, $157 and complete with pink processed protein corned beef hash unlike the train ride out which was late.

Phila. was fun. I took in the Art Museum, with its unconscionably closed modern galleries for lack of budget for guards, Barnes Fdtn and assorted U PA museums. Gratifyingly, I purchased a 3-piece 100% wool fits-me-perfect suit at the Hadassah 2nd hand store. The canvases I most wanted to see on this trip, the monumental Cézanne 'Bathers' and Matisse's homage, The Joy of Life' (followed in the third in the sequence, Picasso's reaction at the MOMA Les Damselle D'Avignon') did not disappoint. Waking to the Wash. Post as well as the NYT and WSJ was a treat. The alma mater was still interesting even as I kept my nostalgic reminiscing to a minimum.

NYC from Tue morning when I arrived till yesterday when I left was cap­tivating as usual. The art alone was an overwhelming experience as I hit all the big museums and delightful shows on 57th St. of Hans Hoffman, Jasper Johns and others and in Soho where I took in an opening Sat night with Patricia Squillari. Lodging was something of a constraint so I spent my first night at cousin Rhonda's, second night in Rockaway, 3rd and 4th nights in Tenafly, N.J.(at the home of the parents of Hall Straus of apt. 7A) and my final night at Doron's house from whence we drove home yesterday in 16 hrs, at a cost to me of $35 ($105 total). Female company was present and enchan­ting in the form of Hall's Brandeis-junior-in-English sister, Linda Potemkin and friend Marsha Rothstein an NYU grad student in English whose brother is an art/music critic and cousins make Jerusalem granola, and Patricia whose acquaintance I renewed after asking her directions two years ago in the street. I ate well in my 1.5 meals per day. At a store where I got my rust corduroy suit I got two more good purchases of 2 piece suits for $75. Of course I overdosed on postcards but otherwise kept my purchases to a minimum. New Year's Eve was quite quiet as I spent it with the Grandparents and we got to Las Vegas, Dallas, the Waldorf-Astoria and Times Square while never leaving the living room, through the miracle of television. New Year's Day I took in the movie 'Raging Bull' off Times Sq. While the lead actor DeNiro was moving, the direction was not. Manhattan opened to me and the experience was exhilerating.

My absence was not critical as the "Who makes Money in.." piece has been sent off to be typeset and we are on schedule for our WSJ and Barron's ad campaign. Our WSJ week of 1/12 ad will feature the above piece while the week of 1/26 ad-wIIl feature my next report "Regan vs. Commodities" . The Barron's ad will be an updated Gold_Platinum report. For the next 2+ weeks Ed and Wayne will be vacationing in Mexico. The NYT has featured a few articles on commodities recently and as usual the discussion is less than incisive. There may be another Letter to the Editor in this matter for me.

One week until party time and systems seem to be go but a hitch may yet develop. I hope to hear the Band rehearse Tue. night.

Be well.

January 11, 1980

Dear Family,

Good evening and welcome to another episode of the PCL saga. I trust you are comfortably seated and in a pleasant state of mind. I was rela­tively oblivious to the cold this week and I assume yours was warm and pro­ductive, befitting the newness of the year.

The big kudos I received during the week came on Fri. afternoon when Joseph Goodman of Chi. State Univ. called to offer me a teaching position of undergrad Investments on Tues. night from 6-8:50 for the next 15 weeks at a compensation of $900. The only remaining contingency is that the enrol­lment is currently under the acceptable 11. The text is already chosen and the students' background not very inspiring. The campus is located 12 miles south of the office in a neighborhood so bad that I cannot use public trans­portation so my enthusiasm is tempered. My impression is that the appointment is more than the temporary association I had with Mundelein with a greater likelihood of re-employment in the fall. Some canned computer packages are available. I have started dusting off my files.

The highlight of the week for me was 'The Tragic Heroes' and my Pre­-Inaugural Ball of last night. During the week I attended 3 of their rehear­sals when various members were out ill but I always had faith in their inte­grity and competence. They learned some 26 songs for the event and performed all of them to at least a workmanlike degree. Each one was a motivation to dance. No one who heard them left unimpressed.

The party ambiance was fun but far from what could have been predicted. The only real clinker thrown into the works was that of the Evan Police who prohibited alcoholic beverages as of 1/1. Hillel placed a 2 col X 3" ad in The Daily Northwestern inviting all and occurring in the same bldg at the same tine was a well advertised "New Wave party sponsored by the black busi­ness fraternity and charging a cover. They were only spinning singles so people quickly deserted them and showed up to dance to the T. H. We had a full dance floor and our chips and soda, paid for by Hillel, were soon exhausted. At least 200 people must have passed through. Despite my creative invites, the only people I invited who showed were either connected with my office or residence. The dancing part of the party was made for me by Jenny Gantner. Her dancing is uninhibited yet intimate and we shared some quite meaningful numbers on the dance floor.

The band has no manager or anybody in an agent capacity. The tape I got of the performance has a useable hour with more than a few moving moments. I am undertaking the task of getting them future bookings so I will have to learn much in the process. I think this project is worthwhile as no one who has heard them was less than impressed.

The week at work was uneventful. I edited the galley proofs of the report for our next WSJ ad and on Mon we should receive 5,000 copies of "Who Makes Money. .." for distribution. I am basically through updating the Gold - Platinum report for the following week's Barrons ad, The last ad of the month I have to get ready is a report on "Reagan and. . .commodities" . Much of my wo week I spent reading the latest in the literature o Int'l Bank1ng to gear up for a rewrite and update of the piece with which I am in the rounds of resubmission.

My creative output appears to be limited to a publishable medium for the indefinite future as all alternate employment avenues are currently on back burner or suspended. Phyllis is ready to abandon the show as known competi­tion is much further along. Nothing new from Seattle.

The band ended last night around 1 A.M. They played three sets over 3+ hours. I showed a 17 minute Beatle film collage from the Evan Pub Lib during one break. After the show at 2 :20 A.M. Todd, the bandleader and two members Chet and Rich showed up for some chat and brews. A couple friend of Mitch also, showed up but the crowd which we had planned for did not materialize. Doron's participation in the evening’s activities was limited.

Be well.

January 18, 1981

Dear Family,

I bid you greetings and glad tidings. I look forward to the coming week (and life) and trust you feel likewise.

The past week had a few intense moments, all professional. The Investments class is go and our first meeting turned up 6 stu­dents. The campus is a modernistic Spartan-feeling modular group of buildings reminiscent of UMM. The chosen text is not to my liking so we will be taking everything slowly. Hardly anyone has any statistical background but otherwise they are competent and somewhat eager. The rush-hour drive there after work is slow and disheartening but after class at 9:00, I can make it home in 45 minutes. The class composition is: 2 blk W, 2 Hispc W, 1 blk M and 1 WM. Their preferred orientation to the material is personal as opposed to institutional or professional. Dr. Goodman is extremely desirous that the class succeeds as it is the precedent setting first nighttime finance class.

During the week I drafted two situation reports. The first was an update of GOLD-PLATINUM that entailed more revision than I initially planned for. I lost touch with our ad scheduling and thus late in the week found a deadline on the REAGAN. . .COMMODITIES report at hand. Both of the ads will be appearing tomorrow and we are at least three days from receiving the report for distribution.

Last night I attended an exciting and impressive concert when I heard Elvis Costello and the Attractions perform at the uptown theater. His pace was predictably frenetic as they raced through 25 songs in 90 minutes without a break. As bandleader, lead guitarist and singer he is brilliant. True to par, he exchanged a scant dozen words of casual banter. His formal English Ascot and Riding Coat matched his business-like attitude. The concert had sold out in a few hours and I had to buy my seat, at a top price, at the door.

Fri. night I ran my first three miles in awhile at the indoor Metro Club track at an acceptable 18:20. Afterwards I saw Premminger's rendition of Graham Greene's The Human Factor. The acting was less than inspired but the pace kept my attention. I capped off the eve­ning with a cruise into my new club Faces. There I met Pat and went with her and friend Sharon to see The Rocky Horror Movie at midnight, an experience I will soon not repeat. Sharon Friedman works for an Artist Mgmt booking agency so I hope to get her opinion of The Tragic Heroes.

To date I have had some success in getting the T.H. onto NUniv dance marathon program, probably 12/13 at 10-11:30 P.M. I sent out the cassette of their performance to some club owners and hope to get some positive responses soon. If no one shows interest, my enthu­siasm will soon wane.

I am relatively oblivious to our weather and was able to ride my bicycle extensively this weekend. I eagerly await the opportuni­ty to start running the par course again.

I have lots of organizing to do yet for my class and the pressure is on to get the Intl Bnkg piece rewritten before I start gearing up for the Feb ad campaign.

Be well.



Jan 22, 1981

Dear Judy,

Greetings on a Thurs. night. I don't think I will be good for too many lines but I know you’re out there. I am enthused about our living proximate. I am making every effort to get a NYC employment and will step up the effort in the Spring. I hope tomorrow to be able to report of my Intl Bnkg manuscript's acceptance by Bankers Mag, my first choice periodical.

Life at the office is getting somewhat oppressive. Tuesday, Larry "Hose nose" (on account of his almost daily cocaine usage) Goldfarb, VP, sees Richard Sherman and I walking out of a stair­well and correctly diagnoses that we've smoked some pot. He con­fronted me with the threat of my job if he caught us again. Who needs the grief.

OK now that I have that frustration out and I can loosen up somewhat. I assembled another 150 postcards into rows of 6, 7 or 8 and I am pleased with the effect and arrangement.

Somehow I also seem to be making slow progress on my per­sonal reading agenda as the demands of class and job take up my time and I do not seem to be able to weed out the slack time in my working day. Sometimes I go without lunch and other times I take well over an hour with a sojourn to the Art Inst. Today's lecture on Early 20th Cent European Abstraction was true intel­lectual food.

Don't worry about me getting married. I have not had much in the way of sincere and meaningful relationships with women so I am afraid it will not occur very soon.

I am also feeling somewhat confined by winter. A snow cov­ered par course is not my idea of fun or fulfillment. The run­ning is a real therapeutic outlet for my tensions and aggressions.

My class is not a disciplined lot and for a change I am not going to buck their lackadaisical resolve. I have come to the conclusion that making demands of students doesn't help.

I've been going to some fun gallery openings but none of the dozens of invites I gave out showed up so I couldn’t have met anyone too consequential. I am loathe to try expensive entertainment alone. I have hardly indulged in the stuffed spinach soufflé of the new nearby Carmen's pizza. I finally got the replacement parts for my food processor so I am back to shredded cheese and the yogurts are once again only for a breakfast drink.

The picture of you sitting on the cement filled oil drum overlooking the industrial area north of Haifa still adorns your bulletin board over my desk though it is beginning to curl [now flattened by corner pins] . I trust that we will have similar travel opportunities, at least up and down the east coast, dur­ing your internship here. I think that being near you will help me appreciate how much I want to be in Israel. With the hopeful publication of my Intl Banking piece I’ve accomplished the objectives I set for myself before I felt ready to place myself before Israeli Banks.

At the present rate I am not going to come with much sav­ings. If either Jeff Roberts or Grandpa emerges as sources of funds, the situation would change.

Do you have a minute? Would you care to hear the latest in the JR (Jeff Roberts) saga? No, no one got shot, but his days in Chicago are over. He now seems to be opening a facility in Orlando, as he has wanted for awhile. The laser is moving there and the theater here is now showing first run movies at $1.50 and performing passably . Basically we are in a holding pattern and the check is in the mail. Well, ... I can take a joke.


January 25, 1981

Dear Family in Israel,

The letter will this short this week as I am somewhat overwhelmed by the big news that the parents wished I not express to the general pub­lic. MY EMPLOYMENT AT COMMONWEALTH HAS BEEN TERNINATED AS OF 2/1. I was clearly unhappy and my work reflected it. I only resent that after 18 months of no supervision, the first harsh feedback I received was terminal. I particularly irked Larry and I can't help but feel that he was the motivating force.

You can expect me to relocate in the East if nothing appears by April. Michelle got me the CCC job in about 2 weeks and I am more marketable now and she is even more on my side, so my initial expectations are not so bleak. I have the teaching position until April and if I can get a few articles out between now and then and relocate at that time in NYC, I'll have no sweat.

Unemployment benefits ($550 per month tax free ?) and teaching salary will easily tide me over so my major quandry is what to do with the available time (assuming the next two weeks of intensive job search turn up nothing). My three choices are: 1. articles in banking 2. explore the computer system at Chi State Univ to get into data processing 3. Order study books as Prof. and pursue CPA. Optimally I will be able to do at two of these.

I will be searching the classifieds each week and will start trying the NYT classifieds (hopefully courtesy of Rhonda) in late March.

I try to live my life with no regrets or guilt so I am concentrating.
on the future and what I should learn from this. The next few days as I clean out my office will not be particularly pleasant but once I get past that I do not envision any problems. I expect that my 1ntl Banking piece will get into Bankers Mag though I still lack definitive confir­mation. I expect the confirmation on Wed.

The rest of the week was quite mild by comparison. My class is pro­ceeding apace as 7 students showed up last time. We will be moving slowly but I do hope to culminate the class in a computer assignment of regression (beta) analysis.

My fantasy is that I will have the opportunity to hike for a week out in the Rockies, hopefully with Yehudit; or more realistically 3 days in the Shenandoah Mtns.

Be well.


February 1, 1981

Dear Family,


A greetings from a new man! Periodic revolutions are good for the soul and quite exciting apart from the increased self-aware­ness. I commence with a philosophical waxing because that is the
nature of my most recent journey. How have you been? Moved any brain cell patterns around recently?

My revolution was only unconsciously self-initiated. I was unhappy at Cowmonwealth and the opportunities elsewhere and my work showed it. I needed a new field of endeavor and have now switched. Without further ado let me introduce to you PCL, MBA, CPA. For a mere $44 and 40+ hrs/wk I hope to pass the exam by May. If not, Nov will be acceptable.

Words cannot express how enthusiastic I feel about the field and my future. It is with little regret that I leave Commonwealth, com­modities and even research. Jerusalem will now be mine. I plan on leaving here at the end of May and traveling and then moving to NYC
for the year in the east with everyone. I get unemp comp for at least the next 6 months.

The first hurdle is a qualifying multi choice undergrad-Acctg­ equivalency exam that I must take and score at least 50% correct. This is available to me only in Ohio (Cols) and must be taken by 2/18. I have become a definite recluse since I started studying last week. I pass up opportunities to sauna and whirlpool and I have even given up my beloved NYT and WSJ for the time being. You'd almost find me boring.

The only excitement I have to look forward to in the coming week is my quarterly book buying binge at the EPL book sale. Next week is 2 parties on Sat. night, the Trajic Heroes, and a possible renewed acquaintance with Mitch's charming younger sister, Elizabeth. Tonight I am off -to the monthly Judaica Lit Grp meeting to discuss A. Memmi's The Liberation of the Jew, which I could not locate. Excerpted reprints are promised.

Be well.

February 8, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings from a not very exciting Paul. I trust your week had more diversity. How is your health? The worst of winter should be behind us. I certainly hope that the Spring brings some substan­tial rains to the East.

I have no problem discoursing on abstractions and generalities but my life has become a little serious with not too much notable. I manage to put in between 4 and 10 hours per day in front of the CPA Review and I am answering the old test multiple choice questions at above a 2/3 correct rate. The material is not as difficult as it is involved. I have yet to master the problem solving. I'd like to do some auditing of int'l finance or commerce businesses when in NYC to get ready and prepared for an ultimate livelihood.

Bankers Mag. editor Richard Miller is just sitting on my manu­script so this week I got around to adding 4 pages and sent it off to Alvin Youngquist at Bankers Monthly. For the time being my writing days are over. I don't have time for much else.

I did manage to put in an evening (2 hrs) at the Evan NOW Chapter office calling on behalf of ERA. The effort still seems futile.

The JLG meeting last week had its trying moments. Few people were able to locate a copy and those that did manage to read it were unimpressed. I also doubted the sincerity of our reviewer who professed to share the author's conclusion of Israel being the cen­tral cultural focus of the Jews. A new arrival (and holocaust sur­vivor), Kay Rand, volunteered to lead our next discussion, 3/1 and to be held here, on Children of the Holocaust by Helen Epstein.

The Evan Pub Lib book sale this past week was only fair. I picked up some 50+ paperbacks for $18. They are mostly novels.

I was having transportation asset problems these past few weeks as I have had to replace my inner and outer tubes on my bicy­cle's back wheel and when the wind chill got to –28 degrees F my Pinto refused to start. Working conditions have been restored.

I can't seem to shed my daily newspaper and health routines so I will probably resume them full force in three weeks. Other than trips for these, food and to the unemployment office (4 blocks away), you'll find me here.

Be well.

February 15, 1981

Dear Family,

A renewed student greeting. I always got depressed during finals and Thursday's Acctg Equivalency exam in Cols. has brought out my latent tendencies. I trust that you are able to draw on your reserves as we move through winter's depth to the change and movement we will have in "the spring and summer. Only a select few of you have a climate as inclement as mine. Anyway, how are you? What's new?

I am in the process of reviewing the CPA material that I have already gone over once. Given that I have only a tentative under­standing of the exam, I feel adequately prepared [famous last words]. The material is a lot of common sense, rules and interpretations. The level of analysis pales beside the level of detail. The modeling is hardly abstract. Of all types of test questions I like multiple choice among the best. If it weren't my life, it could almost be a game.

I'll depart here Wed. staying in Columbus at Deb Mencer's that night, take the exam Thurs and then spend the weekend in Cleve.

Most of the weekend's excitements were the nights of Fri. and Sat. On the former the Trajic Heroes played at the NU dance marathon. I had a good time but they were not great. 1/3 of their hour set-up time was taken away and the electric piano and synthesizer did not arrive until 10 minutes to show time. Consequently they started late and tuned up through out the show. At this point I am not expectant of any bookings to result from their effort. With my imminent departure and initial indifference on the part of club owners, the self-fulfilling lack-of-interest-prophesy is being manifested.

Last night I attended a Valentine's Day party upstairs in 7A. The affair was quite tame but nevertheless fun. The new acquaintances I made were not inspiring but the apt. hosts were gracious and sincere.

March 2, 1981

Dear Grandparents, Parents and Siblings,

Greetings from your jet-setter! I have today flown to NYC and back,
on a $30,000/yr interview. My head is pleasantly spinning. How are you?

Today's interview was at 121 Broudway, Wall St. hdqtrs for Smith Barney Harris Upham & Co. Inc., a large diversified financial institution. It was brokered by George Faour of Carter Stone & Co., the people who had earlier intimated a Seattle interview. The position, editor of their commodity literature, editing the work of three analysts, is a newly created one.

I had hoped to leave a day or two early and stay with cousin Rhonda, but hosting the JIG discussion last 'night precluded an overnight stay. So I booked myself on what I was informed was the day's first Chi-NYC run, 7 A.M. Arriving 35 minutes early, I was able to catch the 6:30 flight. The cabbie taking me to my 10 A.M. appointment at the C S offices (at 61 Broad had impeccable Israeli connections but nevertheless took me from LaGuardia over the Tri-Borough bridge for an $18 ride. Smith Barney moved me back 1/2 hour so I arrived at the office of Stephen Chronowitz, Director of Com­modity Research, at 11:30. Steve arrived at 11:50. Both his facial features and weight are somewhat heavy. He must be close to 40. I spent 1 1/2 hrs with him of which 1/3 was spent editing a promo piece put out by another firm. Everything seemed to go well and he promised some notification within two weeks. I met with no one else at SBHU. Steve is the show at this time as he builds a staff with what he says is a full management commitment. My only trepidation is that computerized data banks are not avail­able and the expertise demanded by Steve will require something to that effect. The situation should certainly be better than that at Commonwealth but not dramatically so. The organization has integrity and I could build a mutually respectful relationship with the people in the Dept.

My other good news is that I passed the equivalency exam at the Ohio Accountancy Board, with the barest of minimum to spare (70/110). There is little doubt in my mind that I will study and sit for the Ohio CPA exam. I expect to finish out my commitment to Chicago State giving me lots of time to study until 4/15 (Steve said there should be no problem with that starting date). Passing any part in Ohio can only help. My brief respite from studying is over.

While in Manhattan I just walked up Church St to Canal to Mott and a late Chinese lunch. I meandered around Soho and dropped. $60 in two of my favorite stores on Prince St, Untitled, where I bought 120 postcards and Rocks In Your Head, where I picked up a live bootleg album and musical dic­tionary of Elvis Costello. After that I did not feel like doing too much as none of the art exhibits in NYC at this time caught my fancy so I headed back on an earlier flight than I had to so that I managed to unwind in the Sauna and whirlpool.

I was able to run the par course and S&W everyday this past week and my weight Stuck to 135 lbs unfailingly. The weather is variable but at least the footing is firm.

Last nights JLG meeting here had poignant moments, only some of which belonged there. I enjoyed the selection, Children of the Holocaust by Helen Epstein, Our discussion leader, Kay Rand had been in a concentration camp for 5 weeks (while living the war as a Christian). She is only facing many of her life’s' questions now and undergoing intensive psycho-analysis. Consequently I think her subsequent life story and problems are at best marginal to the issue of interest, the transmission of social pathology and the uniqueness of this particular historical trauma. Without much reservation I think the Group is about ready to die. I will certainly not miss having to inflate a lot of egos for very little sincerity. Per usual I gave away paperbac1ks. I couldn't even give away my art lecture.

Fri. and Sat. night I went to two parties in the Lincoln park area, neither of which deserves further mention. I did enjoy a Sat. midnight show of the rock film “Rude Boy" by the Clash. Aside from their preachy leftist cant, the acting was competent, plot tolerable, and concert footage exciting.

March 8, 1981

Dear Grandparents, Parents and Siblings,

Greetings from your studious Evanston relative. Along with a 'back to the books' attitude comes a certain blandness of personality. I trust that you have not put the spices of life away and that you can transcend the routine consciousness that is so easily fallen into. So, how are you? When I spend hours a day at my desk and all I have is my bulletin board to look up to, I like to see letters tacked up there. Their (your) presence make(s) the hours go by faster.

The early part of the week I spent calming down from my hectic NYC Monday. By Thurs. I started settling down into a sedentary position and eager mindset. Somehow the anxiety has been the easiest part to reacquire I am putting in the time at the "Talmudic" texts but the human factor of efficiency comes only slowly. Even with two months to go the task feels formidable.

Last night I experienced some light amusement as I went to dinner (9:45 PM) with Steve Sherman and a dozen others at a Serbian Club. The house mousakke was tasty and the beef competent. The wine was overpriced at $10-15/bottle. I overate. The company was fun and at times stimulating. I experienced something of a psychological reprieve as I encountered a woman I knew at Penn , Ofra. My guilt dream over her was that one day in the spring of 1974 I had committed the sexist act of slapping her on the behind as I rode over the 38th St. bridge. When I asked her for forgiveness last night, she could not recall the incident, let alone who I was

Tue. night after class I am picking up a passenger to share the ride and heading down to Dallas TX to spend a few days with a faithful and sincere friend, Carol Taylor. This is the first opportunity I have had in five years to visit her and I do not know when it will come again.

March 16: 1981

Dear Grandparents, Parents, Siblings and Ellen,

Greetings from a wintry Chicago. I hope your climate is spring-like and hospitable. One day of driving can mean 40 degrees difference.

The four past days spent in Dallas are still vivid but I am definitely immersed again in the Acctg studies. Both ways the driving was solo. The 917 mile distance required 16 1/2 hours of 55 MPH. Going down I required 5 hours of rest and returning 1 1/2. Gratifyingly traffic was light and I was able to read the NYT and my Elvis Costello songbook much of the journey. Petrol prices ranged from-$1.229 per gallon at a Diamond Shamrock gas/ grocery in Dallas to $1.489 in Kankakee, IL.

Carol is just as dependable and sweet in the flesh as she is on paper. She was a gracious host and the trip had many highlights mostly focused on the natural attributes of Dallas. On my arrival Wed. night we attended a Dallas Sierra Club meeting and Carol drafted me into making an announcement on behalf of Save Open Spaces to a crowd of 300. I remain suspect of their do-good intentions but they unambiguously provide unique opportunities to explore environments over quite a surrounding range of adjacent area. The 420-slide show of a Mt. McKinley (20,000 ft.) conquest grew tiring as white snow and blue sky increasingly looked the same in every frame. Thurs. I ran the Dallas Par Course. Certain of their exercise stations do not appear in Evanston and vice versa. Theirs does have a functional station base of wood chips but the distance is significantly shorter. Though theirs is between a man made lake and a busy commuter airport ( which is exciting for the visitor), the overall aesthetics of Evanston feels more satiating to the soul. Trees are rare in most of urban TX Fri.. morning we shopped at a local farmers mkt and I was reminded on my LA days with the accompanying abundant and inexpensive produce.. I returned to Evan with 18 lb bags of oranges and grapefruit for $3 each.. For Fri supper I made stir fried vegetables with shrimp and a tossed spinach salad, Sat we hiked on a 800 acre undeveloped spread and reveled in the silence and pristine beauty, packing a picnic lunch.. Sat. night we saw the movie Tess. I moderately enjoyed the film. The theme of fallen innocence and the abusiveness of insensitive males certainly fits director Roman Polanski. Nastassia Kinski graces the screen with enchanting lips and other facial features.

The human institutions of Dallas are less than inspiring. Modern art collections and consciousness are inadequate. We did stumble onto some pleasant classical music competition at SMU. Most disappointing were the restaurants with plastic warmed over food, like many of the residents. Not too many people know where a NYT is sold. While the red Pegasus atop the stodgy art deco Mobil Hdqtrs is a double image, it belies the interpretation of Dallas as a "one-,horse" town. Most of the architecture is modern impersonal glass. The "grassy knoll" of JFK fame is anticlimactic. There are a few lush urban parks. The pervasiveness of the glamorous young single life replete with countless curvaceous sun worshipping beauties creates a sad TV reality.

No news from SBHU.

Be wel1.

March 22, 1981

Dear Grandparents, Parents, Siblings and Ellen,

Greetings on a Sunday night from my old SC electric as Mitch is using Doron's Coronomatic 2500 to type a late Health Systems Management Grad. School application. Pay it no mind as I am in a reasonably robust frame of mind despite having only one dear correspondent who is probably about to accuse mc of that worst of all
possible transgressions, selling out to the male oppressor class. On a local level I have begun running the par course again and broke 29 minutes for the first time this year, today. My health is typically excellent and I was down to 133 lbs. I am getting minor pains from my upper right rear gum and of course fear the worse, impacted molar. I will check out the $5 check-up offered by NWU Dental school if the situation worsens.

"How are you?" (he asks with a heartfelt sincerity.)

It seems we have active family members. My conversation with our latest health food freak initiate inspired me to experiment and expand my horizons.. I sent some soaked and boiled lentils, soybeans and pinto beans through the food processor and came up with a thick paste suitable for a matzo open-faced toasted cheese and sprouts sandwich in the morning or more appropriately the brown rice, egg, veg.., dinner meal... I also now include 1/8 cup wheat berries with 3/8 cup rice for dinner grain. The wheat berries have far more crunch per munch. Pardon this digression, but my diet improvement was the only news of the week.. With no time or money to leavemy studying desk, I have become quite a homebody.

My orderly acquisition of facts and interpretations proceeds acceptably as I am capable of both 100% correctness in recall at times. Yet I think I may have to write off (“for tax purposes”) the whole Acctg Practice part as the-level of detail comprehension is quite formidable for the novice. I will call Smith Barney on Tue and if the response is not affirmative, I will begin rewriting my resume and attempt to establish potential employment contacts. Coutesy of Rhonda and the parents I will have the NYC and Cleve accounting classified Sunday ads. Starting now gives me the jump I need on graduating Acctg majors. I may have to resort toa scattershot approach

My diet has been an inordinate source of pleasure as I have been feasting on the Texan Oranges and Grapefruit this past week and renewed my acquaintance with green peppers and avocadows also from the Lone Star state. Locally, cabbage is only $0.10 /lb on the next block, carrots and onons are cheap $0.33 and .50 /lb usually) and I treat myself to indulgences of cauliflower and asparagus ($1.50 /lb).

In a normal schedule I have played what would be an excessive amount of the card game, Oh hell. Butwith no other free outlet of tension, the situation is under clinical control.

I am enthused about Ron’s (Al's) Mid-East outlook but I am highly skeptical that successful alliances can be built between autocratic Islamic and Arabic rulers and their enemies. Still, keeping the concern of Soviet aggression in the forefront of US policy can only help. The domestic situation still remains in a quagmire of political and eoonomic "ifs."

Supply-side eoonomics does seem to have been given a. shot in Israel with the tariff and other tax reducti6ns. The. gains may yet prove short lived, but no one seems to be compla1ning, except the political opposition.

Enough lecturing. I really must go and prepare for my Tue" lecture as my prepared notes are ending 3 sessions too early so I will have to draft some new material, probably graphical and differential calculus representation of basic inter-factor production and consumption allocation

Be we11.

March 29, 1981

Dear Grandparents, Parents, Siblings and Ellen,

Greetings from Spring! What a glorious season. Warm weather and the imminent reemergence of life adds much to a disposition. How are you? Well, up and about I hope. I can hardly sit still.

I moved so fast this week that I broke not only the 28 minute barrier on the par course but 27 minute one as well. I am eating well with my bean paste and wheat berries in the regular routine and my weight is up to 137 lbs. I may have physically peaked for the time being as the next month will certainly bring less than one run per day.

My past week lacked excitement though career change never leaves me lacking for anxiety. I drafted a cover letter and new resume (enclosed) which have minor revisions to undergo and then will be mass-mailed scattershot to CPA partnerships in Clev and NYC. Frustratingly, CPA directories are no more discriminating than phone books, as to firm size. I am not expecting this method to produce fruitful results but the chance is worth taking and the act has therapeutic value. There are 2,000 CPA firms in Manhattan and 500 in Cleve. I will probably send out about 200 in an initial mailing.

Studying goes acceptably. I will begin intensifying the effort by going to the NU library._ First I will have to get the job responding routine down pat. I will also begin responding to Sun Chi Tribune Accounting classifieds. I may start in with the Phila Inquirer as well. I also must finish my obligations at Chi state. I should have enough lecture material to finish the quarter and I will have the final assembled Tue. Last week I sat for an I.D. and also broke the news to Joseph Goodman, dept. chairman, that I am changing careers and probably locations.
Now that I don’t get to the Art Institute, music is my major cultural release and Elvis Costello remains the main man. I taped another bootleg album of his and I’m singing his songs all the time. I will certainly miss the local college radio stations when I depart. WNUR and WZRD(NE IL U) are about as progressive as they come.

Be well. No news from SBHU



April 5, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings on a cold Spring night. I trust you are experiencing inner and outer warmth befitting the rejuvenatory season.

I am living in the unknown future so my here and now is somewhat listless and lonely. At this point I most lack someone I can bounce accounting questions of a theoretical, practical and professional questions off of. This past week I attended a sales seminar for a HBJ “Becker-type" CPA review course at which the Chi Touche Ross Dir of Human Resources spoke about resume writing and interviewing. I had contacted him the previous week and sent my resume and cover letter to him for comment, a prospect he expressed enthusiasm about. Needless to say, when I introduced myself, he had not made time to look at my resume. I also wasted time by not rapidly ascertaining that the attractive woman I befriended and spoke with had a "boyfriend."

This occured on Wed. and while I was downtown I dropped into the NU Dental School outpatient teaching clinic to have my teeth looked at. As to be expected from a decade of neglect and abuse I have a mouth of half filled (half empty?) cavities and progressive periodontal deterioration from not flossing, a case appreciated at a teaching facility. My timing was bad though and I waited 2 1/2 hours and must return this coming Wed for a 9 AM hygienist appointment and 2 PM X Rays.

During some of the waiting time I was able to run to the Chi. Public Library to reference an IL CPA Society Directory which had a listing of firms with partner names and hence size. Calls to parallel CPA societies in NY and Ohio yielded no return as they claim to not have such a discriminatory list.

Michael Margolis kindly yielded a listing of more-than- 6-partner firms in the Phila. area that he procured from Drexel and I think a business school placement office may be the way for me to get NYC and Cle listings. Chi and Phila have together a total of 55 such firms. I finished off my major studying of the Acctg Prac and Thry portions of the CPA exam with simulated tests and less than overwhelming results. I am more hopeful on the Theory portion as my ignorance during the test time was much more agitating and less blissful than during the Practice part. I seem to be able to pick
up the CPA study / JOB search pace with little distortion. I certainly jog and sauna/Jacuzzi less.

I did have a tremendous amount of fun Fri night when I heard the first and possibly last step on the Tragic Heroes World Tour, as they ventured 53 blocks to Play at North Park Col & Theologic . Seminary, the school of singer Chris, bandleader Todd Johnson's sister. For the first time, everyone seemed relaxed and enjoying themselves. I expect that I will get them another gig, probably occurring after my departure. Tragically graduation on June 12 will probably signal their breakup.

April 12, 1981

Dear Family,

Good evening from the PCL command quarters. At this time the nascent spring has taken a damp relapse and the heat has been turned off. Never mind, I get inner warmth and inspiration from the febrile pace of tree leaf bud rejeuvanation outside the dining room window, predicting a hoped-for fecund season. I do trust that you are sharing in some of the simple joys of this time of year.

I go high-falutin early because I have little other of intellectual interest to report. I could bore you to tears about general, field work and reporting standards but I am sure I would display ignorance in the process so I'll pass. I haven't passed yet on the daily NYT and WSJ so at least I'm not bored. The dismemberment and horrific aggressions of the (Russian proxy) Syrians on the Lebanese nation are truly heartrending. I can't see Poland going any way but over the Breznehv-doctrine brink with bloodshed of yet a greater magnitude. I fear we may yet have the "Reagen in '80, Bush in '81" team. Ron is getting truly vindictive in his anti-abortion stance. Tobacco subsidies will stay while cancer -research funding will be slashed.

So all that and 80 cents will get me downtown tomorrow for an interview/meeting with two accounting personnel agencies that liked the resume I submitted to them in response to an ad placed last week. I also received the first two 'No’s from CPA firms. I was to get to the more promising interview Fri afternoon but my dental hygienist appointment took three hours. My gum and teeth are quite better for the treatment. From the x-rays I think my fear of an impacted molar is justified. Rest assured I have no distracting pain at this time.

The distraction of my class ends in two days with the final. My demands of them are quite minimal and I think everyone had an enjoyable learning experience. After that it is straight studying until May. The sprint should be exhausting. I suspect it may prove insufficient.

Fri night I treated myself to a late evening at a local party. The occasion was a typical step back into the world of successful student partying. Sat night I talked myself out of a second night of carousing and responded to 38 NYT and Cleve PD ads. Thurs night I shared a Med. Carmen's stuffed spinach pizza-with cousins Robin and Amy. Amy is in town to scout out DC, where she will be entering a PhD program in Mid Eastern Studies in the fall.

Yesterday was a notable success for me as I sold my Dynaco amplifier, preamplifier and Onkyo Tuner for $250. Demonstrating the system entailed my needlessly blowing out the tweeter on my Advent speaker ($30).



April 19, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings from a brisk Spring evening and a new ribbon. I am feeling somewhat orderly and business-like probably because I have so little reason to do so. I trust you are feeling healthy and peaceful with just cause. What's new? How have your travels and plans been developing? I am mostly bicycle bound until I depart for Cle/Col. I took my Pinto in for a routine tune-up, oil change, etc... and ended up dropping a cool $96 (cash) on $25 labor and parts. I've had to discard
a pair of tires because of an as-yet-unfixed misalignment. I continue to effectively limp along on my 40 lb. Scwinn Varsity. It's really just a utility horse and I may have to shoot it if I can't sell it when I leave.

Speaking of which, there were more gun homicides (265) than traffic fatalities (216) in Dallas last year. Undeterred, at this particular momet I am ready to go where the acctg job is and accordingly I sent a dozen flyer resumes to personnel agencies in Dal and San Antonio for a lark. In addition to the two Chicago agencies to respond to my resume, one in Cleve called me. I am maintaining a "professional skepticism" and expect that I will be in.Cle from June to Nov studying for a retake of the CPA and studying EDP until I can get employment in data processing. Hopefully then I will be able to secure the coveted public auditing experience, rejections of which are currently arriving at a pace of 3 per day

The exam studying proceeds on schedule but I am increasingly dubious as to the ultimate outcome. I have just now completed the fourth section, Bus. Law. Tomorrow I take the simulated test and then begin reviewing. Simulated results to date are not encouraging. I have no reason to doubt the assessment of fellow wharton alum and flatmate Michael Maroglis's who dubbed it the most difficult exam of his life. I've already written off practice. Auditing appears doubtful; Maybe Theory or B Law.

Sadly I had little Passover observance this year. I have been eating Matzoh for two months. Only 39 yrs and 10(?) months to go. Fri. night I went to another Old Orchard Hosp. related party with Mitch. The adolescent mentality present was uninspiring. -*&__V--Interrupt--+%#@&

This very moment I received the news that I am once again a proud uncle (of Liat Levinson) and I thank the parents with a heartfelt sense of meaning and beauty as only a lifetime of love and devotion will convey. Thank you forever.


June 7, 1981

Dear Family,
.
Greetings from yours trulyl Remember me? I last wrote on 4/26 from this same perch in Evanston. The intervening 3000+ miles, tests, and interviews produced results which to date have manifested inconclusive results employment-wise.

I feel satisfied with the application opportunity of my months of studying on the CPA exam. The results will, of course, be a different matter. I probably passed two or one out of three tests, an eminently acceptable result. My Phila. interview with Touche Ross did not pan out and NYC still remains an impossible nut to crack for me. On the home front the news, mostly from agents, that arrives by post .and telephone is encouraging at times. To date, no dice. Pending results from recent interviews may materialize in Clev. and I have at least one interview ln Chi. on Tue. -So the saga remains merely ongoing and unresolved. Tune in next week when we we’11 hopefully be back on the air from our expected new location of Clev Hts, Ohio.

On the socio-cultural front, traveling was typically broadening. The only formal art exhibit of note that I took in was at the Met in NYC, the future donations of Muriel Kallis Steinberg. Heavy in the N Y school, the collection was light overall, but still tasteful. Pleasantest lunch company was Linda Potemkin. Judy and I shared some succulent restaurant repast and many a parr course. We almost suffered from urban overload and time constraints were the only reason we did not get any country miles in.

The home (soon to be historic) front has been quiet. Steve Safran is ostensibly subletting my room for the summer and he has paid the June rent onl time. Mitch is on vacation as he has the first two weeks of June as a transition vacation between jobs. Doron is a 2nd year Econ PhD student without a summer job and with 3 incompletes so he will spend some time back home in Queens writing papers.

On arrival Fri. night I attended a farewell party for one of Mitch’s col1eagues. Regretfully I missed the absolutely last performance Tragic Heroes out of sheer ignorance. The weather has been sunny
and I have run the par course 4 times in two days. While falling into a leisurely routine has been easy, anxiety has motivated my continuing studies.

I am well into the COBOL relearning effort and hope to get started on the FORTRAN soon. June 16, the start of the Beaker CPA review course still looms as the date on which I must be settled. Hopefully the studies will not be my only haul until Nov. I may sit in on some CSU accounting or
data processing courses.

I have been eating well since I arrived, with every meal out. The nearby Blind Faith Cafe is Vegetarian and dependably cheap. I will have two breakfasts from the leftover stuffed pizza that was dinner. Fritzthatsit had a Sunday brunch that began to reflect summer with fresh cherries, watermelon and other fruit. As always, the ample buffet of fresh fruit indulged in to satiation brings pleasant memories, including the produce of CA

My current plans are to leave here for Cleve about mid-week pulling an enclosed 4 ft by 6 ft trailer filled with assorted furniture, rugs and books but no couches. My bedroom is quite barren by this point as all my books are boxed and I have collapsed one set of shelves. Steve cleared off my bulletin board and removed many of the pictures from the wall. My postcard collection has been reset up in my room in C. H. and I will be taking back my cloth stretchings this trip.

June 14, 1981

Dear Family,

The week dawned more hot and humid than others but otherwise not atypical. It certainly ended in a flurry of action and change. I trust that your time was at least stable, if not revolutionary. Are you well? Have the heat or humidity been overwhelming? ' .

At this time, it is my perception that I will report for work Wed. at East-West Univ. as Director of Financial services, Business Operations & Budget. East-West Univ. is located at 816 S. Mich. where they own their building. The institution is roughly two years old and has 500 students. This job is the first major financial position created (as per enclosed schematic). Drs. Wasi Khan (PhD Ed Admin, UC Berkeley) and Madhu Jain (PhD Physics) founded the place and are my bosses, he (the former) being Chancellor and she Dean. Alas, Saudi money hae paid the significant expenses to date and Wasi is constantly in direct-dial phone contact with Saudi sheikhs. Hopefully my first task is the first official internal audit in preparation for an official external audit at the close of the first official fiscal year, Aug. 31. I also have to set up revenue and expense statements and an interim statement for this year. I will also be required to take over much of the bookkeeping function from the elected Univ. Treasurer, Madhu. If all goes well, I will get myself slated for Acting Business Dept. Chairman in the fall.

In any case, I expect that I have taken a positive step towards the coveted entry level Big 8 audit slot. I am slipping in the "perception" and "expect" qualifiers because I am scheduling a confirming interview tomorrow with a Director from the Corporate Board, an Exec Vice Chancellor of the Chi city Colleges. I expect no problems.

The rest of the job hunting week a1so went well and tomorrow I also may very well be offered a bookkeeping position at the Chi. (Evanston, 8 blocks from here) branch office of the national law firm Hayt, Hayt and Landau.

I am slating myself to start the Becker CPA review in Acctg Practixce June 22. It is the 1/4 of the exam I will never pass on my own without external motivation. The time commitment is 6 to 10 PH M am W, every other week. Class is enforced study and testing and homework is review testing. I am not yet ready to concede that the other three parts are beyond my self study powers.

During the past week, I cooked only one significant meal and ate out a great deal. None of the local regulars was disappointing. I tried a new nearby Chinese restaurant, Peking Gardens(?) and enjoyed the ample portions. The Blind Faith Cafe was consistently tasty and wholesome.
I expect to return to my staple of chees-grain-tahini (and maybe bean paste) .

The past two days I drove to Cleve Hts and returned with most of what I shipped initially there in the trailer. This feat was performed with the assistance of a recently purchased car-top carrier. This weekend trip took an inordinate amount of time as the carrier was purchased and assembled at the K Mart on the south side of Chi. The resulting route and time were rain delayed and diverted. The return trip featured a relatively harmless hour delay and $8 expenditure as I ran out of gas on the fashionable near north side of Chi..

I should be able to reclaim my room from sublessor Steve Safran July 1. At that time Doron will be relocating to Queens and Steve will move into Doron‘s room. Fri night the three of us cruised Rush St. bar scene and my Faces membership sparked some excitement as usual.

Be well.



June 21, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings from a rainy fourth floor perch. I trust Summer's arrival for you was marked by sunshine, warmth, and happiness. My week was mostly dominated by pleasant conditions so my complaints are few.

On the all-critical professional front, I was unable to schedule the confirming interview until Thurs. and as Wasi was out of town the final approval will not come until tomorrow. The interviewer called me Friday night to say he was recommending me. The process was moving a little slow for my tastes so on Tue when Barry Landau, managing partner of Hayt, Hayt and Landau called to offer the position in the accounting dept., I accepted.. I started there on Fri. putting in "only" an 8+ hour day. The work was routine and the environment placid. I expect tomorrow's half day (until I call Wasi at noon) to be my last.

I spent my last restful days gearing up and relaxing. I am for the most part unpacked back into my room and out of the living room, though I have another 10 days on the couch. My postcards are now rehung and I have over 67 rows (400+ cards) in a sprawling chronological and eclectic display of modern art and portraiture. Today I received the first expression of resentment from my roomate as the collection threatened to spill into the living room.

Midweek, armed with a selection from the NYTBR editors Summer Reading Issue, I took four books out of the Evan. Pub Lib to enjoy my last few days of leisure. Diving into Self Portrait of A Hero: The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu (1963-76), I was enthralled. Netanyahu was the 36 yr old Lieutenant Colonel who led the Entebbe Rescue and was its only fatality. As a quiet but certain and duty bound Zionist patriot, he was both eloquent and intimate. Most endearing, as a math (and physics) studying paratrooper, he was not unlike our own. This weekend I managed to make my way through most of Michael J. Arlen's The Camera Age: Essays on Television. This is a collection of pieces appearing originally in The New Yorker over the past two years. The essays are insightful and well crafted, hence a delight to read. He truly writes for the non-viewer and is well-informed in a variety of fields.

Typically I put the available time to productive exercise. My par course time is only about 28 minutes but I feel fine. I am back to my staple diet and stocked up on my favorite regular beer, Augsburger Dark, so I am in for the long haul.

The overload starts tomorrow with the Becker CPA course, described last week. It should certainly relieve me of any idle time

I have yet to attend a Chi Arch Fdtn tour this year. I have taken most of the significant tours and on one of the last ones last year I befriended a woman who subsequently burnt me for $30 so it is a case of duo-conscious avoidance. My dearth of Art Institute attendance has solely been geographic, a problem I hope solved.

June 28, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings from a hot and dry Chicago. Summer has finally arrived ablazing! The week past certainly represents the torrid pace of my life's events yet to come. I trust that whether you were gearing up or down or in that productive equilibrium state, you emerged happier and wiser.

Last week was my first full one at Hayt Hayt & Landaul, The E-W Univ appointment grows more tentative and less likely as the Chancellor and Dean refuse to commit themselves. H, H & L is a national law firm headquartered in NYC which specializes in collections, particularly of debtors who have received adverse court judgments. The most routine aspect of my job is to post the daily entries of debtor checks on coded forms for computer entry and in the general ledger. When I started, this task had been neglected for 3.weeks so it took me the whole week to clear up the backlog. This week I will begin handling check disbursements and learning the operating expenses. The office has 40 people and is three minutes riding time from my apt. Tony Watson, a U of Chi MBA from Liberia is the Dept. supervisor and I am the staff of 1. We have a 2 desk office on a floor apart from everyone else. Though it has no windows, I hope to cheer the walls up with some art soon. Most pleasant of all is the auditory (musical) environment, which is of my selection. The entire day I get to listen to my fave rave new wave commercial-free WNUR. Tony is not hard to get along with and competent enough as far as I could tell. The firm (and our 2 partners) is quite Jewish and so far everyone is pleasant and business-like. My day is 8:30-5 or 9-5:30 with 45 minutes for lunch. Coming home for the meal or even only the time bloc helps break up the day. Fri. I got a pleasant hour of sitting in the sun reading my NYT when the circuit breakers for the transformers on the office's block were tripped and repairmen had to come out to reset them.

I also started my Becker CPA review course. I initially thought I could "get away with" taking only the practice part but I now perceive that the review course practice and theory sections are highly integrated and my theoretical understanding is less than exemplary, so I will probably take the theory section as well. My first two practice sessions (7 hrs) were demanding and instructive. The course will test the extent of my commitment to field of public accounting.

On the more earthen level I fared well. My par course time is under 28 (and occasionally 27) minutes and my skin glaze is a fashionable beige. Yesterday I attended the opening of the Evan Farmers Mkt for 1981 and was rewarded by fresh peas, broccoli, mulberries, strawberries, cherries and less remarkable prizes.

Today I attended the opening of the 1981 Spertus College of Judaica book sale and picked up some 65 paperbacks for $20. Arriving early and searching through boxes of books for which table space did not yet exist insured that I would turn up classics, "good reads" and bargains Such a deal.

July 5, 1981

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday #205 or 5 (Operation Yonatan) to you. I feel liberated with a renewed sense of strength. I trust your transitions and plateaus are pleasurable and not too costly. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of distance, in a sense other than geographical, to show for my revolutions. Oh well, reawakened resolve can be inspiring. How are you? I haven’t heard from you in soooo long!

Most of my week was work.. The monthly expense accrual and revenue recaps are elaborate and precise summarizations. I spent an inordinate amount of time tracking down faulty ledger entries. The Department's harried and disjoint mode of operation has meant that
my education has been slow and unconnected. Thus though Fri. Was a holiday and I entertained Mom and Dad for the weekend. I put in 2 hours at the office. For the most part I am enjoying what I am learning and the environment is quite .relaxed. I can see though that month endings will not be my favorite time.

I started the Becker Theory section and it seems not as demanding as the practice part. I am satisfied with the progress to date. Getting into the homework groove has not been particularly unpleasant.

Entertaining my Cleve Hts visitors was a tax-deductable joy. We dined (overdosed) at Fritz's twice, hit the local prides vegetarian Blind Faith Cafe and Carmen's Pizza and still managed to finish off a brought chicken. Lest you fear all those zillions of calories were metabolized as fat, rest assured we did some heavy par coursing and spent some draining moments in the sauna. Still you would be correct in surmising that the weekend left more of us all than it began with.

Friday night's entertainment was three gallery openings and a Second City show. Actually there were two art openings and one bookstore. For a city of 3 milllon+, the crowds were light. 400,000 did manage to show up at Grant Park for assorted festivities, which we fortunately missed. 2nd City was a typical hilarity. The tickets were purchased at show time and we sat in the front row..

Sat. was quiet as we got in the car only for the Farmer's Mkt.. Mostly we read and I celebrated the fifth anniversary mentioned above, by consuming 90 Minutes At Entebee by William Stevenson. My hero Yonni is expectedly underdeveloped. The major portion of the Amin and Ugandan aspects are only incidentally of consequential importance.. Sat. night was rockets red glare and bombs bursting in the air as we viewed fireworks displays from the apt. dining room where we saw the Evanston display and from the roof where we could see 5 other suburb and city shows.

Monday was Doron's last day here until Sept. and he cooked up a storm for us and 41/2 guests (The 1/2 was 5 years old).. I was able to reclaim my room Tue" and only now feel comfortably back home, at least until November. .

Be well.

July 12, 1981

Dear Family,

An indulgent greetings to you. I pay no mind to the 92 degree F heat and 89% humidity as I as I lounge in a typically expansive state in my thoroughly air conditioned room with a cold Augsburger Dark Beer oblivious to the oppression. I trust your summer is likewise tolerable.

On the omnipotent pfofessional front, the week was not without its tensions and anxieties. Tony Watson my boss, resigned on Mon, though at week's end his status remains in doubt. I suspect he will hang on for now but his days at H H & L are definitely numbered. My first attempt to step out will come in Aug with my May CPA exam results and 2 months of acctg/bkping experience. Hopefully I will have something to write a new resume about and make a better timed and more credible application to the Big 8 and others for a winter of Spring placement. .

Gradually I am fitting into an office routine with a primary responsibility of coding and entering into a ledger the day's debtor checks. I now receive them from the receptionist identified and totaled so all I need is accuracy, an attribute I can unfortunately not belittle. I do not expect to personally befriend any of the other employees.

The Acctg class time and homework keep me busy. I enjoy the material so the productive effort doesn't feel burdensome. I do grow impatient with the lecture format from a tape recording of
"Newt" himself. The lecture notes, with preconstructed schedules and outlines are of unquestionable value.

I have managed to get 2/3 of the way through Exodus this week. The plot is enjoyable but the characterizations lack ambiguity. Leon Uris, the author, also suffers (-ed) from a blatantly male viewpoint. I hope to finish it and move on to Oh Jerusalem week.

Evanston offers many summer amenities. Today the par course was slightly flooded but near certain stations a high school drama group offered fairy tales and near other stations a brass quintet played. Yesterday's farmer market left me with the candy-like red raspberries and sour cherries. Riding my bicycle to and from work and at lunch compares quite favorably with sweating up a mean disposition on a $1.10 Evanston Express that stops as much as it starts..

I hope Wash1ngton is asking when will Ronnie make the necessary foreign policy speech.. I expect Jerusalem to be settling into a waiting game for Menachem's first Knesset failure. Be well.

July 20, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings on a Monday morning! I trust your week has progressed nicely and unlike mine, things are getting done on time. My health is typically good and unremarkable though I had better not put off
minor dental repairs much longer. .

The week at workHHL, was eventful as my boss Tony Watson left for good. I think he was in the hospital for part of the week so I am not certain of the circumstances surronding his departure. One of the consequences is that I logged 8 hours overtime and my responsibilities have been increased; I am writing (not signing) checks, managing accounts payables and now the operating as well as the escrow incoming checks. A less desirable consequence is that Barry Novak, senior partner, is in the accounting office much of the day and aside from the question of his personality is the problem of his making interminable requests of my time for inconsequential tasks, a reason why Tony left. This week we will have the benfit of someone flying in from the national staff to hel clean up our eternally mess books.

Between the overtime and the Becker CPA review I was unable to get in much jogging. The weather has been hot and humid so I do not have too much regret. This extended hot period has speeded the wilting demise of a nearby rose garden. I will now have to wait a whole year before that luscious fragrance wafts my way. I did visit the garden patch of friends from 7A, Ralph and Maureen, as as the farmers market confirmed, string beans are ready to be harvested.

Ralph and Maureen, slong with other 7A occupants Steve and Hall, had a barbecue picnic yesterday along the lake front that was lots of fun and the proximate cause of the schedule change of my letter writing. Though I did not meet any partlcularly inspirational women, I now at least know the new single women who dwell in our building. I was one of the few participants not to play volleyball.

My pleasure reading for the week consisted of Tadeusz Borowski's short Story collection This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. A Polish national who took his own life in 1951, he writes of the camps in a sensitive non-Jewish perspective. All the current books from the library that I desire always seem to be checked out. Thurs. night I will be checking out my favorite book sale at the Evan Pub Lib. My casette library now includes a dozen tapes of music off the radio from WNUR as I gradually record over my "period piece"
I am wincing along with the Israelis as Menachim takes off the constraints on his pre-emptive raids and the death toll mounts. I trust he will not fail to differentiate between the appropriate tactics of his underground revolutionary days and the mandate of a parliamentary majority of a sovereign state. Be well.


July 26, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings and salutations. Per usual I trust that this communication finds you in the best of health and spirits. The heat wave seems to have broken here so days are cooler and more pleasant. How are you?

The past week was fairly eventful, educating and at time fun. My work week was only 44 hours as I had evening classes and cultural and social events to occupy my late PMs. From Mon to Thurs Ken Poticelli, the assistant to the HHL national controller and a junior in Acctg at Hofstra (age 21), was in the accounting office to clean up assorted receivables and payables. His pace and diligence were truly inspirational as he worked for three days from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM with scarcely a supper break. I suppose we are back on a manageable keel though I still remain the sole staff in, by comparison with other branch offices, a three person department. Barry is not rushing to choose my supervisor. I am still accelerating in my growth of knowledge about the firm's business. I get my snippets of peace and freedom when Barry is not sharing the space with me.

The week had many highlights otherwise. Thurs night was the long-awaited EPL quarterly book sale. I purchased approx. 100 paperbacks (and including a hardcover Brownmiller tract for $3) for $25. Now the only problem in my equation of literary philanthropy is that people, in particular female acquaintances, seem to be increasingly illiterate or at least anti-intellectual.

Thurs. night I also escorted Susan Dass(?) to the 10th anniversary party at Faces, a private disco to which I belong. The affair was glittery and mildly amusing, my company being less so. Susan appears to have "transcended" Zionism and even the act of reading. I am. afraid that it was not Graduate school, as she professes, that made her "dull and boring."

Fri. night I attended a concert for which I had won tickets on WNUR. The show was The Waitresses at the Park West. Opening was Eddie and the Squares, a basic Chicago Italian-Rockabilly-60s-cover-band. My company was Casey Crabtree, a WNUR DJ and NU junior from Fairview Park, OH. . Alas she also proved to be boring and contemptuous company. The Waitresses are composed of a female lead vocalist and bassist and males on lead guitar, sax, keyboard and drums, an arrangement reminiscent of many London Reggae bands. Their exciting aspect is the degree to which the songwriting team of the female vocalist and male lead guitarist trade lines of enduring value.
Lennon & McCartney they are not, but the female-male dialog is an underdeveloped aspect of r&r lyrics. The female lead was impressive in her own right.

Yesterday morning at the farmer's market was the first arrival of this year's real tomatoes; those grown within the confines of a human system and whose taste has consequently not yet been stolen. Other vegetables are arriving and the berries are almost gone for the year.

Fri. also marked the commencement of Evanston's annual World's Largest Garage Sale. It took place 1 block from work so I cruised through at the opening and extended my ego to include some 10 assorted paperbacks. 3 pieces of green glass and other small items. Be well.

August 9, 1981

Dear Family,

Greetings from a contented Evanstonian. I trust you have had some dreams
come true this week or at the least experienced good health.

Yes, the above rings true. I passed Theory only, failing Auditing and Law by 7 and 8 points. respectively. The Theory section was most important to me of the three because of its transferability to Israel, so I am currently redundently enrolled in a Backer Review course. I am eligible for a 90% refund. I am plodding through the Practice section (on which I scored a 43) and doing my homework. To date I am satisfied.

The results were heartening enough to get my personal and professional calendars and clock back into motion. Oct 1 is when my lease is up and pending no new professional (public accounting) information my last expected day here. With an accounting related job and enhanced educational qualifications my resume is worth rewriting. The first order of business is one last calculated mass mailing to Big 8 CPA firms. This. round I I will try the growth locations of LA, SD, Dal, Hou Px, Denver and Sacramento.

Not expecting anything to come of this effort, I am prepared to follow Yehudit's footsteps at H&H in J'm. A preliminary Ulpan at Arad seems to be the recommended route. The first quarterly commencemnet date of the five month program after the November CPA Exam is 1/26/82. I am hopefully to meet with Chicago'g part-time Sheliach next Thurs to commence my enrollment procedure.

Hayt_Hayt & Landau continues. This past week was the first or my new supervisor, Susan Gilepsie. She spent her life in Nashville and arrived here recently with her medical intern husband who is from suburban Chi. Women are the logical employees for HHL and with Susan’s appointment, only 2 of 9 supervisors and mgrs are men. The men are both in collection where the more threatening male volce is helpful when threatening and deliverIng the wage garnishment or arrest warrant. I am confident I will be replaced by a woman. Career growth is limited and partners Barry and Martin (particularly) have ego problems most men could not take for long. The pay is minimal. Employee turnover is high. I will pass on the company picnic Aug. 30
This weekend I became engrossed in Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation by Philip Norman starting it Fri. night and staying up all night to read. Today r finished it; Their creative and productive group decline is similar to Dylan's. Once they stopped being angry young men, especially John, the handwriting was on the wall. Love and marriage do not seem to come without their cost. Linda Eastman (Paul's wife) pre-Christianized family name was Epstein. .

I have treated my self to two new albums: “Wha’happenin” by the Beat and "Pirates" by Rick1e Lee Jones both of which have a cool pleasant texture of reggae and jazz.respectively.

Mitch will be moving to Oak Park this month and it could occur shortly. He is moving closer to work and the ed program he starts in the fall. I wish him luck and speed in acquiring the motivation and discipline that his future will require. We await Doron's return from Queens to decide among the interested applicants for the room.