personal – Page 14 – Lorin Duckman Today

Anita Perlmutter, Dead at Almost 99

So, I was going to shoot older members of Temple Anshei Shalom, people who no longer could make it to pray, but were instrumental in the building of the congregation. No much of an interest from anyone.

I pursued Anita for a couple of months. She was ill. She didn’t feel well. She had a therapy appointment. Her hairdresser was away. Then I got my chance.

We talked. She liked my new camera, telling me her husband had a Leica. We shot for five minutes after she finished breakfast. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to sleep or do the crossword puzzle.

I asked her how it felt to be 99? “You can be too old,” she said.

Two weeks later, she died. Two days short of her 99th birthday.

GUSSIE, almost 100

So, I am walking out of a diner and I see this beautiful woman with her home care worker. I ask if I can take her picture. The home care worker says yes. She tells me the woman’s name is Gussie and she will be 100 in a week.

I take a picture with the home care attendant.

Then the daughter appears. I take another picture. The daughter asks me if I will come to the birthday party and take pictures. I say no, I don’t do events, but if you come to my studio, I will make portrait and give you a print at no charge.

I give the daughter my card. I tell her if she sends me an e-mail with an address, I will send her a print and a digital file for no money. Haven’t heard from her. And, don’t know her name.

Maybe it’s the time. She might think I am some kind of nut. Who after all would want to make portraits of old women?

Constitutional Reverence

Norman Frajman, Survivor

So, Norman isn’t the first survivor I have met or photographed. His willingness to speak about the experience, along with his eloquence, was new. He shares his story tirelessly with groups in the Palm Beach County area in hopes of keeping the memories of the dead alive. Those who hear him and see his mementos must feel as touched as I did.

How he survived is not so important. Those who lived through the hell of the Holocaust all have a tale. He cannot explain why he survived and others didn’t, except to say it was an act of providence. The violence and hatred he saw is unimaginable. That he and others can live without overbearing pain and paralysis makes him and his fellow survivors super human. That is important.

But, what is more important is that we never forget them and that the carnage will never be repeated.

Sara Palin Visage

Thanks to Fox news for this shot. Even they know what a fool she is and what an idiot she is. Otherwise they would have published an image that made her look less nuts.

Let us not forget that she ran for Vice-President on the Republican ticket with John McCain who, this week, has also distinguished himself, again as Republican scum. It they were elected, McCain would have been outed as the mean spirited fool that he is, forced to resign and she would have gotten the codes.

Palin called my President, a man whom I respect dearly, a “special kind of stupid.” She’s so stupid, she wouldn’t know stupid, even if she paid attention to what she, herself, says which even the most stupid and uneducated know is ridiculous. And, anyone who listens to her or has her support is also stupid as are those who support someone whom she supports, like trumpoli, is also stupid.

But, here is a problem for you to solve. Ever watch “After Midnight?” They take photos and ask the panelists, comedians, to answer questions about the image, sometimes giving choices. Your chance.

Sarah Palin has this look on her face, because:

(1) Donald Trump has his finger up her ass?

(2) Marco Rubio has a finger up her ass?

(3) Ben Carson has a finger up her ass?

(4) She took an AK-47 on a hunting trip and her husband, Todd, asked her what the hell she was doing in the woods of Alaska, hunting moose, with a weapon designed to kill people on the battlefield.

Pulse

Michael Marden, Survivor

Michael Marden, 91, survived 9 concentration camps. Freed from Bergen Belsen, he went to Sweden and then the United States. He hold three patents, has grand-children and great grand-children. And he loves his life, except for not being able to have a daily hit of schnapps.

Grandson Brian is in 11th grade. Has a photo business. Shoots bar mitzvahs, school evens and whatever. And he loves grandpa.

Minyan Image Hung on Wall at Temple Anshei Shalom

I made this image as a prayer aid, something to take the minyanim to a higher level. My talit, worn at my Bar Mitzvah, given to me by my father. My kappa, swiped from a box somewhere, bearing the name of some people whom I don’t know who gave it to people who attended their wedding. Tefillin from Sholem Lipskar who presides in Bal Harbor, whom I have not seen for years. He thought we were related and deserted me during my assassination. The prayer book is from a Rabbi I knew in MA. It belonged to his grandfather. It is open to the page we all read when we put on the boxes. Today, they hung it in the little sanctuary at Anshei Sholem where we belong.

I made all the light in the image in a studio. It’s artificial. Only God makes light. He did that first so we could observe the wonder of his creation.

May we all, this shabbos, use that light to see clearly, focused on human rights and justice, loving our families and communities and making the best of our short time hear on earth.

Why War

We stood in mourning at the American Cemetery with people from all over the world. All came knowing the dead even if we weren’t related by anything other than our sadness. Kids mostly lie at rest. Carerra marble stones don’t have dates or places of birth. The dead came from somewhere in the US. Had mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. Deprived of their life for no reason other than their desire to stop the madness and mayhem of State murder, all believing they were doing right for the right reasons. Many of their brothers lie else where, closer to home. We felt them, too.

There is silence in the place, people in the graves have muffled voices. I wanted to unearth the remains, hug the bodies and say thanks. But when I went with the group and saw this statue, my eyes dried a bit and my heart filled with rage. I looked at the figure and it said to me, arms and voice raised, “WHY WAR.”