Please forgive the personal indulgence that follows.
Leonard Siegel died last night in a Florida hospital at the age of 79. If you are fretting about why you’ve never heard of him or opening a browser window to google him, relax. He was my grandfather.
If a novelist were trying to invent a character as the focal-point of a sweeping historical novel about Twentieth Century America, he would invent someone like Leonard Siegel. Grandpa Leonard lost his father in a botched holdup during the height of the Depression, moved from New York City to Dallas, Texas when his mother remarried, and experienced extraordinary anti-semitism (and observed extraordinary racism) from the pre-World War II Texas Establishment. He was accepted to Harvard and other leading American universities, but turned down those schools to attend his hometown University when wartime travel restrictions and his mother’s illness made going to school out of state impossible. He married a woman whose immediate family had fled Nazi-occupied Austria, leaving behind many close relatives. For the bulk of his adult life, he managed a thriving domestic textile manufacturer that was gradually worn down and ultimately forced out of business by shifts in the global economy.
Through these history-laden travails, he not only persevered but also prospered. Orphaned in his twenties, he raised four children and is survived by those children, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He traveled the world, lived in fabulous houses and apartments that he always seemed to buy right before they became ridiculously expensive, and befriended the famous and talented wherever he went. Every organization he ever joined offered him a seat on its board, usually within two or three years. (In some ways, he always has reminded me–in a smaller scale and in a more private way–of the acclaimed newsman and legendary bon vivant Johnny Apple, who passed earlier this year.)
Grandpa Leonard read voraciously and thought about the world deeply. He was the single member of my family who best understood what I do for a living. Though he was neither a lawyer nor an academic, I have no doubt that if he were to have sat in on law school job talks or faculty colloquia, his comments and questions would have been among the most insightful in the room.
Myself, my friends, and my colleagues are bright people with tons of graduate degrees but the wisdom that Grandpa Leonard possessed was different, the result of raw intelligence shaped in the cauldron of history. That kind of wisdom is hard to find today. I will miss it and will miss him.
Posted by amsiegel on November 6, 2006 at 11:24 AM
Comments
I met your grandfather about 25 years ago. I did a very little bit of business with Anglo Fabrics at first. The fabrics were too good and too expensive for our moderate dress line. Then years later when I went into my own business and made better garments I was able to use the better woolens. It was interesting dealing with Leonard and David. Nice honorable people with a fine product. But could I see the garments at the price i had to charge. I sold some. Sometimes I could give then a decent order. That made me feel good. However, over the last 6 years I really got to know Leonard. What I remember is his knowledge of soo many subjects. I could talk sports, politics, business, everything. Bright and with a different point of view than the typical person. Another thing that I think of is his relationships with all different kinds of people. From the hi brow to the low brow to everyone. They all liked him – no loved him. He had a way about people. And that doesnt mean he was easy with them. He had his demands but he did it in a special way that people loved being with him and doing things for him. I never played golf with him though he road around in the cart a few times while David and I played. That was fun for all of us. I know that his family and the entire world is going to miss his insights and his quirks. He was tough but he was fair and a fascinating person to be with. i will miss him too. Denis Eagle
Posted by: denis eagle | Nov 16, 2006 9:52:02 PM
Hi Andrew, I only met your Grandfather a few times, but I liked him a lot. You are on the mark about his accumen and wisdom. When he talked with your father and I about our business he always asked the right questions and gave us good advice. However, beyond all that he was a likable, engaging and gracious man. One evening when he and your Grandmother were in NYC, your parents and I took them out to dinner. My then 16 year old daughter came along as well and I was surprised to see your Grandfather manage to engage her in a rather adult conversation. Take it from me, no mean feat. He was a realy nice man. I’m very sorry for your loss.
Posted by: Leonard Rutkowitz | Nov 6, 2006 10:28:53 PM
Your grandfather sounds like an extraordinary man. I’m sorry for your loss.
Posted by: Miriam Cherry | Nov 6, 2006 7:25:03 PM
Thanks for posting this, Andrew. My condolences.
Posted by: Orin Kerr | Nov 6, 2006 3:20:08 PM