We created this website so that our Dad's friends, relatives and acquaintances can share condolences, stories, roasts, whatever about the incomparable Nat Lehrman. (Tributes can be added below; photos can be added to the Gallery tab above; and longer stories to the Stories tab above.). We look forward to reading your contributions. See the Stories tab above for several articles written by my Dad. They capture some of his wit and sense of humor.
Tributes
Leave a tributeMuch love to the children!
Marge and Judy
Speaking of taxi cab drivers, I was surprised to hear that my Dad thought he didn't have the nerve to not tip an errant cab driver. One of my most enduring memories of him was on my first trip to Paris. Our family had gotten in a cab to go to dinner. The cab ride was supposed to be five minutes from our hotel. An hour later, after having seen most of Paris, we arrived at the restaurant, with a hefty fare now showing on the meter. My Dad got to prove to us that he really was fluent in French by vehemently arguing with the cab driver for a full ten minutes! True to his character, I think he was pretty good at cussing in French.
I also have fond memories of you practicing the cello at our house before Juilliard Quartet concerts. I was in high school at the time and I still remember you commenting that it was nice to see a teenager enjoying a normal life of friends, parties, tennis, etc. because you had spent most of your youth practicing. I think I cherished my teen years a bit more because of your remark. Your practice sessions, and the concerts at Orchestra Hall that you invited us all to, were my introduction to chamber music. At the time, the Quartet was working through the Beethoven quartets. I remember sitting in the front row right under you and thinking, quartet music is intense! In later years, at one of your concerts at the Library of Congress, I was able to discover through Schubert and others that quartet music can be pleasant as well.
Looking back on the house my parents kept at Junior Terrace in Chicago, it was a special place. We had visitors from all walks of life: you and the Quartet; pianist Etsko Tazaki, who I believe introduced you to us; cousin Bobby in his days working for the Governor of Illinois; Al Goldstein, the publisher of Screw magazine; Masters and Johnson, who seemed like a fuddy/duddy old couple until I recently saw the Showtime series about them; author Gay Talese; liberal Chicago lawyers; the head of the ACLU; an arch conservative Chicago super-lawyer; Mike Alexandroff, the president of Columbia College; and of course my Dad's many colleagues from Playboy. And many others whom I have missed.
Speaking of Playboy, the death of Hugh Hefner in September brought back lots of memories of my Dad. There was a lot of intellectual ferment and political and cultural upheaval going on in those years, and Playboy was at the center of a lot of it. I still like to rewatch from time to time the movie, "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel." My Dad is quoted at some length in the movie.
I remember once telling Nat that I had had an unwilling and disagreeable Chicago cab driver, who resisted my carefully learned and repeated directions from OHare to their home, and then got lost for what seemed like an interminable time. I sounded disgruntled telling it, so Nat asked me if I tipped the driver. And I said, "No, I did not. And Nat's response was, "Nothing? I wouldn't have had the nerve!"
And I remember how amused he was to hear that the backstage people at Orchestra Hall were urging us to play encores, so they could get 'overtime.'
I played some Bach Suites for Nat, on a rare free day, after a Chicago concert, and shared some of the original articulations with him. I think I didn't do it very well, but he was not impressed by how complicated the articulations sounded.
I will remember always how warmly he welcomed my wife, Dinah (now of almost 35 years) into my life. On some of their visits to Tanglewood, where I was teaching, Dinah and I played doubles with Nat and Kaz. I think they always won.
But mostly it was the dear conversations on any and every thing that I will remember, and Nat's gentle, humorous smiles during them.
Judy Gee and Marge
Much love - Leonard J. Lehrman
As a recent college graduate in the mid-70s armed with a degree in English, I returned to my hometown of Chicago with little idea of what I was going to do next. I was working at Stuart Brent Books while trying to sort out my options and figure out if I could afford film or journalist school when a frequent customer--an NPR host--informed me that Oui Magazine was hiring. I called Oui, mentioned my referral to Nat's secretary and was able to get an interview with him. Nat requested that I bring writing samples, preferably something dealing with sexuality. So, after looking through my non-sexy collection of college English papers, I was elated to find one that I thought would be perfect: a graduate seminar final on "Comedy and Sexuality in the Narcissus Chapter of (Joyce's) Ulysses" for which I had received an A+. When I met with Nat and proudly showed him the paper, he smiled broadly, chuckled and with almost parental kindness said: "That's not what I had in mind."
While I wasn't going to get hired at Oui, Nat, nonetheless, mentioned that there might be a position at Playboy and referred me to the Interview editor, G. Barry Golson. I ended up working as an Editorial Assistant at Playboy for five years and from there went on to work for Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company, parent company of MTV, Nickelodeon and The Movie Channel and then Showtime. I would have never gotten the interview with W.A.S.E.C. without my tenure at Playboy and I would never have worked at Playboy were it not for Nat's referral.
I ran into Nat years later and spoke with him briefly, but I don't think I ever thanked him for his role in shaping my career. I wish I had, but I'm certain he knows how many people's lives he touched.
Kindest regards, Fred B. Tarter (ftarter@lakesideglobal.com)
I will miss Nat very much. My wife, Terry, and I had visited Nat in Florida on several occasions and had intended to make another visit this Spring. Sadly, Nat will not be there to greet us.
Looking back over a long career in journalism, I regard Nat Lehrman as the best boss I ever had. In addition to being well read and super smart, he was firm, fair and funny, a wonderful combination--and he was an excellent judge of people. When contemplating new hires, there were lots of us who felt more secure if Nat was part of the interviewing process.
He and I were having lunch at the Ontario House in Chicago when the news came out that President Kennedy had been shot. Also at the table were Shelly Wax, Murray Fisher and Jack Sharkey. They’re all gone now; I’m the last man standing.
Good bye, old friend, you are missed.
We loved Nat over the many, many years that we were fortunate in
knowing him,and following his career with deep interest and respect.
Our first close contact with him was in 1948 when we were planning our trip to Kansas on Nucky's army orders. We visited Nat at the AAA
office where he was then working and he organized our trip so that it
became an adventure instead of a chore.
In 1966, when we were coming home from our cross-country trip with our children, he and his wonderful wife, Koz, gave us a royal welcome when we stopped at their home in Chicago. There were many other happy meetings over the years, The last time we saw Nat was at the party Peppy gave for her 101st birthday at a fancy Chinese restaurant,
where we had the pleasure of meeting Jean, Nat's faithful companion of his later years.
The coincidence of Nat's and Nucky's names (outside the family, Nucky is called Nat) produced some comical incidents. Nucky's nubile young secretary, who had typed some of his articles on sex, exclaimed to him, on seeing Nat's name on the Playboy masthead, "You do that too?" Well, no, but the "other Nat Lehrman," as Nat liked to identify
himself when he called here, did many things, from writing thoughtul
articles for Playboy to teaching journalism to inner city kids at
Chicago's Columbia College.
We will miss Nat - an outstanding human being and a good friend.
Saul lapidus
He turned me on to great literature, classical, jazz, folk music, foreign films, and many other things; and best of all, the Marx Brothers and Abbot and Costello.
He taught me to do funny routines when I could barely talk, with him being my straight man. Sometimes he would say, "Hey Marvin, is that a banana in your ear?" And I answered, "I can't hear you, I have a banana in my ear."
We laughed our way through my childhood.
He shared of himself generously and unstintingly.
He brightly illuminated everywhere he went.
I'll be 77 soon, but I will fondly think of myself as Nat's "little bro" (as he affectionately called me) until the day I die.
Here's lookin' at you, Big Bro.
You are/were such an inspiration...I loved your insights to life...your humor...kindness and respect for people and their opinions even if opposing yours...God Sped My Good Friend...see you on the other side...tell Kos Hello...John Tosarello
Love from Jim and Esther Heitler
From the moment I met him I instantly liked him. What was not to like. He had this quiet dry sense of humor that would crack me up. I once accused him of being the guy who wrote the playmate’s “I love fuzzy puppies and walks on the beach.” He denied this, but did confess to occasionally writing in the playboy forum, which explains why there are so many sexually screwed up people in our generation!
For a long time we were like the four stooges, Nat, Saul, Jules and Ben. Three Jews and the goy. They decided at one point that I should convert, so they gave me a bar
mitzvah. Instead of a fountain pen, as is custom, I got a ball point pen purloined from a Holiday Inn. They thought that very funny.
As a snow bird I kept in touch by email over the summer. I bought a book of common yiddish insults to add to every email and Nat would return them with my grammar corrected. When Saul and I decided that the Landings needed a real newspaper, we conned Nutka into being both our editor and publisher. One article he helped me with was about a recurring dream I had. I was standing on a train platform with Saul in Tel Aviv and Nat turns to me and says, “Pardon me goy, is that the Be er Sheva choo choo?” I reply, “Yes, track twenty nine”, and then I run out to buy Glen Miller records. He thought, no he really knew, we were nuts, but helped us as long as we didn’t tell anyone he was involved.
Nat loved tennis, but wasn’t exactly Roger Federer. We had a couples group that played once a week and poor Kaz never quite knew where or what Nat was going to do. It was as much fun watching her shake her head and roll her eyes as it was to play the game. They were a great couple and I think fondly of those good times.
Spiritually I’m a dualist. Body and soul are two distinct entities. It’s like living in and then vacating a house. The house may crumble, but the soul lives on. I will miss Nat, but know in my heart that somewhere out there two kind and gentle souls have once again found one another.
Ben Mayne
Will send word to the whole Lehrman family from my email account - lehrmanfamilyreunion@gmail.com - later today.
I know my parents have many photos, and we all have many stories
to be shared.
Much love - Leonard (& Helene) Lehrman
Leave a Tribute
Please be patient.
Please be patient.
Playboy
It's weird how their opinions greatly differ from the general tone of the comments here.
You may want to watch it.
msg sent to family 2/11/14, posted here now
I shall always remember him as one of my favorite cousins: the man who
dared to interview & spar with Germaine Greer; the author of the
best-selling "Masters & Johson Explained"; the anonymous Playboy
Advisor of so many years, who gave reasonable, earthy, Jewish-rooted
advice about sex long before Dr. Ruth made it mainstream. Visits to
his & Kazuko's place in Chicago, in 1966 after a Grand Western Tour,
in 1970 and 1975 en route to Madison WI for Blitzstein research, and
in 1978, while on tour with the Met, were unforgettable. I remember
writing to him in admiration while a student at Harvard in the late
1960s, and having him respond, putting himself down as "Old Uncle Nat
at the Tit Factory." I also remember him telling me and my Uncle
Edgar he would finance an opera we were writing together "if the
characters f--k on stage." Edgar blushed. I took him up on it -
though the coitus takes place in a blackout between Act II Scenes 3 &
4 (see <http://www.ljlehrman.artists-in-residence.com/Sima.html>) so I
guess that didn't count!
Anyhow, he will be sorely, and forever, missed. - Leonard J. Lehrman