Page 270 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Reminiscences

prepared a list for him, to tell him where everything was after she was
gone. It wasn’t until Fannie died that I really had any direct
conversations with him. I used to go visit him when he was living
alone on Figueroa. He was always very appreciative, and would load
me down with fruits and vegetables and flowers to take home.
It was before Fannie died that Abe began carving coconut husks. I
remember coming in the kitchen and seeing a whole shelf of them;
they were arranged in steps, smaller to larger, and seemed quite ugly
to me at the time. I know they drove Fannie crazy. But he was getting
a great deal of pleasure out of making them. It was almost as if he
had a goal in mind, and this was just a rehearsal for it. If he were just
dabbling to pass the time, he wouldn’t have made so many, and it
seemed that each time he made a new one he tried to improve
himself to some degree.
When he moved to Orange Street, I saw him more often because
he was closer to my neighborhood. I felt that there was a very good
relationship between Abe and his brother Ben—they seemed to like
each other. Abe had an apartment, and his housekeeping wasn’t that
good, but his sculpting was continuing to evolve at that time. I can’t
remember what year he gave me the piece I have but I was very
flattered. I liked Abe, and I think he had a feeling of fondness for
me—perhaps because I was related to Fannie. We used to talk, and I
don’t recall what we talked about, but I think he told me about
himself as a young man, his coming to America. He had a wonderful
collection of books, and he used to show me some books which were
quite old at that time.
In 1960, when my sister Helen and I moved into our present
apartment, we had to get rid of one car. Abe was having trouble with
his old car, so we approached him and asked if he wanted to buy our
Oldsmobile 98. He hesitated, and after some negotiation, we made a
deal and he bought it for seventy-five dollars. I had just put four new
tires on it. Anyway, he started calling me and complaining about it;
and thereafter he made me feel guilty, that I had talked him into
buying the car.
Before that, earlier in 1960, my mother was visiting me in my own
apartment on Willoughby, and I asked Abe over for dinner. Of
course, my mother had known Abe before. She got herself all
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