Page 271 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Reminiscences

primped up because a man was coming for dinner. The three of us
had dinner together and the two of them talked about old times.
Then, late in 1963, our cousin, Leah Cohen Degnan, came from New
York on a visit. Helen and I gave a party for Leah, and Abe came,
and again we were very much flattered that he wanted to come. As
usual, in a large group, he just sat back and listened to everyone; I
don’t know how well he was at that time. He also gave Leah a piece
of sculpture while she was here.
When he became ill with emphysema, I used to go down to the
nursing home on La Cienega to see him. On one evening in
particular, it was in the summer of 1964, I remember him there, lying
on his bed: he was quite ill, having trouble breathing. And that was
the last time I saw him. I remember going to the memorial service
afterward.
Abe philosophized a lot. There was a lot of negativism in him; he
was a very cynical man. But in order to be cynical, you have to be a
thinking person. He was very much against organized religion, but he
was very well-versed in the Jewish religion, in Judaica. And he had
very rigid standards of human behavior, what was acceptable and
what was not. He liked a good argument—but he didn’t argue with
me: I don’t think I knew enough to argue with him!

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