And most impressively, when Shooster’s Restaurant was sold and Herman was at a real juncture in his life, Dora offered to pay for him to attend medical school to become a doctor. Herman had pre-med training before the war and then he was a medic during World War II, so this was not a far-fetched offer. Herman and I had already struggled for five years and medical school would have meant anoth- er eight years of hardship while raising our kids. We couldn’t see how it would work. So, although the offer wasn’t accepted, think of the sacrifice this woman was willing to make for her child. Dora was no skinflint, she was generous to a fault. You never know how important decisions are going to work out. All you can do is do your best. They say if things work out you made the right decision. In that case, we did.
VALLEY OF THE DOLLS Once I was in New York City with Herman, my brother, Marvin and his wife, Fran. We were eating in a Chinese restaurant when who should walk in but Jaqueline Susann who had written a scandalous best seller called, The Valley of the Dolls. She was with her husband who was also her manager. Both were dressed in denims and she had no makeup on her face. Back in Cherry Hill I woke in the middle of the night with a strong sensation that if this ordinary looking woman, Jacqueline Susann, could write a book so could I. I woke Herman and told him I wanted to write a book. What will you write about, he asked. I thought about it and realized that Nana Dora always told me wonderful stories. How about Dora as a subject? Herman told me to get a tape recorder, go to her house and start recording her stories. The next day I did just that.
Frank, Wendy, Dorothy, Michael, Dora, Stephen
207
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator