it could have been pickles.

1/11/2011

Martin Lieberson, my dad passed on Friday morning. He was the son of Russian immigrants. His father, Ben often spoke of East Broadway and the surrounding streets. This neighborhood was important to Ben and must have played a role in shaping young Martin’s personality. So, it is fitting we return to these streets, his roots for this farewell. Today is also the birthday of my uncle Will, my dad’s dear departed brother.

Ben and Rose spoke Yiddish and at least some Russian. They adopted an all-English/ American language household with their children. They wanted the American dream for their family: leave the old languages, the old ways, the old world. Go for the new, the better.

Martin Lieberson, Martin R. Lieberson – he gave himself the middle name Roger – after the baseball great, Roger Hornsby. Dad loved sports. He played baseball, was a boxer, ran track – a fast sprinter, took up tennis and golf after he tore his knee. He wore a brace for years. Dad swam, bowled, played ping pong and rowed. He taught me to be in good shape, to recover from injury, illness… get through it with a brace until you can do it on your own.

The Great Depression formed dad’s character.

If you’re wrong, don’t be loud about it, he often said. Maybe his self-questioning is why dad never published his strong opinions. I wish I had learned that lesson better.

My dad was a man of his times. The Great Depression colored everything about him. The Works Progress Administration, a social conscience. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His conservative lifestyle was based on those times. His mother, Rose always worrying they would not have enough, yet Rose, who sang accompanied by a player piano and was, in her youth, a shoe model, had hopes of bringing her family to better times. She loved opera. After a day working the laundry store she and Ben owned, sometimes went with her husband to the Metropolitan Opera. Rose wanted better for her children, Will and Martin, for herself and her husband. They moved into a building they could barely afford, then found a way to afford it. Ben was a hard worker. That inspired my dad. Ben started out, a teenage immigrant, working in a hat factory. Depending on who is telling the story, the type of factory varied… it could have been pickles.

Ben saved his small salary until he bought that little laundry. Then he got a bunch of owners of laundries together to buy a laundry factory. Dad managed that factory, Lomac. Though dad was a writer, he did what he had to do to support his family. My sister had just been born. I was in first grade when dad tried to sell the factory, get back to writing, editing, the career he knew best.

Lomac, none-the-less helped mold dad’s character. The experience solidified dad’s belief that the working man deserved more. He was friendly with the workers. Dad was a union supporter, though he never belonged to a union. 

Martin wrote comic books, radio comedy, edited muscle magazines, published comic books, drew cartoons, he had with his brother, a play on Broadway – for one performance. Doors were opened for him by his brother. Those doors opened; dad worked hard.

Frank Church, The Hudson River School, De Chirico, Rothko, de Kooning, Gershwin, Copland, Bernstein, Barber, Verdi, Puccini, Menotti, Man of La Mancha, Toscanini, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Brahms… he listened to the classics with me on summer evenings in the Catskills, gazing at the stars after a day of sports with me, golf, swimming, tennis. He loved Sibelius, the deep tones of Brahms music, the cello, bassoon, all great opera voices.

Dad taught me many things: how to enjoy life – in moderation, how to be responsible, how to put high standards into action.

Dad wanted to be known as a good person. He was good in many ways. His love of nature and the arts deepened my life and gave meaning to my world.

Martin Lieberson was a good father, husband, brother, son. He was an inspiration and a challenge to me. He showed his love and was generous in many ways. Dad was passionate about social equality and justice. Fairness in society was a goal he wrote and spoke about.

Dad was a focused man. Even when, in his last years with his mental powers decreasing, he remained disciplined in his diet, exercise and mental concentration. He would often say, “The main thing is…” He remembered what had to be done next. As dad would say, “The main thing is now – and forever – for all of us to endeavor to make the world a more peaceful, safer, better place.”

To honor dad’s memory, do something that helps those in need, supports the arts or in any way makes the world a better place.

Our warmest thanks for your supporting us and honoring Martin R. Lieberson.