Leonard

The moment that had the most lasting impression on him took place one day during World War II when his father suddenly laid down his newspaper and said softly, “They’re killing Jews.” Killing Jews meant the Jews of Europe, in many cases our distant family members. There was a real feeling among all the Jews: that could have been me. For kids the age of Leonard and me, that had a strong impact. There also were a lot of whispered conversations in Jewish homes about whether or not Franklin Roosevelt was good for the Jews. He received a lot of criticism in the Jewish community for not bombing the rail lines to the concentration camps; although some people explained that if he did that, there would be complaints that he was more worried about Jews than the war effort. But what it came down to was that Jews were on their own, they were different, and I suspect Leonard felt that at least as much as I did. It was part of our shared heritage.

There was a Yiddish poem written by Itzik Manger that he loved. It’s told by a young boy, who sees a tree “left alone, exposed to the storm.” He decides that he will become a bird and rest on that tree and bring it comfort with his beautiful song. But his mother objects, crying, “Maybe you will freeze to death on the tree.” So she makes him put on winter clothes and boots, a scarf, and a cap, and as a result, “I raise my wings to fly, it is too heavy for me … Her love hasn’t let me become a bird.”

Spock wasn’t simply an alien—he was alienated; the product of two very different civilizations, he didn’t fit comfortably anywhere Note: I know that feeling

What a lesson that was. If you are minimal, then even a small gesture becomes a big deal.

while digging into Van Gogh’s life, he actually discovered some hospital records that indicated the painter had suffered from epilepsy rather than being insane.

Leonard was never a man to back away from a confrontation. He never sought them out, he tried to defuse them, but he did not hold his grievances inside. When he had something to say, even to people with the power to affect his career, he said it to them