My grandfather represented a significant group of self-taught Jewish intellectuals bred in the poverty and virulent anti-Semitism of Eastern Europe.

Grandmother Werlin had to perform all the chores of rural life required to raise a family.

Despite the uphill battle of educating himself, my father ultimately earned a Ph.D. at the university of Chicago at the height of the great depression. Dad was a founding professor at the University of Houston and chairman of their sociology department.

My mother was the first woman to head the publicity department of a major city, Galveston, Texas. She was a pioneering journalist. In the course of her career she interviewed Golda Meir, Jack Dempsey, and Al Capone.

For me friendships are the ultimate scoreboard in evaluating a person’s success.

While not long enough, Eloise and I were married for 40 years. She was indeed a very special person.