Arthur Spiegelman

Following is a quick wrap of Arthur’s funeral service on Tuesday, December 23, 2008.

The service was at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City near Los Angeles, which is surrounded by a hilly cemetery (Al Jolson is buried there). About 150 people attended amid a lot of tears and a lot of laughter as they paid their respects to Charlotte, sons Michael and Adam, daughter-in-law Karen, granddaughter Molly Mae and brother Marvin. Most Reuter staff came from the Los Angeles bureau. Betty Wong, global managing editor, and Evelyn Leopold, former Reuters UN chief correspondent, flew in from New York and Kevin Krolicki, former LA bureau chief, came from Detroit where he is now bureau chief. (Charlotte intends to hold a memorial in New York, at a time and place not yet decided.)

Highlights from the service in order of the eulogies:

Rabbi John Rosove read at length from Belinda Goldsmith’s tribute on Arthur’s career, including quotes from David Schlesinger, Bernd Debusmann and Bernie Woodall. He also spoke of a little known event in Arthur’s life when he was 9 years old. “He, his young brother Marvin, and mother Hannah were walking in the Bronx one Shavuot day and Hannah was fatally struck by a car. Arthur’s leg was badly injured and spent the next three months in a hospital. His doctor wanted to amputate, but Arthur’s father wouldn’t hear of it and did everything he could to successfully save his son’s leg.” The full text is attached.

Evelyn Leopold: “Arthur has been part of my life since The (Bergen) Record days. Charlotte was still Charlotte Alter, as wonderful then as she is now, and Michael and Adam were not yet in sight. He paved the way for my joining him at Reuters in London...

“A poet once said, We are the dreamers of dreams... Yet we are the movers and shakers.’ Arthur dreamt big, lived his dreams and made us laugh and cry at the words he used to shed light on the pleasures and sorrows of the world. We heard his voice, his laughter. We miss his warmth, friendship, wonderful sense of humor and never-ending quest for answers. We are blessed for having known him...”

Bernie Woodall (Reuters LA bureau who visited the Spiegelman household throughout Arthur’s illness)

“Arthur is gone but he lives on in his friends and his family - his wife of 42 years Charlotte, his sons Michael and Adam, his daughter-in-law Karen, his 14-month-old granddaughter, Molly Mae... I’d say that Michael’s and Adam’s kindness and humor are in large part derived from our dear friend Arthur.

“We can’t be Arthur. We surely won’t be able to write like him. But if we remember him, he can help us be better people. Write a better story. Put more passion into a letter. Be the one people are happy to see. Be kind.”

Sam Hall Kaplan (journalist, author). Sam first met Arthur while he was at the Bergen Record in the 1960s. Sam was then at the New York Times and recommended they hire Arthur. “He had street smarts... He sang even then as did his copy... The Times then made it clear it wanted Jews who may have thought Yiddish - as I did - but looked British. It was their loss and subsequently Reuters’ gain.” Sam met Arthur again years later in LA, hung out in his office “to score a book or two and laugh and laugh and laugh.” ... “He really had a sharp pencil, a sharp tongue, a sharp mind... You had to like him... a mensch.”

Larry Klingman (film producer). “You don’t cry in baseball and you are not supposed to cry in journalism. What I observed here is laughter. And it wasn’t the kind of laughter when you don’t know what to say and what to do. It was the kind of laughter that reflects Arthur... Arthur lit up the room... “I held on to Arthur on his way out... and I whispered one last joke, one last bad joke, and asked him to share it on his journey... Arthur opened his eyes and looked deeply into my eyes: ‘Are you kidding. That is the worst joke you have every shared with me’.”

Richard Dysek (actor who played Leland McKenzie on LA Law) who met him three or four years ago along with his artist wife, Kathryn Jacobi. He attributed the Yiddish-British line to Arthur and said Arthur gave it in response to a question from a young journalist. “What is important,” Arthur said, “Dress British think Yiddish”... “He was one of a kind. There was a man.”

At the end of the ceremony, Rabbi Rosove noted that everyone had stories about Arthur that made them laugh. He suggested that they be sent to Charlotte at charlotte520@mac.com (Address is 520 N. Fuller Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036). In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Sova Food Pantry www.jfsla.org/sova/index.php.

Many of us then went to the Spiegelman residence where food was delivered in large quantities, starting with a load from Mary Miliken, LA bureau chief, and baskets from Zabar’s in New York.

Rabbi Anne Brener, a psychotherapist and friend of Charlotte (who is a clinical social worker), presided over the Shivah (Jewish mourning service). She said: Arthur died at the beginning of Chanukah, the time of the winter’s solstice, the darkest time of the year. She encouraged Charlotte and the family to allow the seasons, with their slowly increasing light to comfort and guide them as they move from this darkness toward a brighter future. “By binding themselves to the natural world, it is my hope that they will find consolation and hope.” ■