by design...

 by design...

             

 When I first met Steve Kahn before the century turned, he was wearing a New York Yankee baseball cap.  We became acquainted when he frequented a business which I was a  part time worker during the summers of my Encore Performance.  He was an almost weekly customer, but I never saw him without that cap or its replacements.  

  The Bronx Bombers logo is what made me notice Mr. Kahn.  

  HUH?  What's up with that? 

  I grew up in a household that revered the Yankee tradition of fielding some of the game's all-time remarkable players.  My dad saw Babe Ruth play and who knows how many other legends.  

 Over several years in the 50s and early 60s, a trip to see the Boys in Pinstripes play the White Sox in Chicago was an annual or every other year event for the George brothers from Indianapolis.  A couple of our dad's friends also made the journey.  Two of my brothers and I rotated invitations, the culmination of which usually ended at George Diamond's Steak House on Wabash Street. 

  This particular summer, it was my turn to go.  I recall just a few things.  It was a hot summer day.  Mickey Mantle hit a home run. Whitey Ford was on the mound for the Yanks.  Moose Skowron and Hank Bauer were in the house and so was Yogi Berra.  

  I was in the stadium too, but I didn't see the home run hit by Mantle, which turned out to be one of those monster, tape measure jobs.   

  It was at the exact moment when Mantle came to bat late in the game that I needed a restroom.  My dad gave me directions and I set off in the largest building imaginable to seek relief.  Comiskey Park seemed cavernous at the time.   

  So, decades later, it was with fond Dad and Yankee memories, I hailed the man wearing a baseball cap with the familiar NY above the bill.  I'm sure speaking to him the first time was merely a Hello, or the usual fall back four word discourse,  Hi, how are you? 

  Many times over the past years, Mr. Kahn and I have crossed paths in a store or similar background.  We've always exchanged pleasantries and recognize each other with a short greeting when we do meet.  

  It was during one of these brief encounters recently when Steve mentioned he had turned 92 and he still enjoys going to work six days a week.  An Encore Performance after retiring is one avenue, but Mr. Kahn was still performing on the main stage and that was intriguing.  We arranged to meet for coffee and an interview.  

  My first questions dealt with his youth.

  Well, I grew up in Long Island with two brothers.  My dad was in the fur business.  I have vivid memories of the war because I was in grammar school when the war started, he reminisced.  My mother joined the Red Cross and drove an ambulance.  My father was an air raid warden during the war and his job was to walk around the neighborhood and make sure everyone had their window shades pulled down if they had lights on in the house.  At that time, we were afraid Germany was going to come over here and bomb us.  

  Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when news of Pearl Harbor got to the mainland?

  Sure I do, he said.  I was in a movie theater with some friends watching a Tyrone Power movie.  When we came out, we found out what happened.  I was 11 years old.  

  What was that time period like for you and your pals?

  For us, it was a great time, Steve said.  Most people remember their younger years as good years and we were no different.  There was a war going on, but so was life.  We had Big Band Music that was great.  We went to record stores to buy the latest Guy Lombardo records, we went to movies.  But, I remember food and gas rationing too.  

  Movie theaters  always have great names all across the country.  What were some of the major movie houses in New York in the 40s?

  The Roxy, The Capitol, Paramount, he rattled off.

  Did you work as a teenager, or were you considered privileged?

  I was definitely a privileged child, but when I was 14, I worked at a day camp in Woodmere on the Island, he told me.  It was for both boys and girls and I put out the bases on the ball diamond, fixed the nets on the tennis courts, set up the targets for archery, things like that.  And, I've worked every summer since then without one summer off...78 years. 

  What about college.  Were you able to go?

  Yes, I did, he responded.  I went to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York and graduated in 1952.

  What did you do after college?

  After I married the first time, I went to work for my wife's family. They were in the textile business, he volunteered.  When my father-in-law passed away in 1974, he left me and his son the business.  Although we were great friends, we didn't make great partners, so we sold the business. 

  That must have been a difficult time.  Did you go to work right away?

  No, I floundered around for a while, he confided.  A stock broker friend of mine said, Come work for me.   So, I did.  I got my license and became a stock broker.

  Did you like that kind of work?

  No, I hated it, he laughed.  I hate asking people for money.  But, one guy I had been after finally said, Okay, here's fifteen thousand dollars, what are you going to do with it?  I really got lucky.  I put his money in a glass company and in three weeks his fifteen thousand became thirty three thousand.  

  How was that lucky for you?

  This guy owned three California Closet franchises in New York and he offered me a job when I told him I didn't like being a stock broker, he revealed.   That was in 1987 and I've been designing closets ever since.  

  Did you have children?

  Yes, I have three children and eight grandchildren, he said proudly.  They all live away from here...Florida, New Jersey, Chicago, New York, they're all over.  

  What brought you to the Derby City? 

  My second wife was offered a job here, he said.  At the time, I was working for California Closets in New York and they had a franchise here.  She asked me if I would move and I told her I would, so we came down here and I've been here since 1993.  My wife died a few years ago.  

  You told me your wife was special.  How so? 

  She was remarkable, he lovingly recalled.  She raced cars in Canada, she jumped out of airplanes.  She did so much she was just very, very special.  She had a job that required her to bring famous celebrities to town for charity events.  In her last days and weeks, when Hospice came for their visits, several women would come instead of just one.  They all wanted to hear my wife's stories about her adventures and her life.  

  When you think back over nine plus decades, is there a time period that stands out?  

  Probably the most memorable time that I have great memories is from 1940 until I graduated college, he ruminated.  

  I know you are using a walker to help you remain mobile, but do you travel?

  Not now I don't, Steve said.  I've been to England, France, Hawaii.  My wife and I went to Pearl Harbor back in the early 90s and that was a very moving experience for me.  But, no, I don't travel now. 

  Lets talk politics for a minute.  What president do you see as having done the best job in your lifetime.  

  FDR, he answered quickly.  He brought the country through the Great Depression, and a four year war.

  After all these years, what do you miss the most about New York? 

  A Jewish delicatessen, he said longingly.  A big corned beef sandwich, a piece of genuine cheesecake, or a hot dog smothered in sauerkraut.  You can't get that here.  

  Did you have a favorite deli?

  I did, he smiled.  Sarge's on 3rd Avenue.  And, it's still there.  

  Have you ever been to Shapiro's in Indianapolis? 

  Yes, I have, he said.

  And? 

  Well, it's close, but, it's not New York, he admitted. 

  Are you still with California Closets?

  No, I'm not.  I work for a company like them called Cardinal Closets, he added. 

  You work six days a week.  How does your day begin and end?

  I get up in the morning and it takes me a couple hours to do what has to be done, he disclosed.  I go to work, do my job, and come home.  I read what little mail I get, have dinner and relax before going to bed.  

  Do you have anything on your bucket list?  

  No, not really, Steve confessed.  

  Last question.  Would you ride a ferris wheel if you had an opportunity?

  I would ride a ferris wheel, he said.  I wouldn't ride a roller coaster, but nothing would disturb me about riding a ferris wheel.  

  Before we parted, Steve told me he will be moving to Florida to live with his son within the next year.  I will definitely miss running into the man wearing the New York Yankee baseball cap.  

  Coming up:  meet more POS; meet the people that do jobs somebody's got to do, and; more Observations, Oddities, and OMGs.   

  And, finally.  Steve Kahn was born in 1930.  Here is a very brief peek at some events in history that occurred that year.

 *  On January 5th, Miss Parker met Mr. Barrow for the first time at Clarence Clay's house in Dallas. 

 *  A Zeppelin airship flew from Germany to Brazil.

 *  In early January, over 1300 U.S. banks closed as a result of the Great Depression.

 * The planet, Pluto, was discovered.

 *  Betty Boop made her cartoon debut.  

 *  Constantinople changed its name to Istanbul.   

  By this time, you are supposed to have figured out the mystery of Mr. Barrow and Miss Parker.  I hope you solved it.  

  HUH?  What's up with that?