Remembering Talia Klein, ‘clothes horse,’ too

Talia Klein on La La, photo by Justin Campbell

Talia Klein wasn’t just an accomplished rider…she was also a “clothes horse”….she could put an outfit together and had so much class and was so chic that she reminded me of a young Audrey Hepburn, and I’m talking about her casual outfits!!

Remembering Irv Letofsky, Hollywood journalist, who died Dec. 23

From “Tabloid Baby”

Irv, we hardly knew ye.

We found out yesterday that Irv Letofsky died this week at 76.

(In My Heart Editor: Hollywood Reporter says Letofsky died of liver cancer)

Irv was a television critic for The Hollywood Reporter, former editor of the Los Angeles Times Calendar section and an important collector of film lobby and title cards and other memorabilia.

He also has a unique place in tabloid history.

Irv is among those mentioned in the acknowledgments of the book, “Tabloid Baby.” Back in early Nineties, he wrote about the tabloid television show “Hard Copy” for The Hollywood Reporter, and his articles were cited by author Burt Kearns. A decade later, Letofsky and Kearns wound up working together on Frozen Pictures’ documentary series, “All The Presidents’ Movies,” that ran on Bravo and will one of these days wind up on DVD.

Irv had been the connection to Paul Fischer, the former White House projectionist who was at the center of the acclaimed presidents project.

Irv was very well-liked by print journos in LA. Over at our pal Ray Richmond’s Past Deadline site, Barry Garron writes:

“There will never be another like him… He was a genius. He was a mentor. He was capable of the driest wit and the greatest insight. He was never without a mischievous twinkle in his eye or a half-dozen projects on his agenda…”

Reprinted with permission from Tabloid Baby

Barry Garron further describes Irv Letofsky:

This gentle and genial soul was, at one time or another, a reporter (St. Paul Pioneer Press), an assistant city editor (Minneapolis Tribune), a features editor (Sunday Calendar of the Los Angeles Times), an executive producer of a documentary and a short film, an author and a key figure in establishing the Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre in Minneapolis.

He was an important collector of film lobby and title cards and other film memorabilia. He donated part of his collection to his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, and to the Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. He lent part to the Richard Nixon Library.

Letofsky is survived by his wife, actress Brian Ann, and four children.

Remembering Saadia Marciano, Israeli ‘Black Panthers’ leader

By Sami Shalom Chetrit

Sa’adia Marziano says today: “We called to raise the social banner, especially when the security situation is difficult. There was a man named Moshe Dayan, his memory be blessed, who said at the time that it’s forbidden to raise both banners (security and social) at the same time, and that was a strong edict in those days. But we embarked on a struggle and said both banners must always be raised, because a weak society, socially and culturally degenerate, suffering from harsh poverty, will never be militarily strong either.”

My dad, David Weinberg, most influential in my life

By Robert Weinberg

From time to time, I’ve been asked who was the most influential person in my life. The answer never varies. I’ve always been proud to answer, “my dad, David Weinberg.” Of all the people I’ve known in my 60 years on Earth, I’ve never met a person I admired more and miss as much. David Weinberg died July 23, 1983. He was 67.

When my father retired from his job in the Post Office in 1971, my mother and his friends threw him a party which they called “This Is Your Life, David Weinberg.” At the time, I was working on my Ph.D. in Chicago and was not able to get off teaching to fly back to New Jersey for the celebration. Here’s what I sent to be read at the celebration: