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Mendel Letters
Mendel Letters

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Jan 27

Mendel Letters 112 — World War II Refugees

Dear Mendel, January 27th is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Felicia and I visited an exhibit on displaced persons camps after World War II sponsored by the United Nations and the YIVO Institute. It will be in the lobby of UN Headquarters in Manhattan until February 23. It focused on the daily…

Holocaust

4 min read

Mendel Letters 112 — World War II Refugees
Mendel Letters 112 — World War II Refugees
Holocaust

4 min read


Jan 20

Mendel Letters 111 — Puzzlement

In the musical “The King and I” by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, the character supposedly based on King Mongut of Siam sings “A Puzzlement.” As I was writing this letter, the song played over and over again in my head. “When I was a boy, world was better spot…

Musicals

4 min read

Mendel Letters 111 — Puzzlement
Mendel Letters 111 — Puzzlement
Musicals

4 min read


Jan 14

Mendel Letters 110 — Medical Breakthroughs

January 14, 2023 Dear Mendel, During your lifetime some of the greatest scientific advances were in medicine. Unfortunately nothing could ever be done to improve your vision and breakthroughs in the treatment of breast cancer came too late to help Mommy. Her mother and sister also died from breast cancer…

Memoir

5 min read

Mendel Letters 110 — Medical Breakthroughs
Mendel Letters 110 — Medical Breakthroughs
Memoir

5 min read


Jan 6

Mendel Letters 109 — The Last 100 Years

January 7, 2023 Dear Mendel, I’m reading a book by physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson where he discusses how radically the world changed between 1900 and 2000. It got me thinking about the changes that took place during your lifetime, 1920 to 2014. On the 1920 census, your parents Solomon and…

Memoir

4 min read

Mendel Letters 109 — The Last 100 Years
Mendel Letters 109 — The Last 100 Years
Memoir

4 min read


Dec 16, 2022

Mendel Letter 108 — A Very Mendel Christmas

December 17, 2022 There was no Christmas in our house growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s. Hanukah only. On Jesup Avenue I only knew two families that had trees, the Kelly’s in our building and Georgie and Frankie Xiradis across the street. But we did have Christmas songs…

Christmas

2 min read

Mendel Letter 108 — A Very Mendel Christmas
Mendel Letter 108 — A Very Mendel Christmas
Christmas

2 min read


Dec 9, 2022

Mendel Letters 107 — The Back-up Plan

December 10, 2022 Dear Mendel, When I was at City College as a history major in the late 1960s and “manning the barricades,” you asked me what I was going to do for a living after college. I was making pretty good money as a part-time taxi driver and figured…

South Africa

5 min read

Mendel Letters 107 — The Back-up Plan
Mendel Letters 107 — The Back-up Plan
South Africa

5 min read


Dec 2, 2022

Mendel Letters 106 — A Lane Student Remembers

NOTE: This letter from a student of Mendel’s son was found attached to the pile of letters. It included three handwritten notes. “Thanks Charlie, Mendel showed me your letter.” “I selected the AP text to introduce different views to the class and because I like playing off the text.” …

High School

10 min read

Mendel Letters 106 — A Student Remembers
Mendel Letters 106 — A Student Remembers
High School

10 min read


Nov 25, 2022

Mendel 105 — Franklin K. Lane High School

November 26, 2022 Dear Mendel, In January 1982 I got bounced from one high school to another again. Thomas Jefferson was in deep academic trouble, its student numbers were declining, the Department of Education closed its annex, teachers from the annex were reassigned to the main building, and I was…

High School

4 min read

Mendel 105 — Franklin K. Lane High School
Mendel 105 — Franklin K. Lane High School
High School

4 min read


Nov 19, 2022

Mendel Letters 104–15-Minute Cycle

November 19, 2022 Dear Mendel, In your last couple of years you lived in a Deerfield Beach assisted living home, a very assisted living home. Macular degeneration took the last of your eye sight and your last companion had died. In your nineties you were in the hospital on a…

Ageing

3 min read

Mendel Letters 104–15-Minute Cycle
Mendel Letters 104–15-Minute Cycle
Ageing

3 min read


Nov 11, 2022

Mendel Letters 103 — Century Village

In the late 1980s, right after you retired, you and Mother started spending time in Florida during the winter. In March 1990 you purchased an apartment at Century Village in Deerfield Beach, but Mother never got to live there. She was diagnosed with cancer in April and died in December…

Florida

3 min read

Mendel Letters 103 — Century Village
Mendel Letters 103 — Century Village
Florida

3 min read

Mendel Letters

Mendel Letters

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