Robin Abraham (00:00:03): [inaudible 00:00:03]. Dorothy Abraham (00:00:10): Was it a mine? Robin (00:00:14): [inaudible 00:00:14], towards the end of the war. And the people couldn't lift the ship up. [inaudible 00:00:21] was skipper of the ship when it was in San Francisco. [inaudible 00:00:31], but it just, instead of the people being ... Instead of getting new people onboard the ship, I was there commissioning the ship in Norfolk. Ted Abraham (00:00:53): In Virginia. Robin (00:00:53): Virginia. We commissioned the ship, and they needed it out there in the South Pacific, when it was a minesweeper tender. It wasn't a minesweeper, because all the minesweepers up in Narragansett Bay were out of the Navy July 29th. I think it got out of Chicago July 19th, and they had 10 days to report to the ship. So anyway, I went home for 10 days, you know, be with my parents. I think we went to Spring Lake. And then I had to report to the ship in Rhode Island. Dorothy (00:01:39): Wow. Robin (00:01:39): Newport, Rhode Island. Dorothy (00:01:42): Wow. Robin (00:01:42): That was my first assignment. I was assigned to that. Ted (00:01:43): So you said you had to go out and barter with all the- Robin (00:01:45): What's that? Ted (00:01:46): You called it bartering with all the lobstermen. To get food for the ship, you would get lobsters and fish. Robin (00:01:53): We'd go down to Narragansett Bay every day, no matter what the weather was, and we went out there in July 29th. The weather was beautiful, nice and warm. And we had to put out a ... They were afraid the Germans were going to mine that area, so we had to make sure that ... They had had a big tail, electric impulse, and what happened to the minesweepers, they'd go over the mines, and it doesn't hurt the ship because they're so light. Dorothy (00:02:32): Oh. Robin (00:02:32): And then they'd have a tail at the end with electric impulses explode the mines if there were any. Ted (00:02:39): Did you ever see a mine go? Did you ever- Robin (00:02:44): We never did get any mines. Dorothy (00:02:45): Oh. Ted (00:02:45): Your ship was wooden? Was it wood or metal? Robin (00:02:46): The minesweeper was wooden. Dorothy (00:02:49): Really? Ted (00:02:52): Because a lot of the mines sense the metal. Dorothy (00:02:56): Oh, right. Ted (00:02:57): So they made the minesweepers out of wood. Dorothy (00:03:00): Huh. While you were doing it, what was your feeling about it? I mean, were you feeling a lot of patriotism, or what? How did you feel about it, emotionally? Robin (00:03:12): We just did what we had to do [inaudible 00:03:13]. We didn't think of anything. Dorothy (00:03:16): Sure. Robin (00:03:16): The crew in all Black, and the officers, the three officers on the ship. And they were white. Dorothy (00:03:24): Oh, interesting. Ted (00:03:24): [inaudible 00:03:25]? Robin (00:03:24): In the Navy at that time. Ted (00:03:24): They didn't have a mutiny? Robin (00:03:24): Huh? Ted (00:03:24): The Blacks didn't rise up against the whites? Robin (00:03:33): No. Dorothy (00:03:34): How many people were on the ship? Robin (00:03:36): On the little minesweeper, there weren't many. The big minesweeper tender, there were about 100. And after they got commissioned in Norfolk, I guess it was, the crew got . . . I was in charge of the commissary getting the food to feed 100 men. Ted (00:03:58): That's why he likes to cook back here so much. Robin (00:04:00): What's that? Ted (00:04:01): That's why you like this crew kitchen here, where you cook in the kitchen. Robin (00:04:07): Well, I don't know about cooking good. Dorothy (00:04:07): You do. Robin (00:04:08): But we had a very good- Ted (00:04:09): Black chef cooking. Robin (00:04:09): Black chef cooking. He was from the Pullman. Ted (00:04:16): The Pullman car? Robin (00:04:17): What's that? Ted (00:04:18): Pullman sleeper? Robin (00:04:19): Yeah. He worked at the Pullman. And he really knew how to cook. And he knew how to order it. Ted (00:04:24): What was his name? Do you remember? Robin (00:04:25): What? Ted (00:04:25): Do you remember his name? Robin (00:04:27): No. But the cooking staff was all Black. Peggy Abraham (00:04:33): What? April Brahinsky: The cooking staff was Black. Robin (00:04:36): And then when the time came, they decided that they wanted to send us to the Pacific. So they had a big convoy meet in the Atlantic Ocean, and we were going with it. And it went, we all had to keep the ship docked. We were afraid of the Germans blowing up ships, which we never got attacked, thankfully. We had to keep a lookout for that. Went through the Panama Canal in convoy, and up the Mexican coast to San Diego. And that's where we ended up. And then they sent us out into the Pacific Ocean. We went to Hawaii, and I was in charge of getting main supplies on the ship that were good to last. I knew potatoes would last 150, they would last about 30 days. April (00:05:35): That's a lot of potatoes, wasn't it? Robin (00:05:36): Well, you had to keep the ship [inaudible 00:05:39]. And then we had a locker down below where we kept frozen foods, and the lower which just kind of an icebox. April (00:05:49): How many potatoes would that be, for 30 days? Robin (00:05:54): A lot of potatoes. Yeah, they had a big machine. You put the potatoes in there, and it turned around. And it would skin the potatoes. Ted (00:06:04): Like mashed potatoes? Dorothy (00:06:05): Curlicues. Robin (00:06:09): But when I was at Asbury Park before then, they really treated us rough. Guard duty at night. And one of the duties was just to peel onions, so we'd peel onions all day long. April (00:06:32): Ugh, you'd peel onions all day long? Robin (00:06:37): That was boot camp. Dorothy (00:06:37): Huh? Robin (00:06:37): They send you through boot camp before you become ... Ted (00:06:37): An officer? Robin (00:06:37): An officer, yeah. Ted (00:06:37): So they made you cry with the onions? Robin (00:06:38): You just do the duty. Dorothy (00:06:39): Yeah. Ted (00:06:42): So how far? You got out to Hawaii. Where did you go after Hawaii? Robin (00:06:45): Hawaii? We went to Wake Island, Midway Island. Eniwetok was one of the stops we had. Kathy Tarsa (00:06:55): You get seasick? Robin (00:06:57): Only one day did I get seasick in the Navy. Dorothy (00:06:59): Mm-hmm. Robin (00:07:00): That was the first day I reported to Narragansett Island. And I didn't know any better. I ate scrambled eggs, had a huge breakfast, and then the ship went out and started bucking the swells. And I got seasick that one day. But after that, I learned to control it. Dorothy (00:07:24): Yeah. Ted (00:07:25): Very good. April (00:07:28): Wow. And you said that one ship that you were on, you all wouldn't follow regulations, and there was one guy that came on and tried to make you all follow the things to the letter? Robin (00:07:40): Yeah, he- April (00:07:40): But he gave up. Robin (00:07:41): He eventually gave up and went along. A little like those ships that Kennedy was on. April (00:07:48): The PT boats? Robin (00:07:49): What's that? April (00:07:50): PT. Robin (00:07:50): They were kind of independent of the regulations of the Navy. Robin (00:07:57): Anyway, we eventually headed up to Okinawa. The war was still going on. Ted (00:08:05): Was that before or after the atom bomb? Robin (00:08:07): It was before that. Ted (00:08:10): Were you over there when the bomb went off? Robin (00:08:13): We were over there. And I was in Hiroshima one month after it went off. Ted (00:08:20): Wow. Kathy (00:08:21): Really? Robin (00:08:21): We were assigned to that area to clean up the harbor. But our ship wasn't used to get the bombs going. They sent in just a big ship, and the ship was supposed to get the mines to explode as we're going over them. But it so happened the Japanese never mined anything. We were just there. It could have happened, but we didn't know. Ted (00:08:50): You probably got some radiation exposure if you were there a month afterwards. Robin (00:08:54): I could've gotten. That's why I've been kind of cuckoo ever since. April (00:08:59): He said he's been cuckoo ever since. Robin (00:09:03): Then we got orders to report to Tokyo Bay. That was after the bombs went off. And so we went up to Tokyo Bay, and that's where they signed it. We saw the signing ceremony from our ship with [inaudible 00:09:24]- Ted (00:09:23): MacArthur and the ... Robin (00:09:24): Off that Tokyo Bay. Ted (00:09:27): Wow. Robin (00:09:29): And whatever the name of that ... The Yokohama, I guess it was. There was a big sign on one of the buildings as we were going in the bay. It said, "Welcome Yankees." But it was Japanese. We didn't know if they really meant it or not. A few men from our ship did daringly, landed way ahead of all the other people, all the American landing ships. And we took a train into Tokyo. And there was no hostility from the Japanese. Dorothy (00:10:11): Oh, really? Robin (00:10:11): They weren't hostile in the least. Dorothy (00:10:14): Why were they ... Why? Robin (00:10:17): Why were they not? Dorothy (00:10:18): Yeah. Robin (00:10:18): They were starving. Dorothy (00:10:20): Oh. Robin (00:10:20): The Japanese were starving. Dorothy (00:10:22): So were they really welcoming the Yankees? Robin (00:10:24): What's that? Dorothy (00:10:25): When they said, "Welcome, Yankees," did they really welcome the Yankees? Robin (00:10:27): They really welcomed the Yankees. They were very, very kind to us. Dorothy (00:10:31): Oh. Robin (00:10:37): And in fact, we had to put out our garbage every day, the stuff we couldn't eat, in big pails, buckets. And the Japanese themselves would line up just to take that food and eat it. They were just starving. Dorothy (00:10:50): But this was after the bomb, you said? Ted (00:10:52): Right, and- Dorothy (00:10:53): So I don't understand. Ted (00:10:55): It took a long time to get supplies and food. Dorothy (00:10:57): Yes, but they were so starving that they welcomed the Yankees just over starvation? Ted (00:11:05): Well, no, they signed a peace treaty. Dorothy (00:11:10): Oh, so- Ted (00:11:10): Within two or three days of the bomb, they signed a peace treaty. Dorothy (00:11:10): And so that was enough to ... Ted (00:11:11): Well, the emperor officially said that they surrendered. Robin (00:11:14): It was after the bomb that they decided to surrender. Ted (00:11:17): Right, right. Dorothy (00:11:18): Oh, I see. Ted (00:11:18): So MacArthur and ... Who was on the ship? Was it MacArthur that was on the ship that ... Was it MacArthur on the ship, the battleship where they signed the treaty in Tokyo Bay? Robin (00:11:28): I guess he was. Ted (00:11:31): I think it was Douglas. . . Robin (00:11:32): He was all dressed in white. And from our ship, we could see him. We had black clothes. Dorothy (00:11:36): Wow. Robin (00:11:41): I think whatever it is about the war, they had a list of all the ships that were in that bay, and our ship was one of them. Ted (00:11:48): What was the name of your ship? Robin (00:11:50): U.S.S. Picket. Dorothy (00:11:53): Picket? Ted (00:11:53): Pickett's brigade? Robin (00:11:54): Yeah. Dorothy (00:11:55): I'm going to write that down. April (00:11:55): And there's a history of your ship that you wrote that Eric found online. It doesn't have Daddy's name on it, but when Eric showed it to Daddy, he said, "I wrote this." You know, he had written a history of the ship. Eric Brahinsky: There's an article. . . Robin (00:12:13): It was my job to write down a history of the ship. Eric (00:12:16): According to Wikipedia, . . . Robin (00:12:17): What? Eric (00:12:19): There was more than one ship called the Picket. Kathy (00:12:21): Do you have a pencil? Eric (00:12:22): But if you read the articles, you'll know which one is the right one. Kathy (00:12:24): You have a pen? Ted (00:12:28): I don't have one on me. Kathy (00:12:31): I just wanted to write the name of the ship. Ted (00:12:34): [inaudible 00:12:34]. Robin (00:12:38): Inland Sea of Japan, in between all the islands. It's the most beautiful country you can imagine. Ted (00:12:45): How much time did you spend onshore? Robin (00:12:46): What was that? Ted (00:12:47): How much time did you get to spend in Japan? Robin (00:12:51): Almost a year. Ted (00:12:52): So you were on shore a lot? Robin (00:12:54): What's that? Ted (00:12:54): Were you on the ship, or were you on shore during that one year? Robin (00:12:58): I was on the ship all the time. Kathy (00:13:01): At that point, that one year, what was your job during that time? Robin (00:13:06): I was supply. Dorothy (00:13:06): Supply. April (00:13:08): You weren't in Japan for a year, were you? Were you in Japan for a year? Robin (00:13:10): I was in the Pacific for a year. April (00:13:13): In the Pacific, yeah. Yeah. So how long in Japan do you think you were? Robin (00:13:20): At least six months. April (00:13:21): Really? Okay. Robin (00:13:23): And at nighttime ... In the day, we'd take our little landing boat and just walk through the country. We weren't supposed to do that, but we- April (00:13:35): But you did it. Robin (00:13:35): We just go ahead and did it anyway. Ted (00:13:37): Did you learn any Japanese? Robin (00:13:41): In the back part of Japan is where we trampled, you know? Just kind of looked around. Ted (00:13:49): Did you learn any Japanese language? Were you able to communicate? Robin (00:13:53): I'll tell you about that. Ted (00:13:54): Go ahead. We're listening. Robin (00:13:56): We were so educated, the officers. And the men, there were some uneducated people onboard the ship. Seamen that never had much schooling. And they would pick up that language of Japanese so quickly. Dorothy (00:14:16): Oh. Robin (00:14:16): As uneducated as they were, they were communicating with them. And we who were so educated, we didn't have the capacity to ... Kathy (00:14:24): Yeah, your brain was all filled up. April (00:14:25): Isn't that something? Kathy (00:14:28): Maybe that's why we can't learn new things when we're old. Ted (00:14:32): That's it. It's part of the rap culture. They can rap in different languages. Eric (00:14:38): I was wondering if everybody had seen the museum in Fredericksburg. April (00:14:39): Oh yeah, there's a- Eric (00:14:41): Museum of the Pacific War. April (00:14:42): We're talking about the museum in Fredericksburg, the Nimitz Museum. That's where Nimitz grew up. Robin (00:14:49): He was in command of the whole [inaudible 00:14:52]. April (00:14:51): And there's a big World War II museum. Ted (00:14:53): Where's that? Eric (00:14:53): Fredericksburg. April (00:14:53): It's about an hour from here. Ted (00:14:53): On the East Coast. April (00:14:53): No, here. Texas. Eric (00:15:01): [inaudible 00:15:01] in Texas, just north of San Antonio. Ted (00:15:01): Oh. Robin (00:15:06): We'd go to Okinawa before landing in Japan, and the war was still going on. We'd get bombed every night. The Japanese were sending planes over. And so as soon as they got overhead, we had to go on duty. You know, go to the guns and everything. But they never targeted the small ships. They were after the big ships, and the little ships they weren't after. But they bombed, they did kind of nuisance raids. They tried to keep you awake and weighed you down that way. So besides being on duty eight hours a day, whatever the day duty was, we had to stay awake at night. We couldn't get any sleep. And I was supposed to sleep at that time. But as soon as the war was over, they quit bombing us anymore. That was nice. Ted (00:15:49): "I finally got a good night's sleep." April (00:16:05): You used to play poker, didn't you? You played poker? Robin (00:16:08): Every night, the officers would get together. Ted (00:16:12): That's why you couldn't sleep. You probably lost all of it. Robin (00:16:16): And we played poker every night. Ted (00:16:19): Did you win? Robin (00:16:22): Some people won regularly, and some people lost regularly. And I was the kind of person who was in the middle, there. I could lose, or ... At the end of the trip, they settled up. They had poker every night. Ted (00:16:38): So did you have to pay at the end of the trip, or did you get something? Robin (00:16:39): What's that? Ted (00:16:39): I said did you have to pay up, or did you win? Robin (00:16:44): I was just about even. I didn't lose much. Ted (00:16:47): That's good. You knew when to quit. Robin (00:16:54): But I'm coming back, finally they sent us back to the United States again. I think that was the most dangerous part of the trip for us, because on the trip back, our engines broke down. Ted (00:17:10): Hmm. Robin (00:17:12): And so the ship was starting to rock back and forth with the swells of the ocean. And I was afraid the ship was going to capsize. And fortunately the engineers, the people who worked on the engines got the thing going again. Ted (00:17:30): Wow. Robin (00:17:31): But I was never on a ship that rocked that much as that ship did. Ted (00:17:37): Were you in a convoy, or were you by yourself? Robin (00:17:43): I think we were by ourself. I don't remember any others. Ted (00:17:44): You would think they could tow you back with some other ships around. Robin (00:17:47): What's that? Ted (00:17:47): You would think if there were other ships in the convoy, they could tow you back to port. Robin (00:17:52): Yeah. Isolated. Ted (00:17:56): Wow. Dorothy (00:17:56): That's quite a story. Robin (00:18:01): That was the experience we had. April (00:18:02): But you said you always had really good food, didn't you? Robin (00:18:04): What? April (00:18:04): You said you always had really good food on ship. The cook was really good. Robin (00:18:08): Yeah, delicious food. Robin (00:18:14): It's not like the people on shore, having to eat these C-rations, I guess they had. Ted (00:18:19): Wow. You had real "sea" rations. Kathy (00:18:24): So when you're ... After you were done serving, what happened in your life after that? Ted (00:18:34): Married that lady. Kathy (00:18:35): Is that when you got married, or did you have more education, or ... Robin (00:18:38): After that, I had a cuckoo idea that I wanted to go into music. Dorothy (00:18:42): Oh. Ted (00:18:45): He was a chemistry major at Brown. Dorothy (00:18:47): Yeah. Robin (00:18:47): No, physics major. Ted (00:18:52): You were physics? Robin (00:18:52): Physics is what I got my degree in. Ted (00:18:53): Did you finish your degree before you went into the military, or did you ... Robin (00:18:55): Well, I looked at Brown. They sent us to what's called V-12, you know what that is? The Navy sent you through school. Ted (00:19:09): Yeah. Robin (00:19:09): And paid your tuition, and finished up my schooling in three years. And then the Officer Training School in Chicago, counted as the last year. So as soon as I got my commission, I got the degree from Brown University. But I never went to Brown more than six semesters. Dorothy (00:19:36): Oh. Robin (00:19:39): That wa plus the officer training school to get the degree. Ted (00:19:43): So you only did six semesters in physics? Robin (00:19:47): Well, I couldn't make up my mind what to major in. One year I majored in chemistry, another year I'd major in biology. I kept switching my major. Ted (00:19:58): Then you switched to music? Robin (00:19:59): And I remember once, before I left [inaudible 00:20:04], I said I wanted to go into music, and drop out of school. And you and my father talked me out of doing that. Not you, your brother. Ted (00:20:20): I did. I said, "Don't do it, Robin." April (00:20:23): George and your father? Robin (00:20:24): Yeah. April (00:20:25): George and ... Yeah. Robin (00:20:26): They got together and they advised against doing it. Instead of going into the military, I probably would have been at the Normandy invasion if I had stayed in the military. But getting into this V-12 program and the Navy training ... Ted (00:20:46): That's good. Dorothy (00:20:47): So the Normandy invasion happened after all that? Robin (00:20:51): No. Ted (00:20:51): Normandy was '43 or- Eric (00:20:54): '44, I think. April (00:20:55): So if you'd gone into music when you wanted to, first, then you probably would have been drafted. Is that right? Robin (00:21:00): I would have gotten drafted in the military. April (00:21:03): Ugh. So it was really a good thing, wasn't it? Robin (00:21:05): Yeah, I did the right thing. Ted (00:21:07): You would have died for your music. Robin (00:21:09): I got out of the Navy in June or so. April (00:21:14): What year was that? '44? Ted (00:21:15): '45 or '6. April (00:21:16): '45? Robin (00:21:17): '46. April (00:21:20): '46. Robin (00:21:21): And then- Ted (00:21:21): To Juilliard? Robin (00:21:24): I decided I wanted to do music, so I applied to the Juilliard School. At that time, the only reason I got into Juilliard was because they were letting everybody into the school. Especially the people who served in the military, because ... And so I applied for it, and they let me in. You couldn't get in that easily now. And so I started going through Juilliard. Ted (00:21:55): Who did you study with? Robin (00:22:02): I studied with two main teachers. One was Rosanoff. She's, what's her name? That girl. April (00:22:12): Oh, Lyova Ring? Robin (00:22:13): Lyova Ring, yeah. April (00:22:15): His daughter, a fine pianist who used to live in San Antonio. I think she lives in Austin now, isn't that right? Robin (00:22:22): Yeah. When I studied with him, he had a room across the street from the school where he liked to teach. And she'd come home from whatever school that was, and she'd come into the apartment, we'd see her then. What's the name of that school? April (00:22:37): Vassar? Robin (00:22:38): Something like that. April (00:22:41): Was it Vassar? Robin (00:22:41): I think it was. April (00:22:42): Because that's where my teacher knew them. Mrs. Katzenellenbogen. Ted (00:22:45): Was it Vassar? April (00:22:48): She used to teach at Vassar. Is that right? I'm not- Robin (00:22:51): I think so. April (00:22:52): And she knew them. Robin (00:22:56): She went to Peabody. April (00:22:56): Yeah. Robin (00:22:56): But anyway, they let me into the school. Ted (00:23:01): Who was your other teacher? You said- Robin (00:23:03): Leonard Rose. Ted (00:23:04): Leonard Rose, the violist? April (00:23:05): No, cellist. Ted (00:23:07): Cellist. I mean, who was the violist in the quartet? Robin (00:23:09): What's that? Ted (00:23:10): Primrose? Was Primrose the ... Primrose was the ... Leonard Rose, Primrose and ... Is that the Juilliard String Quartet? Robin (00:23:21): What's that? Ted (00:23:21): Was that the Juilliard String ... He was in the Juilliard- Robin (00:23:22): No, that's a different quartet. I was very close with the string quartet at Juilliard. Ted (00:23:27): What was it then? Robin (00:23:28): What's that? Ted (00:23:29): Who was in that quartet? Robin (00:23:36): I can almost think of it. I could if I thought, if I had to think of it. Anyway, they were so excited about a new work that they had been working on, the Bartok string quartet. April (00:23:48): Those were new then, huh? Yeah. Robin (00:23:52): They'd always invite us: "Come listen to this! This is the greatest music in the world!" April (00:23:55): Huh. Bartok. Huh. Robin (00:23:56): In fact, at Juilliard, I studied with a person by the name of Julius Hereford. And I was in his class. He was a very great teacher. He taught Robert Shaw. Shaw used him for everything. Robert Shaw was very uneducated musically. April (00:24:18): Really? Robin (00:24:21): He helped him. April (00:24:21): Huh. Robin (00:24:25): And Robert Shaw at that time was assistant conductor of you-know-who. Ted (00:24:32): Robert Shaw Chorale? Robin (00:24:33): Toscanini. April (00:24:33): Oh, Toscanini, huh. Ted (00:24:35): He was what? April (00:24:37): He was just talking about a Toscanini book. Robin (00:24:38): Toscanini liked his choral conducting. April (00:24:42): And then he ended up in Atlanta, didn't he? Ted (00:24:45): Robert Shaw Chorale. April (00:24:45): Robert Shaw? Robin (00:24:45): I had an offer to go there instead of where I ended up. April (00:24:52): We might have grown up in Atlanta? Ted (00:24:55): [inaudible 00:24:56] Southerners. Robin (00:24:56): When we were in that Gershwin Orchestra, in which I got a job with ... After I got out of Juilliard four years, and I studied with Benditzky, Naoum Benditzky, who was like a father to me, as close as a person could be. Dorothy (00:25:13): Did you meet Toscanini? Robin (00:25:15): Did I know him? Dorothy (00:25:15): Yeah. Robin (00:25:15): No. Dorothy (00:25:18): Did you meet him? Robin (00:25:19): He lived very close to the high school I went to, Horace Mann, Riverdale, New York. I lived in that part of the country. But I didn't know him. April (00:25:34): But now you were at Juilliard. How long before the two of you met? You were ... Robin (00:25:40): We were both at Juilliard. I went to a place called Rochester. April (00:25:46): You lived there, right? Robin (00:25:46): We lived there. April (00:25:49): But that's not what you really called it. You called it something- Robin (00:25:52): Roachester. April (00:25:52): Roachester, yeah. Robin (00:25:52): And at the Rochester, there was this cute little girl from Texas. April (00:26:03): There was a cute girl from Texas? Robin (00:26:04): And in Harlem, we'd meet every week and play string quartets up at this place up on 125th Street in Harlem. And it was full of musicians. Ben Jenkins was there. Wayne Balmer. All the musicians. . . April (00:26:41): There's a picture of some of these people that came down to San Antonio about 20 years ago, sort of a reunion. Masa, was she in that? Robin (00:26:50): Masa Kitagawa was there. Her parents had a hard time. She was Japanese. April (00:26:55): A Japanese lady who then got interned, you know, the internment camps. Robin (00:27:01): And they had to sell their good instruments. April (00:27:04): Masa's family, they're Japanese, and they had to sell their instruments during the war. Robin (00:27:16): But eventually we got her papa there. It was right in the midst of Harlem, we were right over a bar. Ted (00:27:20): How far from the Apollo? Robin (00:27:22): What? Ted (00:27:22): Were you near the Apollo and all of that stuff? Robin (00:27:25): It was about a block away from the Apollo. Ted (00:27:26): Wow. So all the Black and- Robin (00:27:28): We were so long-haired. We never went to the Apollo, because- Ted (00:27:32): You missed out on all the innovation. Robin (00:27:33): What's that? Ted (00:27:34): I say you missed out on all the musical innovation. Robin (00:27:36): Yeah. April (00:27:37): Now Jean Weeks introduced you? Robin (00:27:38): Jean Weeks introduced me to Peggy at the Rochester. Ted (00:27:47): That was Jack Benny's sidekick wasn't it: Rochester? Robin (00:27:47): Cute little girl from Texas. Peggy (00:27:47): What? Robin (00:27:50): You were a cute little girl from Texas. April (00:27:52): And they're still friends with her. She lives in California, the lady that introduced them to each other. I bet she'll call you all. Well, she has a birthday coming up in July, doesn't she? Robin (00:28:01): Yeah. April (00:28:03): She introduced them to each other. Robin (00:28:05): And she was- April (00:28:06): A singer. Robin (00:28:06): ... singing in the chorus downtown. I think she was an understudy for Ethel Merman. If something happened to Ethel, she would have stepped in. April (00:28:17): Would she sing at the ... What's that big place where she- Dorothy (00:28:19): We should be recording all this. April (00:28:22): Radio City? Did she sing at Radio City? Is that right, the Rockettes? Or did she have something to do with that? Maybe not. Maybe I have it mixed up. Robin (00:28:28): I don't think she sang with them. April (00:28:28): Okay. Robin (00:28:28): She might have. Eric (00:28:34): Was that Jean Gierden? April (00:28:36): Yeah, Jean Gierden. Robin (00:28:36): She was involved with all that stuff at that time. Robin (00:28:42): Peggy and I, Jean, were a threesome at that time. Peggy (00:28:47): Yeah, we did a whole bunch of kind of things together. April (00:28:50): Well, I like the story about you used to model, right? Robin (00:28:55): Yeah, she had a job modeling at a store. Window. Peggy (00:29:10): I had to walk around- Robin (00:29:10): She had to walk, and I'd walk in the window there. Peggy (00:29:14): In the window. April (00:29:18): And you and Jean would be outside, trying to make her laugh, right? That's the story I heard. Peggy: Oh, we had lots of fun. April: And you had an apartment where y'all were the only ones with a telephone? Robin (00:29:33): The what? April (00:29:33): Only ones with a telephone? Robin (00:29:35): After we lived in the [inaudible 00:29:38], we found this place that belonged to a dentist. I forget his name, but I can almost think of it. And they were leaving it, and they let us take over their lease. I think we paid $104 a month at that time. Dorothy (00:29:53): Hmm. April (00:29:54): How many rooms was it? Robin (00:29:56): It was about five rooms. Dorothy (00:30:01): That's something. April (00:30:02): Yeah. Peggy (00:30:09): But we had a lot of fun. Robin (00:30:09): And then we rented out one of the rooms. They had a television set in there. Peggy (00:30:20): What? Robin (00:30:20): First television. April (00:30:22): They had a television set? Robin (00:30:24): In that. Peggy (00:30:24): Yeah. Robin (00:30:24): There was Nina and Teiche(sp?), some Greek renters, and he had the television. And when he wasn't there, we'd turn on the TV. April (00:30:30): Go in his room, huh? Robin (00:30:31): Yeah. April (00:30:34): But you said you used to, if people had calls, you'd bang on the pipes to let them know that they had a call or something? And people- Robin (00:30:43): I think that was at a- April (00:30:44): A different place? Robin (00:30:47): 125th Street. That building has been torn down, and they have big new apartment buildings there, now. RJ Abraham (00:30:55): Didn't you have some squirrel, or- Robin (00:30:56): Between '63 and '65. 120th Street. Ted (00:30:56): Didn't you have some squirrel that you tamed and fed, and came in your apartment or something like that? Robin (00:31:04): Came in the back window. Squirrels would come into our apartment. They were kind of a nuisance, but they came in through the window. They were kind of friendly squirrels. Kathy (00:31:23): So you were in your late 20s then, maybe? How old were- Robin (00:31:27): Age? Kathy (00:31:28): Yeah. April (00:31:29): You got married when you were 26 and 25. Robin (00:31:32): 26 and 27, somewhere around there. Ted (00:31:35): They got married in '49. April (00:31:35): '49. Kathy (00:31:38): Oh yeah, right. April (00:31:39): Right. Kathy (00:31:39): Yeah. We should know that. We were there. Ted (00:31:45): I met him in '49. April (00:31:47): They're both the same age as your marriage. Isn't that neat? Kathy (00:31:49): Yeah. Ted and I, we were born the year you were married. Ted (00:31:55): Robin saw me within five weeks of when I was born. Robin (00:31:56): I had all kinds of jobs in New York City, working. Peggy (00:32:01): All kind of what? April: Jobs. Robin (00:32:02): I worked at a 110th Street drug store as a cashier for quite a while. Some publishing company downtown. To make a little extra money. Of course, the GI bill paid for all tuition at Juilliard, so I didn't have to pay any of that. Returning veterans had that money paid. Peggy (00:32:28): Did I work up there? Robin (00:32:34): Did you work? April (00:32:35): You were a model. Didn't you- Dorothy (00:32:35): You modeled. April (00:32:36): Did you take tickets to the movie? Robin (00:32:40): She did other jobs, too. April (00:32:40): Like a movie, did you sell tickets for a movie theater? Robin (00:32:41): What? April (00:32:42): Sell tickets at a movie theater? Or am I getting that mixed up? Robin (00:32:45): That was in Houston before. April (00:32:45): Houston before, okay. Dorothy (00:32:51): So what brought you to ... Did Texas come after all that? Robin (00:32:55): Yeah. I studied with Benditzky. He was a member of the NBC Orchestra. And he was like the closest thing to a father to me. I was very close to him. His wife was a member of Juilliard faculty. I can think of her name sometimes. But through him, I got this job with the Gershwin Orchestra which was leaving. April (00:33:22): Who conducted that? Robin (00:33:22): What? April (00:33:27): Who conducted that? Robin (00:33:28): Zeller. Z-E-L-L-E-R. April (00:33:29): Okay. Robin (00:33:30): I never heard of him after that. And the concertmaster of that orchestra was a guy by the name of Brusilow. April (00:33:41): Okay, that's what I'm thinking. That's the connection, okay. Robin (00:33:44): He was the concertmaster of the Gershwin Orchestra. And he would leave us every once in a while, leave the orchestra, go play a violin solo. He had a orchestra in Philadelphia, though. It was his own orchestra. And it was a good orchestra. But anyway, on the trip, we traveled one-night stands throughout the United States. One of the towns we went to was a little hick town called San Antonio. I remember staying at a hotel downtown. Boy, I could hardly move. April (00:34:25): He was in a hotel downtown before he ever knew ... Robin (00:34:27): But on that trip, he knew the conductor of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. We went and visited him, and he listened to me play. He wanted me to join the orchestra, but I said no, I didn't think I wanted to join them. April (00:34:45): That was the New Orleans one, huh? Robin (00:34:46): Yeah. I would have ended up in New Orleans. April (00:34:49): In New Orleans. Dorothy (00:34:50): That's where you could have been. April (00:34:51): We could have been there, yeah. Now Brusilow is somebody that your parents, you knew him very well, right? Eric (00:35:00): Well, mainly my uncle and aunt. April (00:35:02): Your dad? Uncle and aunt in Philadelphia? Eric (00:35:00): Of course, Gerry knew him very well. Robin (00:35:06): Every once in a while he'd come down to conduct the San Antonio Symphony. I'd say hello to him. April (00:35:08): Huh. Brusilow. Robin (00:35:15): We were kind of close to each other on that trip. We used to travel on the bus. Kathy (00:35:19): April, you've got to write all this down. Really. It'd be wonderful. April (00:35:25): That's interesting. Kathy (00:35:26): Really, all of it. Robin (00:35:26): Traveled through the United States. April (00:35:26): We should be recording this. Kathy (00:35:26): I know, really. Robin (00:35:32): I remember traveling these buses every day. Next town, next town. Somebody had that thing mapped out. Kathy (00:35:39): And where was Peggy? Robin (00:35:42): Peggy stayed home with the baby. Kathy (00:35:44): Oh, you had a baby? Peggy (00:35:45): She grew up bigger. Kathy (00:35:45): Huh. Robin (00:36:05): She used to say "Mama coocoo." That meant she wanted Mommy to cook some cookies. Peggy (00:36:06): Mama coocoo. Robin (00:36:18): But April was a very slow learner, as far as walking. Peggy (00:36:25): She was what? April (00:36:26): Slow learner. Robin (00:36:26): We couldn't get her to walk. And one day, she decided she was going to walk, and she just walked perfectly. April (00:36:37): I was like 14 months, apparently, before I decided to walk. Dorothy (00:36:40): Which is okay. April (00:36:40): But I walked okay? Robin (00:36:45): When she started walking, she just ... Like she knew exactly what to do. April (00:36:46): I had it figured out. I was thinking about it. Peggy (00:36:55): You figured it out before you did it, huh? Robin (00:36:56): I don't know where RJ was then. [Inaudible.] RJ (00:36:59): Oh, I was watching. April (00:37:00): He was watching. Kathy (00:37:07): Well, that is quite a story. Robin (00:37:09): Quite a good story. Dorothy (00:37:10): Yeah, it's a very good story. Robin (00:37:15): I made it all up. April (00:37:16): He could have made it all up. Kathy (00:37:19): Well, I hope you would write it down. April (00:37:21): Yeah, why don't you write that down? Kathy (00:37:25): Or you could record it, and somebody else will write it. Ted (00:37:28): So let's start over again. Start from the beginning. April (00:37:29): That was a rehearsal. Robin (00:37:32): It's going to be different the second time. Ted (00:37:35): [inaudible 00:37:36]. We'll record it right now. Robin (00:37:36): Huh? Ted (00:37:37): Do it again. Robin (00:37:38): That was that story. Ted (00:37:38): All right, let's hear it over again. Robin (00:37:47): Who's that going to be? Hello? Hello? Hello? Well, shame on you. Peggy (00:38:09): Now what? Robin (00:38:12): We had a nice party yesterday. Dorothy (00:38:22): With the family? Robin (00:38:23): Well, thank you. What did you say? How many people get to be married that long? April (00:38:27): It's 1 in 10,000. Robin (00:38:30): My daughter says it's 1 in 10,000. Ted (00:38:34): .01%. Robin (00:38:35): That get to stay married that long. April (00:38:38): Yeah, married that long. Robin (00:38:40): Married that many years. April (00:38:42): Only 1 in 10,000 marriages last 70 years. Dorothy (00:38:46): That's something. April (00:38:47): Isn't that something? Dorothy (00:38:48): Yeah. Robin (00:38:48): Well, we're barely moving now. April (00:38:48): He said, "We're barely moving now." Robin (00:39:09): Well, thank you for calling. We'll get to see you. We'll come out to see you if you don't see us. April (00:39:14): Oh, it's probably Robert. Robin (00:39:22): All right. That's all right. But we have it tentative in our mind to see you. Kathy (00:39:30): His retirement's getting pretty busy. Robin (00:39:33): Thanks for doing what you're doing on that house across town. Well, we'll be seeing you. And thanks for calling. Thank you. Bye-bye. April (00:39:51): Was that Robert? Robin (00:39:52): Robert. April (00:39:52): Yeah, I was supposed to tell you happy anniversary from him. Robin (00:39:55): What's that? April (00:39:56): I was supposed to tell you he was sorry he didn't make it to the party, you know. But then I forgot to tell you. Robin (00:40:05): It was nice of you to go to all the trouble doing all that. April (00:40:10): One of the r-. . . He had worked real hard at our place, and he was just kind of worn out, you know? So ... Robin (00:40:15): He shouldn't be working anymore. April (00:40:18): I know. He works too hard. John Tarsa (00:40:24): Of all your ... Kathy (00:40:28): Stories? John (00:40:29): What? Kathy (00:40:29): Go ahead. John (00:40:31): Of all the conductors you've played for, which one did you think was the best? Peggy (00:40:36): What is he talking about? April (00:40:36): Which conductor? Robin (00:40:40): Well, Benditzky(?) was very good. He conducted the Juilliard Orchestra when I was there at that school. He's in Cleveland. He was a good conductor. Robert Shaw would do sometimes. I could have gotten into that orchestra with him. Maybe I should've. We had a lot of guest conductors. I can't remember them all. Ted (00:41:06): Yeah. Robin (00:41:09): These orchestras keep changing conductors. Kathy (00:41:13): Well, when you gave up with sciences ... Robin (00:41:16): When I gave up what? Kathy (00:41:17): When you gave up science, in other words, studying at Brown when you were studying the sciences, you gave that up and went into the service, is that correct? And then went into music. Did you ever regret ... I mean, did you ever look back and miss the science? Robin (00:41:34): I regret practically everything I've done. April (00:41:50): "I regret practically everything I've done." John (00:41:50): That's great. Oh, that's priceless. Absolutely priceless. Robin (00:41:52): Precisely? Kathy (00:41:56): No, we're enjoying your stories. Robin (00:41:58): You are? Kathy (00:41:58): Yes. Robin (00:41:59): I can embellish on it, if you'd like. John (00:42:07): Oh my goodness. Robin (00:42:10): Peggy was at the conservatory in Houston. She used to go there regularly. They had a director there, Mozart Hammond. Remember him, Peggy? Peggy (00:42:24): Oh yeah. Oh yeah, he was a big ... Robin (00:42:26): He was a big. . . Peggy (00:42:27): Big thing in my life. Robin (00:42:32): And who was the girl that played at our wedding? I couldn't think of it. April (00:42:36): Betty Ruth. Robin (00:42:37): What? April (00:42:37): Betty Ruth. Robin (00:42:37): Betty Ruth played at our wedding? April (00:42:39): Uh-huh. Peggy (00:42:39): What? April (00:42:41): Betty Ruth played at your wedding. Robin (00:42:42): She's one of the Houston people. Robin (00:42:49): She's not alive anymore. April (00:42:50): No, she passed on two or three- Eric (00:42:53): Yeah, three years ago. April (00:42:53): Three years ago, yeah. Eric (00:43:00): She was my teacher in Houston for Repertory Coaching. April (00:43:01): And remember, when we first met, I think within about a minute we both realized we both knew this lady. And you know, she was just a real special lady to both of us. It was one of the people we both knew before we knew each other. April (00:43:17): And she had played at their wedding. Kathy (00:43:20): Oh, isn't that something? April (00:43:25): Yeah. Yeah, it is. Peggy (00:43:25): What's all this? April (00:43:25): About Betty Ruth, and how special she was to all ... Well, when you went up to New York the first time, didn't you go up with her on the train? With Betty Ruth? Peggy (00:43:36): I don't remember. April (00:43:36): I think, and she sort of helped you find a place to stay? Robin (00:43:46): She stayed at [inaudible 00:43:47] 116th Street. April (00:43:46): And then Betty Ruth helped her find that, didn't she? Robin (00:43:46): Yeah. April (00:43:47): So she kind of helped you when you first went up to New York. Robin (00:43:48): And then later on I helped her get places like the Rochester and ... April (00:43:53): And didn't you also help her get a piano? Robin (00:43:55): Yeah. April (00:43:58): It was a auction, right? Was it an auction for that? Robin (00:44:05): We auditioned. April (00:44:06): An auction for the piano. Robin (00:44:11): It was a Steinway B. And we got that, we heard about it. And we put in a bid for $600 on the thing. And that's the one we bought in San Antonio. April (00:44:22): I think I remember that piano. Robin (00:44:25): What's that? April (00:44:25): I remember that piano. Robin (00:44:25): And somebody wanted it so badly down here we sold it to them. April (00:44:28): Oh. Robin (00:44:29): They wanted a new piano. Eric (00:44:34): When were she and John married? Robin (00:44:34): What's that? Eric (00:44:36): When were she and John married? Robin (00:44:36): What? April (00:44:37): Betty Ruth and John, I think, were married a little after you all were, is that right? Robin (00:44:45): Who was? April (00:44:46): Betty Ruth and John Tomfohrde? I think they were married a little bit after you all were. Robin (00:44:51): John Tomfohrde? April (00:44:54): Betty Ruth. I'm not sure. It was right around the same time. It was very close. Eric (00:44:59): They met in Houston. April (00:45:01): Yeah. Eric (00:45:01): Because he was at Rice. April (00:45:02): They knew each other in Houston, yeah. Eric (00:45:04): Didn't she go to Rice or something? April (00:45:08): She did go to Rice, I think so. Peggy (00:45:10): Who was at Rice? April (00:45:17): Huh? Betty Ruth did for a year. A year or so. Robin (00:45:23): Anyway, Yuri, who died recently, was playing with the Moscow Symphony when Van Cliburn. April (00:45:32): We were just talking about that. Robin (00:45:32): Played- April (00:45:36): The winning performance. Robin (00:45:38): Huh? April (00:45:39): When he won, right? Ted (00:45:42): After the Tchaikovsky. The Tchaikovsky. April (00:45:42): And then you played with Van Cliburn shortly after that, right? Robin (00:45:46): Right. He was signed up with San Antonio before he won, and so Alessandro got him to play here at the low rate, before he became famous. Alessandro was so proud of himself for signing him up, and he didn't have to pay much for him. Ted (00:46:00): Got him cheap. Robin (00:46:00): Huh? Ted (00:46:03): He got him cheap. April (00:46:05): Did you play with him after that? Did he come- Robin (00:46:09): I guess he came. [Inaudible] the orchestra, you know. April (00:46:13): Yeah. Kathy (00:46:13): So did Yuri play in the performance that was the winning performance? April (00:46:16): In Moscow, apparently, yeah. Robin (00:46:20): He became famous in Russia. That an American could win that. April (00:46:25): Oh yeah, that was a big deal, yeah. Robin (00:46:26): That hit the news. So that's the story of my life. Dorothy (00:46:26): There has to be more. Robin (00:46:26): Huh? Dorothy (00:46:38): There has to be some more. April: But yeah, nothing else? Robin (00:46:44): You wanted to hear it, so you heard it. Dorothy (00:46:45): I want to hear the next 95 years. Robin (00:46:45): Next 25 years? Dorothy (00:46:45): 95. April (00:46:45): 95. Dorothy (00:46:51): I want to hear your 95-year plan. April (00:46:57): Now you said your first good cello- Robin (00:47:02): What? April (00:47:03): Your first good cello- Ted (00:47:05): This is from Percy Straus. April (00:47:06): Percy Straus. Robin (00:47:07): Yeah. April (00:47:07): What is he? Like a- Ted (00:47:08): Cousin. April (00:47:08): Second cousin? Robin (00:47:14): He's a friend of the family. They knew that I was taking up cello. They bought me this Knopf cello. And I was real young, about eight or nine. And the cello was way too large for me. But anyway, he gave that to our family, and I guess later on, I sold it. I didn't like the cello that much. Victor Herbert had the same kind of a cello as that one. It was made by the same maker. Local. Ted (00:47:47): A New York maker? Robin (00:47:48): What? Ted (00:47:49): It was a New York-made cello? Robin (00:47:51): New York-made, yeah. [inaudible 00:47:54]. Eric (00:47:54): I was just wondering- Robin (00:47:55): What? Eric (00:47:55): ... is this Percy Sr. or Percy Jr.? April (00:47:57): Yeah. Ted (00:47:57): It's Percy Jr. April (00:47:58): The Jr. Ted (00:48:00): Percy was the son of Isidor and ... Eric (00:48:02): Yeah, Percy Jr., right? Ted (00:48:05): He was the CEO of Macy's. Robin (00:48:07): He knows all the story of the family better than anybody. Kathy (00:48:12): You've done a lot of research on all this? Ted (00:48:12): He was the one that took over Macy's. Isidor, his father Isidor Straus and Ida Blun were the- April (00:48:18): The Titanic. Ted (00:48:19): ... went down on the Titanic. But Isidor was the CEO of Macy's, so he was a partner with Abraham Abraham, who was the founder of both Abraham & Straus, which is the Straus family, and also Macy's. April (00:48:35): Well now, that Percy Jr., wasn't he the one? He gave a lot of artwork to Houston. Ted (00:48:40): Right. April (00:48:42): In Houston. The Houston Museum of Art. Ted (00:48:44): He also was a Straus Cup at Harvard for the athletic club. Like a cup for all the houses. It was called the Straus. Eric (00:48:53): So Jr. was the one that gave the cello? April (00:48:55): So it was Percy Jr. that gave you the cello? Ted (00:48:57): Yes. April (00:48:58): Percy Jr. Eric (00:48:59): Okay. Ted (00:49:00): I'm not sure, was there a Percy Sr. as well? April (00:49:03): Yeah. Kathy (00:49:03): So do you still have the cello? April (00:49:05): No. Kathy (00:49:05): No. April (00:49:08): But was he the one that died in the balloon accident? Eric (00:49:10): I think so. Robin (00:49:10): The what? April (00:49:13): The balloon accident. There was a hot air balloon. Robin (00:49:17): [Inaudible] it was Percy Straus? April (00:49:18): I think so. One of those guys. Ted (00:49:21): You don't want to travel with the Strauses. They've got bad luck. April (00:49:26): Yeah, they were up in a hot air balloon, and it- Robin (00:49:29): [inaudible 00:49:30]. April (00:49:29): Yeah. That was what, 30 years, 40? A long time ago. Eric (00:49:35): [inaudible 00:49:35]. Robin (00:49:38): [inaudible 00:49:38]. Ted (00:49:38): One of their daughter ... One of Percy Straus' was a next door neighbor up in Cambridge. April (00:49:43): Huh. Huh. Ted (00:49:43): So I went over and visited them. Eric (00:49:45): I think it was in '76. April (00:49:45): In '76? Eric (00:49:45): I think so. April (00:49:45): Hmm. Eric (00:49:54): And another one of their daughters, Caroline, I'm Facebook friends with. Robin (00:49:57): What's that? April (00:49:59): He's Facebook friends with one of the daughters of Percy Jr. Robin (00:50:03): He's what? April (00:50:04): He's Facebook friends with one of the daughters of the guy that gave you your cello. Ted (00:50:10): I think it was Percy. But it must have been Percy Sr., because Percy Jr. was an academic. And then the children of Percy Jr. were next door neighbors in Cambridge, but Percy Sr. was the child of- April (00:50:30): Isidor and Ida. Ted (00:50:33): And his wife was the daughter of Abraham Abraham, so yeah. April (00:50:37): We saw that park in New York. Ted (00:50:39): The Straus Family? April (00:50:39): The Straus Family Park. There's a park named after them. Ted (00:50:43): Right. And there was a plaque in the store with Abraham & Straus. Eric (00:50:49): That park's pretty beautiful. April (00:50:51): Yeah. Eric (00:50:53): [inaudible 00:50:53] the last two years. A nice plaque with a long story about them, and benches. It was really neat. April (00:51:18): It was really neat. It was raining. John (00:51:18): I don't know if I got this even close to right, but there's a name that you're throwing around. Were any of them or their relatives on the Titanic? April (00:51:18): Yes. Ted (00:51:18): So Percy Straus is the child of Isidor Straus, who was on the Titanic. He was the one that gave up his seat on the lifeboat. So a lot of the other wealthy clientele dressed up as women to get on the lifeboats. But Isidor Straus gave up his seat on the lifeboat. April (00:51:39): And his wife stayed with him. Ted (00:51:42): So the captain said, "You get on the lifeboat with your wife," and he said, "Well, I'm a gentleman. I'm not going to go on the lifeboat." And when he said he wasn't going to get on the lifeboat, his wife said, "Well, if you're not going, I'm staying with you, because we've been together this long." Ted (00:51:55): So she gave her seat to the maid, and gave her her fancy winter jacket, and so the maid got off the ship. John (00:52:04): Okay, so their relation to them is- Ted (00:52:06): Well, they were partners of his uncle. John (00:52:09): Right. Ted (00:52:10): And so there was a department store in New York City called Abraham & Straus, S-T-R-A-U-S. John (00:52:17): Right. Ted (00:52:18): There were two sets of Strauses. There were the S-T-R-A-U-S-S, who was his actual uncle and aunt. But then there were the S-T-R-A-U-S that were business partners, but they also ... The Straus son, Percy Straus, married Abraham's daughter. So they were intermarried as well as business partners. Eric (00:52:40): Yes, Abraham was Herbert's first cousin. Dorothy (00:52:44): So who is going to write all this down? Somebody? Ted (00:52:48): Robin. April (00:52:51): Eric is. [inaudible 00:52:51]. Ted (00:52:51): Eric and Robin. RJ (00:52:53): Everybody's appointing everybody else. Ted (00:52:56): RJ. John (00:52:56): Somebody please write. Kathy (00:52:58): Robin, if you do anything else, we would love to have you either record this from the start, and someone else would write it down- Ted (00:53:07): Or we can start from the start right now. Kathy (00:53:09): Or we can start all over again. Ted (00:53:11): We can record- Robin (00:53:12): Make sure the thing is on. Dorothy (00:53:12): That's okay. April (00:53:16): That's okay. [inaudible 00:53:17] the second time. Ted (00:53:16): So let's do it. Let's do it right now. Dorothy (00:53:18): We'll prompt you. Ted (00:53:20): So Robin, tell us the story of your life. We only have four minutes. RJ (00:53:28): The Reader's Digest version, please. April (00:53:30): Reader's Digest version. Peggy (00:53:33): The what? April (00:53:34): The Reader's Digest version. Robin (00:53:34): I'll tell the story of- Ted (00:53:38): We have like six minutes of recording time. Robin (00:53:39): I'll put it in a nutshell. Ted (00:53:40): All right. Dorothy (00:53:40): No, we don't want the nutshell. Ted (00:53:42): All right, ready, get set, go. You're on air. Robin (00:53:44): I'm on air. A lot of hot air. Ted (00:53:49): So what happened during World War II? We'll start ... Robin (00:53:59): The Germans defeated the Americans at Normandy Beach. Ted (00:54:02): That's what Donald said. April (00:54:07): Donald said. RJ (00:54:10): Entering the Twilight Zone now. Dorothy (00:54:15): My gosh. Robin (00:54:16): I can't tell the same story twice the same way. Kathy (00:54:21): Well you know what? If you do it three times, we could blend it all together. Kathy (00:54:27): Yeah. Do it in segments, so then- Robin (00:54:33): You heard it, so you write it down. Kathy (00:54:34): I can't remember it. Robin (00:54:36): I can't either. Eric (00:54:40): Probably the best way. April (00:54:42): Well, why don't you do that? You're not teaching now. You have time to do that. Dorothy (00:54:48): You know- Robin (00:54:49): I don't know what kind of time I have. April (00:54:50): That's true. Okay. Kathy (00:54:54): Your relatives would love, love, love to see this written down. Ted (00:54:58): I think this story would be better as a video, get him to do what he did here. . . Robin (00:55:03): What about my father's life? Ted (00:55:03): We'll do that eventually. Kathy (00:55:06): That's Book Two. Ted (00:55:08): That's what George tried to do with Deborah Jacoby. Robin (00:55:12): What's that? Ted (00:55:14): George made all those reel-to-reel tapes of Deborah Jacoby that we have buried someplace. Robin (00:55:18): Well, I got the history of our family, which I got from Deborah and my father. Ted (00:55:23): Right. Robin (00:55:24): And I have ... Ted (00:55:26): He's done even more. But Eric has got- Robin (00:55:28): You could [inaudible] some of the family in the office here. April (00:55:34): Yeah, we have that. We have that. We have that. Robin (00:55:39): And then I have the one, as much as I could find out of the family, Deborah and my father. And I wrote that down. And that's as much I could find. There was nobody else who gave any more information that I found in that. You want to see the ... You've seen it? April (00:55:58): Yeah, we have a copy of that. Robin (00:56:00): Yeah. April (00:56:02): But we need your story. Dorothy (00:56:05): Absolutely. John (00:56:06): Yeah. Agreed. Robin (00:56:07): My story? Kathy (00:56:07): Your story. Robin (00:56:09): My story? Eric (00:56:12): Yeah. Ted (00:56:12): It's called mystery. Robin (00:56:17): Some people are interested in all that kind of thing. And Amy, my sister, was not interested in that at all. But George was, and I was. April (00:56:32): What about Jane? Was she interested in it? Robin (00:56:35): She had accepted what we told her. But between us both, we wrote down as much as we could about the family. April (00:56:43): Uh-huh. Robin (00:56:43): It's interesting. It's an interesting family. April (00:56:43): Yeah. Kathy (00:56:50): But some of the details that you told today about your life on the ship, all of the details are really, really interesting. Robin (00:57:01): It is interesting. Kathy (00:57:02): Yeah. We'd love to see that, to be able to read it again, you know? It's so hard to take in and ... Robin (00:57:11): But you have the history of the Picket? April (00:57:14): Yeah, we have the history of the Picket. Is that on your website? ... No, where is that? On Wikipedia? Eric (00:57:19): I think it's just on Wikipedia. April (00:57:19): Wikipedia. Dorothy (00:57:20): It got written down. April (00:57:22): That's written down. Dorothy (00:57:26): That's the name of the ship. Robin (00:57:26): Anyway, my experience in the military was very ... It was a great experience. We didn't have to fight, you know? We didn't have to kill anybody. Kathy (00:57:39): Well, you didn't, but you were in harm's way. I mean, you were lucky you didn't hit any mines, but you could have. Robin (00:57:45): We could have. Kathy (00:57:47): Yeah, and you were in danger. Robin (00:57:48): But didn't. Dorothy (00:57:48): Yeah. Robin (00:57:49): As you see, I'm still here. Kathy (00:58:01): Right. Well, that was great. Robin (00:58:02): RJ was going to become a officer in the Air Force. Dorothy (00:58:09): Yeah? RJ (00:58:16): Yeah. Dorothy (00:58:17): Yes or no? RJ (00:58:18): Well, I was. I went to the officer candidate school or training or whatever, but I just decided not to go to do it, because I just didn't like it, so ... Robin (00:58:30): They promised him something which they didn't give him. And just on the day of graduation, he quit. Dropped out of it the day he was supposed to graduate. RJ (00:58:46): Hasta la vista. Ted (00:58:46): I'm from the Trump School of Aviation. Robin (00:58:49): But he wanted to get into space training. And they didn't give it to him. And he said, "Well, then I quit the Air Force." Is that right? RJ (00:59:02): Well, it just ... They kind of said, I didn't get any one of the bases that I wanted to get assigned to. So I thought, "This is ridiculous." Dorothy (00:59:13): How long did you go? How long was the school? RJ (00:59:15): I think it was like ... I can't remember. It was either 30 or 90 days, or something like that. Dorothy (00:59:20): Oh. RJ (00:59:20): I can't remember. Robin (00:59:24): A little like my officer training school, when I went to Chicago. Now you're going to Chicago. April (00:59:34): Yeah, we'll go see. We can see where ... You said it was at Northwestern, right? Robin (00:59:38): Yeah. There's a building called Abbott Hall, where we were stationed. You can probably find it. It's across the street from Lake Michigan. But that's part of Northwestern. April (00:59:50): Okay. Kathy (01:00:01): I'm kind of thinking that maybe John and I have to go, because we have to check into our plane. John (01:00:08): Flight. Kathy (01:00:08): Delta flight. Robin (01:00:09): What's that? Kathy (01:00:11): We're going to have to hit the-