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ZAD - The Boardwalk Artist
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This was sent in by a relative of ZAD - the legendary
"boardwalk artist"
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Zad was my mother's cousin,
raised by my grandmother and grandfather in Canarsie,
Brooklyn. He came from Slonim (Russia/Poland) around
1916. His real name was Israel Zadikow. He died in
1977. His artistic abilities were evident at an early
age. He was encouraged in Public School to pursue a career in
art. His attempts at a
"serious" career as a recognized artist eluded him.
I believe he was
an Impressionist at heart lost in a world of Cubism. He
tried his
hand at a comic strip about an aviatrix entitled ARLENE
AIRESS. He never married after he suffered a broken
heart when his girlfriend in art school jilted him. He
once showed me a nude painting of her when I was about 6 years
old. It embarrassed me terribly. I was very close to him
when I was a small boy. I was endlessly fascinated by
his ability to transfer the world around him to canvas and
paper.
He settled in to his life on the boardwalk and at the end was
quite
satisfied with his life. In his last few years he gained
some minor
fame by appearing as a regular guest on the Joe Franklin show.
He was
a very simple man.
I'm happy to know that there are folks out there who remember
him
fondly.
Henry Neimark
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Another Jersey Girl
Misses her Asbury
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I
remember how excited my sister and I were that Mom was
taking us to Asbury Park. We were there often every summer
in the late 50's. I'll never forget the wonderful
Homestead Inn. It was always jammed and the lady at the
front would use those clickers in her hand to signal to
the staff in the back how many were in our party. The
restaurant was huge and noisy and served wonderful
homemade foods. I especially loved the hot corn sticks.
They'd come up to your table with the cast iron pans
filled with these wonderul buns. And let's not forget
Kohr's custard on the boardwalk. And when I saw the
beautiful Convention Hall and Casino I was star struck!
Today, I live in California but I recently came back to
visit - my daughter now owns a business in the old
Woolworth Bldg on Cookman Avenue. How's that for coming
"home" again! As I walked through the
streets I could hardly believe the changes. All the
reconstruction...It was unrecognizable from the old
Asbury! But it's coming back, not like it was in the 50's,
but then again, nothing is like it was in the 50's. I
still love Asbury!
Jan
Reed, a Jersey girl, missing Asbury Park
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