{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/7m03x85j3r/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Don Blauweiss Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInterview Summary (July 7, 2025)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDon Blauweiss is a Queens College alumnus and the Creative Director of Don Blauweiss Advertising \u0026amp; Design. Blauweiss speaks with interviewer Rebecca Rushfield about his childhood in Jackson Heights beginning in the mid-1930s and his early interest in drawing and painting. Blauweiss reflects on how profound his teachers at P.S. 152 in Woodside were in helping him develop his artistic talent; he also reflects on the lifelong value of his high school education at School of Industrial Art located in Manhattan. After briefly attending Brooklyn College, Blauweiss enrolled at Queens College, where he majored in art and graduated in 1956. Blauweiss describes memorable teachers in the Queens College Art Department and a life-changing two-and-a-half-month trip he took to Europe during his senior year.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBlauweiss discusses his ensuing experience as a student at Cooper Union, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1961, and his career working at several advertising agencies, including Doyle Dane Bernbach. Blauweiss explains how his career in marketing and advertising provided him with opportunities to live and work abroad, particularly in Germany and Belgium, and to learn several languages. Additionally, Blauweiss (who was 91 at the time of this interview) speaks about his family life. He shares memories of his three older sisters as well as his father, a diamond cutter who became a talented painter later in life. He also discusses his past marriages, his children and grandchildren, and the business and volunteer endeavors of his wife Diane Dudzinski.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInterview Summary (September 16, 2025)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDon Blauweiss speaks with interviewer Rebecca Rushfield about three girlfriends he had while attending Queens College. Blauweiss explains how the end of his relationship with his first Queens College girlfriend involved him hitchhiking to Wisconsin and working at a carnival at the Illinois State Fair. Blauweiss' second Queens College girlfriend was Toni Cade Bambara, who later became a renowned writer; he specifically notes their experience as an inter-racial couple and the racial tensions that existed among his neighbors in Jackson Heights. Regarding his third Queens College girlfriend, Pam, Blauweiss explains how he unknowingly fathered a son with Pam before their breakup, Pam's decision to give their son away for adoption, and how he didn't meet his son until much later in life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the interview, Blauweiss also discusses his memories of growing up in Jackson Heights during World War II, his involvement in extracurricular activities at Queens College, his three marriages, and his thoughts about living into his 90s.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2025-07-07 (created)","2025-09-16 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Tags"]},"value":{"en":["Queens College Alumni"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Don Blauweiss (Interviewee)","Rebecca Rushfield (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1930s-2025 (temporal)","Queens College, Jackson Heights, and Whitestone, Queens, NY; Manhattan, NY; Springfield, IL; Madison, WI; Germany; Belgium (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInterview Summary (July 7, 2025)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDon Blauweiss is a Queens College alumnus and the Creative Director of Don Blauweiss Advertising \u0026amp; Design. Blauweiss speaks with interviewer Rebecca Rushfield about his childhood in Jackson Heights beginning in the mid-1930s and his early interest in drawing and painting. Blauweiss reflects on how profound his teachers at P.S. 152 in Woodside were in helping him develop his artistic talent; he also reflects on the lifelong value of his high school education at School of Industrial Art located in Manhattan. After briefly attending Brooklyn College, Blauweiss enrolled at Queens College, where he majored in art and graduated in 1956. Blauweiss describes memorable teachers in the Queens College Art Department and a life-changing two-and-a-half-month trip he took to Europe during his senior year.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBlauweiss discusses his ensuing experience as a student at Cooper Union, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1961, and his career working at several advertising agencies, including Doyle Dane Bernbach. Blauweiss explains how his career in marketing and advertising provided him with opportunities to live and work abroad, particularly in Germany and Belgium, and to learn several languages. Additionally, Blauweiss (who was 91 at the time of this interview) speaks about his family life. He shares memories of his three older sisters as well as his father, a diamond cutter who became a talented painter later in life. He also discusses his past marriages, his children and grandchildren, and the business and volunteer endeavors of his wife Diane Dudzinski.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInterview Summary (September 16, 2025)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDon Blauweiss speaks with interviewer Rebecca Rushfield about three girlfriends he had while attending Queens College. Blauweiss explains how the end of his relationship with his first Queens College girlfriend involved him hitchhiking to Wisconsin and working at a carnival at the Illinois State Fair. Blauweiss' second Queens College girlfriend was Toni Cade Bambara, who later became a renowned writer; he specifically notes their experience as an inter-racial couple and the racial tensions that existed among his neighbors in Jackson Heights. Regarding his third Queens College girlfriend, Pam, Blauweiss explains how he unknowingly fathered a son with Pam before their breakup, Pam's decision to give their son away for adoption, and how he didn't meet his son until much later in life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the interview, Blauweiss also discusses his memories of growing up in Jackson Heights during World War II, his involvement in extracurricular activities at Queens College, his three marriages, and his thoughts about living into his 90s.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/107/small/Don_Blauweiss_Portrait_copy.jpg?1764798372","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - blauweiss_don_20250707_edit.mp4"]},"duration":4206.6,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/107/small/Don_Blauweiss_Portrait_copy.jpg?1764798372","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/298/107/original/blauweiss_don_20250707_edit.mp4?1764796841","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":4206.6,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript (July 7, 2025) [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Anyway, let me just do the official thing. And anyway... Today is Monday, July 7th, 2025. It's about twelve-thirty in the afternoon. I'm Rebecca Rushfield. I'm interviewing Don Blauweiss -- and I'm probably pronouncing your name wrong -- for the...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=0.0,21.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: You did it perfectly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=21.0,22.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=22.0,23.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: You must have some German background.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=23.0,25.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. [laughs] For the Queens College portion of the Queens Memory Project of the Queens Library System. OK. Well, we're interviewing you first, because you're a Queens College graduate, but secondly, because you've lived in Queens a good portion of your life and you've had an interesting life. So, you grew up in Jackson Heights? What was Jackson Heights like then? Was it much more sub[urban], gardenlike? I think when it was developed, it was supposed to be like a garden neighborhood in the city or something like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=25.0,67.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I lived in the last street on Jackson Heights before the next town, which was Woodside. In fact, I went to grade school in Woodside. Right behind my house was a railroad, and on the other side of that railroad was Woodside. Surrounding my house were lots. Huge lots, which is now the BQE [Brooklyn-Queens Expressway].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=67.0,88.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh! OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=88.0,90.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So if you know where that is, the BQE and Northern Boulevard, that's where I grew up. But when...I had the advantage of playing in the lots or in the street; at that time, the traffic wasn't so terrible, so you could play stickball in the street. And I loved stickball, so. And where...I lived in a two-family house. It was basically a residential neighborhood. Most of the houses right off Northern Boulevard -- and I was on 69th Street -- going up as far as the 90s, was all residential. On 34th Avenue -- I was between Northern and 34th Avenue; I'm sure you know these locations -- 34th Avenue as you went up was all apartment buildings. And as a matter of fact, there was a period there where I was delivering the Long Island paper to those buildings, so I really knew my way around. Came in handy when I had a girlfriend and I wanted to get on the roof. [both laugh]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=90.0,152.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So it wasn't a bad place to grow up in.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=152.0,155.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh no. It was a great place. I loved it. It was...my street, everybody on my street were like, aside from my family, were mostly immigrants. All of my friends were the children of immigrants. Irish, German, French and Italian. All the parents were born in Europe. So that was kind of an interesting background. And they were very, very diverse. The Irish guy worked for New York City subways. The Italian guy was a maintenance guy in the city. The French guy, of course, was a chef.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=155.0,201.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: But you grew up speaking English, and yet all of these friends, I guess had the advantage -- or maybe not-- of growing up in a house where they spoke other languages. But you ended up learning and speaking multiple...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=201.0,215.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, but I had the advantage of living in a lot of different countries. And also not just living, but let's say in Germany and Belgium I had a tutor. The Portuguese was a different thing. My second wife, who was that girlfriend across the street who I used to take up on the roof, my second wife was Brazilian. And when we got back together again as adults, I became very interested in Brazil and she was going to the world's first bossa nova concert.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=215.0,258.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Ahh.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=258.0,258.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I thought, well, I can wheedle my way in there. And I did. And I went, it was a place on Fifth Avenue called the Brazilian Government Trade Bureau.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=258.0,269.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh, I know where that was.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=269.0,270.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: You know it, really? Oh, that's unusual. Promoting business in Brazil. And they were giving free Portuguese lessons. I said, \"Free, I'll take it.\" I had already studied Spanish, and Portuguese and Spanish is virtually...Portuguese is like the old Spanish, but so many words are the same.The grammar is the same. And so it was very easy for me to pick it up. I don't know, I sent that article from Queens Magazine about failing Spanish [Note: see article in supplemental file], that there's life after Spanish, and...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=270.0,309.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. But to go back a little bit -- this is fascinating -- growing up as a kid in Jackson Heights, did you ever imagine that you would be living around the world, learning multiple languages, speaking them?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=309.0,323.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: That's a really interesting question. I'll tell you why. Because my father had a passion about travel, but he never left the country. He did travel across...he was one of the first American diamond cutters in this country. He grew up in an orphan asylum, and a guy came in and said, \"Any of you boys want to learn how to cut diamonds?\" And he and his brother went and he learned to cut diamonds. And then during the war, my sister actually became, my youngest sister became a diamond cutter because the men were all at the war. His nephew, who was also serving in the war, when he came back, my father set up a diamond-cutting studio or workshop, I should say, in the garage, and taught him for many months diamond cutting. And then all his kids now today are still, if you go on Fifth Avenue and 47th Street, you'll see the name Blauweiss. And then one of my cousins opened a place in Colorado, and it's called Fifth Avenue, Fifth Avenue Jewelry.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=323.0,391.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So, it was a ...but, and also my father's sisters -- for women, was unusual at the time -- they used to travel across the country. These were older, you know, adult women. And my mother, who was very much of a homebody, said, \"They're just a couple of gypsies.\" In fact, when I was still at Queens, when I made my first trip to Europe, because I had a thing about wanting to travel...As a matter of fact, when I was 17, there was a guy on my block who was a captain of a transport ship. And he gave me a letter of introduction and told me, go down to Brooklyn, and if you want to get -- I wanted to get seaman's papers. And I thought, that would be one way to travel. And I went down to Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, and it was one of these things, \"Look kid, the first thing we're going to do is take able-bodied seamen and then we're going to take veterans, and you're not even on the list.\" So, I gave that up. But when I was just in my senior year -- I hadn't graduated yet -- my best friend and I made a plan very spontaneously to go to Europe. We went for about two and a half months. It cost me a fortune -- $600 [note: equivalent to approximately $7,155 in 2025] -- for two and a half months. That I had, every summer, I had worked in -- every summer except that summer that I went to Europe. But every summer since high school, I was working in the Borscht Belt in the Catskills.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=391.0,489.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: As a waiter?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=489.0,490.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: No, if I was a waiter, I would've had made a fortune! I was a counselor, so I did sports and crafts. So I didn't make a lot of money, but I also worked like in Christmas at the post office. I worked at the Sanitation Department shoveling snow. Odd jobs like that. So I managed to accumulate about $700, and it cost me $600 to spend two months in Europe.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=490.0,518.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: And did you...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=518.0,518.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I think that would take about maybe two days now. I just got back recently, in fact.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=518.0,523.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh. And you spent...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=523.0,524.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: [laughs] My wife and I, we did one lunch, I think was $300.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=524.0,534.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Yeah. So wait, so you went in about 19...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=534.0,540.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I went to Europe the first time in 1955 and graduated in '56.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=540.0,545.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So that was fairly soon after the war. Were places still pretty...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=545.0,552.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Mostly London was still, there were still places that were bombed out, unbelievably. Don't forget, that was 10 years after the war. But in London there were still things bombed out, and people were still like...it was very...like, at that time, I was traveling with my friend and we both smoked, and I asked a guy for a light. And he said, \"I'm very low on petrol.\" For a cigarette lighter. I mean, that's how things were there. Everything was very tight. Europe was a little better, but the food portions were very small and things like that. So there was evidence of \"after the war.\" Yeah, much more so in London than the rest of the place. I only got to France, Switzerland and Italy. Oh, and Spain -- but during a couple of months. So I had a chance to spend at least several weeks in each place.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=552.0,606.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That must have been a wonderful experience.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=606.0,609.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: It was. It was life-changing. It was one of those life-changing things where I knew I wanted to go, but I had no idea how profound it would be. And it just made me want to do it more. And, it's very strange though, because every company I worked for, I mean every major company -- Doyle Dane Bernbach sent me to Germany, Ogilvy \u0026 Mather sent me to Brazil, Benton \u0026 Bowles -- and these are all major advertising guys -- sent me to Belgium. And it's like, \"Why? Why did they ask me all the time? Was something written on my face?\" I mean...but of course it was perfect. And I must've been emanating something.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=609.0,654.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, I know in one case, the Ogilvy case. I got called down. I was working on, exclusively on Mercedes-Benz. I did not like that agency. And I especially did not like...the guy I originally was working with left the agency. And I was shunted over to some other department, and I hated the guy I was working for. So I was looking around constantly for a new job. While that was happening, the president of the agency calls me to his office. Uh, oh. He says -- and, on my application, I probably put down Portuguese as a language. He says, \"I understand you speak Portuguese. We need some help in Brazil. Can you go?\" And, I had already had an interview for another job, and when I went there, they said, \"Can you start immediately? We'd like to...\" I said, \"Well, I promised my company that I was going to go to Brazil.\" You know, like I was doing, I was being the loyal. So that worked two ways. One, it got me to Brazil, and two, it got me in favor of this new job.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=654.0,729.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. Can we go back a bit? I'm curious how you got into advertising. Did you study communications at Queens College? [DB shakes his head \"no.\"] Nothing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=729.0,739.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: No; high school. Everything I know, everything I do today --and I'm still doing it -- I learned in high school. Aside from the computer. But even that came from my high school indirectly -- many years later. I used to go back periodically -- and this was after I came back from Belgium -- I went back to the original agency. I went to Doyle Dane Bernbach, which was the mecca of creative advertising. And I was a little pissed off with Benton \u0026 Bowles. I really didn't particularly want to leave Belgium at that point. And they had lost some business. Originally they wanted to send me back actually a year earlier because they lost a big piece of business and they got a big piece of business in Germany. So they said, \"We'd like you to go to Frankfurt.\" I said, \"I don't want to go to Frankfurt.\" So they said, \"Well, then you have to go back to New York.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=739.0,793.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And I had a fit. I got on the phone...You don't do this in the corporate world, but I called New York and I made a scene. And they said, \"Well, what do you want? What would make you happy?\" I said, \"I want a minimum of another year.\" I said, \"However, I understand the problem is financial. I've suddenly become too expensive for Belgium, and you want to send me to Germany.\" I said, \"But...\" And I was already working, I was already going to Germany and Amsterdam anyway, periodically. I said, \"But, you can send me anywhere in Europe. Split up my salary among several countries, if that helps.\" They gave me that. They gave me -- I don't know how they paid me -- but they gave me the extra year. And when I got back, I was still a little ticked off at them, and I was thinking about looking elsewhere. And before I could look anywhere, I get a call from Doyle Dane, my original agency, and [they] said, \"Hey, we just set up...\" -- and I had worked for them in Germany -- and they said, \"We just set up...\" And that was their first office, and now they were around the world. And they said, \"We just set up an international division. Would you be interested in coming back?\" And I said, \"Oh yeah. Definitely.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=793.0,873.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I spent the next couple of years there and much to my --and I was hoping to go into my retirement from there. And I thought that would be great. I was making a very good salary and I loved... And I had a wonderful partner who was also one of the great B-to-B copywriters. And we traveled together everywhere. It's not always possible that you're going to have that kind of chemistry. In fact, we were traveling a lot to Spain and doing that Spanish campaign that I referred to in the Queens Magazine. And after the first year of doing it, we told the client, \"You know, we need some stimulation.\" \"No worries! We'll send you for a month, and you'll stay all over and we'll keep you in all kinds of castles and places.\" So I said, \"Well, if it's going to be a month, we're taking our wives.\" And fortunately -- that could be a disaster -- fortunately, the chemistry was wonderful. And it was like the '60s. We rented a Volkswagen bus and traveled all over Spain in an orange bus.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=873.0,939.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Can I get back to high school? But you went to what's now...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=939.0,943.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Art and Design. At the time it was called School of Industrial Art. They had about 10 or 12 different specialties. Everything from cartooning to illustration, photography, fashion -- fashion illustration, fashion design. The main course in those days was advertising, which was my major. What's interesting is that my son went there like 20 years later, and they weren't even teaching advertising. And anyway, I told him not to take advertising. I said, take filmmaking. And he's a filmmaker now. He's working actually on a full-length documentary. And he's now just moved to Belgium.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=943.0,982.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh! OK. You learned everything...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=982.0,986.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I inadvertently caused the loss of my son.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=986.0,989.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: If you learned everything you needed to know in high school, you couldn't go get a job right from high school? And you decided...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=989.0,998.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Most of my classmates did that. I somehow, for some reason, I don't know, it must've been something about my family philosophy or something, felt I should go to college. And my high school was not academically oriented, so you didn't have to take anything except maybe English. But I took things like trigonometry and physics just in case I was going to go to college. And then the question was, well, but then where do I go? And I was thinking about Cooper Union, but I didn't get into Cooper Union at that point. And two of my classmates who were not particularly good artists, and they were living in the Bronx and they were going to Brooklyn College. I said, \"Oh, well, I'll go to Brooklyn College too.\" And about six months later, somebody asked me, \"Why did you go to Brooklyn College when you live in Queens?\" I said, \"Well, they have a very good art department.\" And they did have some good artists. And somebody said, \"Well, Queens has a good art department too.\" I immediately switched to Queens. It was an hour and a half each way on the subway that I was saving. It was a huge difference.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=998.0,1067.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So who were some of the people in the art department who you took, worked with, or...in Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1067.0,1073.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Queens? Barse Miller. A guy by the name of Barse Miller was a watercolorist. Ironically, these days, the only thing I do is watercolor. Although when I was at Cooper...I was very torn when I...from Queens, I went directly into Cooper. And that was a five-year stint. It was because it was at night. And when I was at Cooper, I was starting to think of myself, \"You know what? Maybe I'm really more of a painter.\" And I was an abstract expressionist. And so I was working in large oil paintings. And then when I moved to Germany in the, about 10 years later -- no, wait a minute, no, about five years later, I moved to Germany. I didn't have any place to paint anymore, so I switched to watercolor. Instead of large oil paintings, I was working on watercolors. And then I got into the habit of doing watercolors, even to today, only when I travel and only on location. [Note: See examples of Blauweiss' abstract and watercolor paintings in supplemental files.] So, Barse Miller was the watercolor teacher, and there was a guy by the name of Blechenheimer, a German or Austrian guy who was teaching things like woodcutting and graphics. And I still have some of those. And he was very good. Oh, one of the most influential guys on me was John Ferren, who was an abstract expressionist. He had lived in Europe for a couple of years. He spoke French. And that attracted me. I just felt like that's something I think I'd like to do is live in Europe and learn the language.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1073.0,1180.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Did you do any art history when you were there? Or you...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1180.0,1183.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, yes. Yes. What's her name? One of the buildings on campus is named after her. Can't think of her name right now. Actually, I had...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1183.0,1203.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Godwin?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1203.0,1204.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: What, say again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1204.0,1206.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Frances Godwin?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1206.0,1207.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Godwin! Godwin, yes. A very profound lesson from Godwin. [Note: The Godwin-Ternbach Museum is located in Klapper Hall on the Queens College campus.] Trying to think. I think -- oh no, there was also another, there was a guy. For a number of years he was founder of the Folk Art Museum right next to the Museum of Modern Art. And I can't think of his name right now either. [Note: Robert Goldwater, first director of the Museum of Primitive Art, taught at Queens College from 1939 to 1956.]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1207.0,1235.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1235.0,1237.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But yeah, Godwin and him were both terrific, terrific art teachers. But I had a very profound lesson from... I've had a few of these experiences in life, and the fact that this has stuck with me. And the other one was at Cooper. We come into class. We're studying, I think it was Greek and Roman art at that point. And she says, \"Does anybody know why this figure is lifting this other figure off the ground?\" And it was a very significant reason. It completely robbed him...I guess there were two gods or Greek gods or something, but when one of them was lifted off the ground, he lost his power. So there was a very significant story behind it. None of us checked into that. And she dismissed the whole class because nobody knew anything about it. In other words, you have to have more initiative in checking these things out.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1237.0,1295.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And it was an incredible lesson. The other lesson was when I was at Cooper, I was studying with this fairly well-known artist, also. Morris Kantor. And I'm slashing away at the canvas. You know, throwing the paint like a good abstract expressionist. And he's standing behind me, had a little bit of a Yiddish accent. And he says, \"Mr.\" He says, \"You're not making it better. You're just making it different.\" And that, again, was a very profound lesson which I've had a chance to pass on as a...I think you also know that I've taught for many years myself. Twenty-five years in total.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1295.0,1338.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So, as a child, did you draw? Paint? Do...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1338.0,1343.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Started in the third grade. I have one of the pieces that a teacher who I had a kind of crush on when I was in the third grade, Mrs. Pfeffer. She had me do the cover. She was doing like a newsletter, and I still have that. [Note: See newsletter cover in supplemental file.] I should have sent that along with my article. The Third Grade, it was called The Third Grade News. And she had me do that. If there was a...we used to do this once a year, a big festival in the gym. And everybody, every class had a section of the gym. And our class had a mural. Of course, I did the mural. So I star[ted]...and then nothing happened, particularly in the fourth grade. I was already having trouble reading. I was in the special remedial reading group, and I had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. De Young, in my fourth grade teacher. But in the fifth grade, Mrs. Mason, who used to come in and take her shoes off and put moccasins on and put her feet up on the desk, and other teachers looked askance at all of that. But she had, she made a very profound...And teachers, I wonder if they realize how profound some of the things they do and say are. Because in my notebook, whether it was geography or history, I would accompany it with illustrations. If it was the Revolutionary War or if it was a map of the United States or whatever. And she calls in the principal, and she says, \"I have to show you this notebook.\" And I mean, just the fact that I'm talking about this like...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1343.0,1445.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Years later.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1445.0,1446.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Eighty years. More than 70. Eighty-five years later, or more than that. The point is that these things are profound. These little gestures are profound. Whether it was doing the cover for Third Grade News, or whether it was the principal. And then, of course, when I got into the sixth grade...And I just wonder if teachers do these things like this anymore. Like create newsletters and things like that, because it's so much extra time involved.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1446.0,1481.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I don't know if they have the time anymore. They're so busy with the...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1481.0,1484.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I know. That's why it is amazing to me that I experienced those things. In the sixth grade, Mrs. Greenblatt wrote a play based on current events and I got to play... My best friend and I had the two most major roles. George Rooney, who... he's passed. He also, we also wound up connecting again at Queens College -- although he was on all the sports teams, and he was an officer in the ROTC. I was just a, I had just started. And so we never got really that close, but we were very close in the sixth grade. And he had a role of moderator. So he was on there constantly. And the other big part was President Truman, which was my role. And just the fact that we were both pals and we both had the leading parts. And it was an interesting thing that happened at that time also. Again, one of these profound experiences.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1484.0,1554.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Originally the teacher had chosen another kid to play Truman and I had some minor role. And he was out sick. And then he came, and then he came back and it's like, what do you do? He was supposed to play the part. Meanwhile, I've learned the part. So the teacher lets the class decide. She says, \"You both perform the part and let the class decide.\" And the class picked me. And then I turned around and said, \"Look. There are going to be three performances. Why don't I do the two upper levels and let him do, at least play one of the parts?\" And she turns around and hugs me in front of the class. It's like these things you don't forget. It's incredible. The profound effect that a teacher can have. And they were all women.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1554.0,1608.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1608.0,1609.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: What about that? Also, the fact that the other most influential people in my life were my three sisters. All significantly older than me. My older sister was 17 years older than me. The next one was 15, and the next one was eight years older than me. And like we were almost, virtually, they could have been my...one of them, two of them could have been my mother. And my mother probably had my oldest sister when she was 17 or 18.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1609.0,1644.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: And you, when she was 30 something,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1644.0,1646.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I was 36, she was 36 when I was born. And I don't know if it was planned. My suspicion is...I mean, I know my father was very happy to get a boy. And of course, naturally everybody called me the prince.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1646.0,1664.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It's funny because I have four granddaughters, and they just had a boy. Though they're close in age, but, he's going to be the prince, I have a feeling.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1664.0,1675.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, it's interesting because my son has a daughter, and he, when he moved to Belgium, he moved there with his partner with a three-year-old son. So I've got a three-year-old grandson who's my youngest grandchild, who I'm probably not going to get to know that well. Right now I'm working on a time capsule for him, because I never knew my grandfathers. I only knew one grandmother and she hardly spoke English. I don't think we ever had a conversation. So, anyway...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1675.0,1709.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So elementary school was very important. I see the...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1709.0,1714.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: It was a great place. It was a great... [DB's phone rings.] I'm sorry. Let me just. [Speaks on phone.]. OK. My nephew.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1714.0,1728.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. As important in your life, or...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1728.0,1736.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Sorry, say again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1736.0,1737.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Was your high school as important in life? I know high school was important. Elementary seems to have had many important...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1737.0,1742.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: High school was tremendously important. I mean, it's the basis of my career, and it was a great place. It was...Have you ever seen the movie \"Fame\"? That was my high school. Totally off-beat. Full of artists. Nobody would follow the rules. It was a great place. And it was in the city. My other choice, my other choice was to go to Bryant High [in Astoria], which is all my classmates were going to Bryant High. And I just didn't want to do that. And I didn't even have a reason at the time. As a matter of fact, the influence of my older sister: I didn't want to go to Bryant High because that's where everyone was going. It was the local high school. One of, my youngest sister had gone, graduated there. And so I decided -- I was crazy about airplanes -- so I decided that I'm going to go to Brooklyn Tech and become an aeronautical engineer. I probably would've never gotten into Brooklyn Tech, but never mind that. And my sister said, \"You're not that good at math, but you draw a lot. Why don't you go to an art school?\" Oh, OK. That's how I wound up in...it's like how I wound up at Brooklyn College. It's like, \"Are you going?\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1742.0,1823.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Your sisters had more of an influence on you than your parents?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1823.0,1828.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Different. Different. The fact that they were younger, hipper, they knew about things. My oldest sister was very involved with politics. Influenced me in my whole political career. At some point, I was a professional politician, in fact. You probably got that information. Only, primarily in Queens. Although now I'm going to -- every chance I get -- protests. Tomorrow night, I'm going to be making phone calls to Wisconsin. It just doesn't go away. And I feel everybody should be doing it. And unfortunately, most people don't even know what was in the \"big beautiful bill\" [Note: Bill defining Trump Administration's core tax and spending agenda; signed into law on July 4, 2025.] So it's aggravating to me to find that people are very ignorant and making choices about something they know nothing about or are not properly schooled in.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1828.0,1885.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: When you were at Queens College, that was a little before the civil rights period and the activism there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1885.0,1897.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Just on the edge. My first experience was immediately after I graduated. I went to the very first march on Washington with Martin Luther King. And there were only a couple of thousand people. And then the following week, however, he was invited to the Stephen Wise Synagogue on the West Side. And he gave the same speech about love -- philia, eros and agape -- the three Greek words for love, and the different kinds of love that there are. And that was his speech in Washington and his speech at the synagogue. [In] '63, as you know, there were like, I don't know, half a million people. And I went to that with my best friend, Stanley. And he was, Stanley was the guy I traveled to Europe with the first time. And he just chose the wrong kind of cancer and never made it to 30. Ironically, I got the same kind of cancer. Only they had the cure.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1897.0,1969.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: As a matter of fact, it was interesting. When I was at Sloan Kettering, they asked me to go on a trial, and I said, \"Why are you doing a trial? You have a cure.\" Well, we found out -- and I realized afterwards because of Stanley -- that most people, it was Hodgkin's, and most people who get Hodgkin's are in their 20s and 30s. He never made it even to 30. And I said, \"Yeah, but why now?\" And she said, \"Because we discovered that most people in their 80s -- which I was at the time, 10 years ago -- don't tolerate chemo very well.\" Although I never had a problem with it. But, it worked. Whatever.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=1969.0,2017.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. But they didn't have treatments when you were in your 30s.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2017.0,2022.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah, well...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2022.0,2024.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: When he was in his 20s.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2024.0,2026.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah. Yeah. When Stan was in his 20s, they didn't have a cure. I guess it was something new. I mean, they're constantly finding cancers. We won't be finding too many cancers anymore for the immediate, because of the research that's been eliminated now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2026.0,2049.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Yeah. So, if I can get back to your earlier days...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2049.0,2053.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Get back to whatever you want.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2053.0,2054.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. So you graduate from Queens College and you decide you're going to Cooper Union to really do a design, adver[tising]...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2054.0,2063.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Not design, actually. At Cooper, I never did...well, the most significant thing about Cooper was, in my freshman year, there's a basic design course. But it's not, it's not like graphic design, it's basic design. And the teacher -- and I don't know why he did this; again, these weird things that happen to you, and you can't explain it. The teacher who was at the agency that I thought I wanted to be at, a pharmaceutical agency. Pharmaceuticals were doing the best design at that particular time. Late '50s and '60s. And he was at the agency that I wanted to be at. And he comes over to me, just to me, instead of announcing it to the class. One of the world-famous designers was a teacher at Cooper Union, and I knew his work because I had seen it in magazines and so on. And I thought...his name was Rudy de Harak. And he said, he comes over to me and he says, \"Rudy de Harak is looking for an assistant.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2063.0,2129.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Why is he just telling me? Why isn't he telling the class? So I call him and he said, \"Oh,\" he says, \"I just hired somebody.\" And I said, \"I'd like to show you my portfolio.\" Only I didn't have a portfolio. And I spent the next two weeks not only making the stuff that goes in the portfolio, but buying the leather thing that carried the stuff in. And I call him up and he said, \"Ah,\" he said, \"It's too late.\" I said, \"Well, I just did all this stuff.\" I said, \"Could you just do a, give me a critique?\" And he lived on the Upper West Side. I went up to his apartment and he hired me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2129.0,2174.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I don't know what happened to the guy who was told he had the job. And he was starting something new, something completely different. He partnered with a...He was already a famous designer, world famous, and he partnered with a photographer who was nowhere near world famous, and they were trying to create a whole new thing. And his wife was repping him. She was going out trying to sell their work that they were doing together. And the photographer had a studio in a brownstone on 56th Street. And that's where I was working. And she would come in every day completely depressed. And I could understand it later, how difficult that must have been that she was showing this stuff and nothing was happening. And after a few months, he said, \"Hey, I can't afford you.\" But we remained friends until he died. So, Rudy was a huge influence on me in many ways. He moved to Maine. Every time...and then he started becoming a fine artist. He was doing this very kind of Josef Albers, very hard-edge, abstract art. And every time he had a show, he would invite me. He had a guest house in Maine, and I would go up there and... [RR's phone rings]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2174.0,2262.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: He had this wonderful house that he had built and a guest house on a river in Maine. And we stayed in touch until he died, so...it was a huge influence in terms of design. Other than that, I thought of myself really the whole time I was at Cooper while I was working at a place like Doyle Dane Bernbach...Oh, as a matter of fact, Doyle Dane had so many influences. I mean, Cooper had so many influences. I was taking the basic courses at Cooper, and some guy in my class says, \"Hey.\" And because I didn't know if I wanted to be a designer, a graphic designer, or go more towards fine art, so I was doing things like book jackets and package design and things like. Not advertising. Some guy in my class comes to me, he says, \"Hey, if you're freela[ncing].\" And I was freelancing. So he said, \"If you're freelancing, why don't you come and meet my boss?\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2262.0,2316.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I said, \"Sure. Who's your boss?\" So I go up and show my portfolio to this guy. I have no idea where I am. It's Doyle Dane Bernbach, the mecca of creative advertising. I had never heard of the place. The guy looks at my portfolio, he says, \"You want a job here?\" And I go, \"Yeah, I'll try it.\" Of course, that shaped the...Oh, and then 20 years later, I run into him at -- every year, Cooper does an art show -- I run into him at the art show, and I hadn't seen him in years. I said, \"Murray, what are you doing at Cooper?\" He says, \"What do you mean?\" He says, \"I went here too.\" So maybe that had some influence on him inviting me to join Doyle Dane. But, when you think back on all these little things, is it luck? Is it chance? The things that shape your life are amazing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2316.0,2373.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. So you went, started working at Doyle Dane. What were the big accounts you were on? Or you...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2373.0,2381.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Volkswagen. Everybody worked on Volkswagen. Avis, Ohrbach's. I can't remember. Those were the main ones. And then when I went to Germany, the office -- that was the first office that was opened there -- and the guy who opened the office was a copywriter. He's the guy. And we started at Doyle Dane at exactly the same time. And then when I was working in Brussels, he was working in Frankfurt for another major agency. And when I would go to Frankfurt, we would have lunch. So he was probably the guy who told the folks at Doyle Dane that I was back from Europe. And he was my partner. And he was just one of the best copywriters ever. And he was also a fantastic partner, so...He would, especially when we would go to Spain a lot together, we would be staying at the Ritz Hotel. He was a drinker. I was never much of a drinker, but I'd hang out in the bar with him at night and he would regale me with stories. By the way, if you're interested, he put them in a book called \"Playing in Traffic on Madison Avenue.\" His name is David Herzbrun. It's an incredibly entertaining book, whether you're in advertising or not.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2381.0,2457.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK, thanks. I'm writing it down.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2457.0,2460.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: OK. \"Playing in Traffic on Madison Avenue.\" David Herzbrun. H-E-R-Z-B-R-U-N. And unfortunately, he died way too soon, as so many of my friends have. It's a problem when you have longevity.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2460.0,2477.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Yes. So what was it like? You went to Germany in the '60s?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2477.0,2483.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: '66. '66 to '69.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2483.0,2486.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. So it was still a split...it was split in Berlin. Were you in Berlin or you were in a different city?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2486.0,2494.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Say again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2494.0,2495.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Which city were you in when you were in Germany?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2495.0,2498.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, Dusseldorf. It was a very cool city. Much more interesting. That's why I didn't want to go to Frankfurt, because I had been to Frankfurt enough to know that I didn't want to live there. Dusseldorf was a very hip town, very artistic and fashion-oriented. And it was much smaller. And I lived just right off the Rhine. Right across the Rhine.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2498.0,2521.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So was it hard coming back to the U.S. after being in Europe working?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2521.0,2526.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yes. Yes. Interesting question. How did you even think that? Yes. I went into a kind of depression and I said, what's going on here? Why am I getting depressed over coming back to my own country? And I didn't understand it. So, when I came back from Belgium, I didn't go directly to New York. I went to Florida, which is ironic because I had a lot of family there. All my sisters were there. And Diane and I, my wife, were sitting on the beach and it starts getting cloudy. And a guy, a guy comes out and he said, \"You want to hear about some timeshares?\" And I said, \"Well, what the hell? The weather's not nice here now. Let's get off the beach. We'll have a cup of coffee.\" Four hours later, five hours later, we own a timeshare. And this week we gave as a gift to one of our Belgian kids, who also happens to be our IT guy. Genius. Genius with a computer. In fact, when he was in his teenage, he hacked into the biggest bank in Belgium before there were rules and laws. His friends did them later, and they went to jail. But instead, they hired him and put him in charge of security, where he spent 11 years. Which was very smart. Now he's chief technical officer for one of the larger...Do you watch a show called \"The Voice\"?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2526.0,2621.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Yes. I've watched it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2621.0,2622.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So that's their show. That's a Belgian -- they're in 40 countries.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2622.0,2628.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2628.0,2628.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I spoke to him this morning and he just sent some photos of...he said thank you. We gifted him one of our timeshares for him, him and his family. Because he does so much. And I don't know what I would do without him. If I have a computer problem, I call him. \"Bart, you know this...\" Or I'll email him something. He'll be, \"Go to bed. It'll be fixed in the morning.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2628.0,2655.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2655.0,2656.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: It's wonderful. It's wonderful having these connections and relationships.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2656.0,2661.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: When you came back to the U.S., you lived in Whitestone?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2661.0,2665.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yes. After Germany, yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2665.0,2669.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's nice. You were on the water or not?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2669.0,2672.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: On the water. Exactly. One of the buildings is exactly on the water. There are 32 buildings, and building 32 has its own beach. And I had lived in Whitestone -- not in that building -- before. And then my first wife, who I remained very close with because we had a son and we never had an acrimonious relationship, I called her and I said, \"You think there's anything that...?\" And she called and she said, \"There's an apartment right in building 32,\" which was the premier building. And she helped me get that apartment. And we remained close until her end. She spent her last couple of weeks actually with us. We would actually...My wife, who's a type A, she doesn't walk anywhere. She runs everywhere. And she was running around taking care of my ex-wife, and she took a fall and broke her hip. And then two or three weeks later....and then, so, I had to bring her back to her apartment in the city. And her other stepkids were taking care of her. They were very, very good. And a couple of weeks later she died. She was dealing with a lot of stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2672.0,2755.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's wonderful that you had such a pleasant relationship.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2755.0,2759.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: With both, with both ex-wives. This is my third wife.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2759.0,2762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh, OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2762.0,2766.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: There's no standing still here. But now I've been married since...Well, we got married in '87, but we've been together since 1980. So that's...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2766.0,2775.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/116","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's quite a long time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2775.0,2777.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/117","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Quite a long time this one, yeah. But, when we got married and we bought a house in Bronxville, I said, \"I'd like to have...\" The first one was a Holocaust survivor, Greta, and the second one was the Brazilian one, and her name was Alba. And I said to my wife, Diane, I said, \"I'd like to have Greta and Alba over for Christmas.\" And she says -- I don't want to tell you the words she used, but -- \"No way, no effing way. My parents would not understand that.\" Her father was a fireman from Brooklyn and very conservative Catholic, and...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2777.0,2822.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/118","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: He didn't mind that she was marrying a twice-divorced man?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2822.0,2826.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/119","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yes, he did. As a matter of fact, when she came, I lured her away because in 1980, before I moved to Belgium, the agency came and said, can you go to Belgium for a month? And I said, sure. When I got back, they said, they want you back, but they want you to stay. I said, oh, I've got leverage here. You don't usually have that kind of leverage in the corporate world. So I said, and I said something you don't say in the corporate world. I said, \"Well, I'll go if my girlfriend wants to go.\" So not only that, but you got to give her French lessons. We have two separate apartments in Manhattan. You'll have to move both of us. Oh, and by the way, I want you to send... She was, at that point -- we had been working at the same agency, and she left to take a job at American Express -- she was a marketing director for American Express Travelers Cheques, and she was on the fast track. So, she had every reason not to leave that job. And so I had to lure her. And also the fact she's Catholic. It was a conflict. We're not married. I'm asking her to go live with me in another country. And they bought it all.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2826.0,2905.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/120","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But she pulled off something that was extraordinary because one of my kids, the one that we spent this past weekend -- he just became a grandfather, so we just celebrated my great-grandchild, my youngest great-grandchild's, first birthday over the weekend. But at the time he was living in London. When he was living with us in Dusseldorf, I gave him a camera, and this is like my teacher's saying to the principal, look at my book. Those kind of things that...I said, \"Here's a camera.\" I said, \"Why don't you become the class photographer?\" Of course, in addition to that, in those days I was working on Volkswagen and I would be traveling to the south of France or wherever looking for roads to shoot on and so on. And I would take him and my other son, who's the other one in Belgium, who's a graphic designer and a filmmaker. I would take them both with me. And they both became artists of a type. One, a photographer, the other, a filmmaker, and a designer. And so...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2905.0,2975.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/121","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Can I ask for one second? Are you the only one of your siblings who's artistic? Are either of your parents, or...well, your father cut diamonds, so that's a visual...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2975.0,2985.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/122","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: That's really perceptive of you, because...He had a heart condition when he was in his 60s, and he was sitting around in his pajamas, spending the morning with his broker and reading the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. And by 11 o'clock he was all finished, and he's sitting in his pajamas all day. And I said, \"Dad, you can't do this.\" I came in with canvas and paint and brushes, and so he's like, \"What are you doing? I never held a brush in my life.\" I said -- we had a painting in the living room -- I said, \"Dad, paint that.\" I set up the easel in the living room. He painted that. I still have that painting. And then for a while, I was bringing him prints. You know, Cezanne, Picasso. Mostly French Impressionists kind of thing. And he was doing magnificent copies. And my son has a lot of those paintings now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=2985.0,3038.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/123","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And actually, then eventually he moved the easel to his bedroom, and he was painting away. And a cousin would come in and he would be painting. And he said, \"You know, it's amazing.\" He says, \"Time goes by. It's incredible. I don't even realize the time.\" Because he was dealing with a lot of boredom. And then the cousin would come in and say, \"Oh, Uncle Jack, could you make one for...?\" He'd make the same painting again. It didn't matter to him. It was the process that he loved. But then, recently, I was looking at some of his stuff and I said, \"Christ, he was really a terrific artist.\" He never believed it. He would always have, I'd say, \"Dad, this is great. This is great.\" And he said, \"Yeah, yeah, that and a dollar and a quarter. That and a quarter will get me on the subway.\" He never believed it, but then I realized -- and you nailed it before when you said diamond-cutting -- he's dealing with line, color and form, basically. Starting with a crude-looking stone, making it into this beautiful shape. So yes, that was basically the intrinsic elements of design.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3038.0,3108.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/124","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I'm sorry, I got you away from the other thing, but I was...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3108.0,3111.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/125","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, it doesn't matter. Anyway, let me ask you a question. Are you doing this a lot? Are you doing it with a lot of people?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3111.0,3120.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/126","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Yes, yes. Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3120.0,3123.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/127","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And are they people from that Zoom call or...? [Note: The Zoom call was a meeting of Queens College alumni to share their memories of college.]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3123.0,3126.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/128","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Some are from the Zoom call. Some are from other Zoom calls. Some are from just...other people have said, oh, they hear about the oral history project. They go, \"Oh, I'd like to be interviewed.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3126.0,3139.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/129","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah. Well, I never, you know, I just...Lori just contacted me after the Zoom call and said, \"Would you be willing to do an interview?\" Sure. Glad. Why not? I can tell stories.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3139.0,3153.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/130","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: You should write a book.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3153.0,3155.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/131","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, well, my granddaughter and my nephew are trying to get me to do that. And I just met a guy the other day, we were talking and he said, you should write a book. It's like, well...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3155.0,3166.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/132","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Or else your son should do a documentary sort of with you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3166.0,3172.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/133","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: My -- being more contemporary, my nephew's saying, let's put it on tape. Also, I'm the family historian. There's nobody left. At 91 there's nobody older than me. It's like a responsibility. So, I have been putting together a time capsule for my grandson in Belgium, because I probably won't get, I won't even get to his teenage. So, I have no idea anything about my grandfathers, either side. They were both gone by the time I came along. And in my case, I've done a lot, won a lot of awards. Designed things. And articles and things either by me or about me. So, I'm putting together a kind of a file that my son, if he chooses to, can say, \"Hey, this is who your grandfather was.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3172.0,3233.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/134","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Can I ask you, because you're such a good storyteller, did you have to do the presentations to the clients and convince them that this was the way to go?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3233.0,3243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/135","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yes, yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3243.0,3244.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/136","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So that's why you're so practiced at...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3244.0,3248.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/137","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, it was just part of the job. I never thought about it. And also, on LinkedIn I put myself on for creative director. I don't want a full-time job and I don't want it to be on location, but it's incredible how many jobs there are today that are remote all over the country. And one of the things that they talk about is you have to be able to stand up and present. And that's something I've always done.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3248.0,3283.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/138","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Speaking about what you're doing now, I noticed you seem to be specializing in high-end assisted living places. Did that just fall into place, or there was...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3283.0,3294.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/139","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: That's my wife. That's my wife. She is the world's greatest networker. She's a mover and shaker. We no longer live in Westchester, but for about 20 years, we have belonged to the Westchester Business Council, and she's what's called an ambassador. And everything she does, she does over the top. An ambassador is somebody who will hold your hand if you join the business council, for a year, and point you in the right direction, tell you what to do. And she's been Ambassador of the Year twice. And just recently, she also volunteers some time with an organization called Visions. And this is an organization that's been around for about a hundred years, and they help blind people with no cost. And she's done such a job helping them, that they've given her an award recently also. And everything she does, she does with intensity. When I walk into the business council and go to, I'm like the chauffeur. She doesn't drive at night, so...and of course I go in. And my problem is so many people say, \"Hi, Don.\" And I say, \"Oh, hi, how you doing?\" I can't remember the name. But when I'm with her, it's like walking in with the mayor. So she's gotten, those particular pieces of business have come from networking.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3294.0,3384.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/140","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Have you done pro bono advertising work for not-for-profits, or...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3384.0,3392.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/141","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I'm sure we have. I can't think. Well, I can't think of anything offhand. That's funny too, because I was just talking to her about, there was, and I can't even remember what it was, it was something, and I said, why don't we do that pro bono? And I don't even remember what it was, it was the last couple of weeks.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3392.0,3413.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/142","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: The other area, aside from what she brings in, is her brother was a mover and shaker in the security industry. Corporate security. And he's like a star there. And about almost 30 years ago, they were doing a newsletter, and he said, \"This is crap.\" You know, the printer was doing the design, and it was... \"We should turn this into a first-class magazine.\" And we got that assignment. We've been doing it for 28 years. They just stopped. [Note: See cover of Security Director magazine in supplemental file.] We were just about to start on the 29th issue right now because it has to be at the Javits Center in November. And we would start, let's say, maybe in August doing the magazine, because it would take me a couple of months. And so, because of the magazine and because she was the one, again, networking and connecting with security companies to get the advertising, meeting with them and so on, a lot of our business was in -- until the past year or so -- was in security.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3413.0,3483.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/143","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Our biggest client was a guy in Detroit who was making uniforms. We've had him for 15 years. We transformed his business through marketing, and last year he moved into much bigger quarters because he was doing so well. And then all of a sudden, we haven't heard from him -- with one exception. He decided to write a book about him and his business, but he wanted us in the book. So I said to Diane, I said, \"This isn't marketing.\" I said, \"We've been working with him for a long time, let's just do it for free.\" And she said, \"No, no, we're going to charge them $500.\" Which is not a very big fee, especially...and I'm thinking it's going to take us a couple hours. We spent 18 hours doing this, and we did 10 pages of the book -- which I still haven't seen. But yeah, so a lot was in, and probably in the next couple of months, we're going to create some pictures too, because we have a lot of names and contacts in the security industry. So we'll be looking for people in this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3483.0,3552.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/144","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I realize I've kept you for about an hour and I have calls to return, but is there anything else you want to talk about? Especially about your earlier years, your times in Queens? I have a question for you, which might take us off or nothing, but you went to Germany in the '60s. I saw from the pre-interview form that at least your parents are Jewish, whether you consider yourself that or not. Was it weird going there to live?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3552.0,3581.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/145","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: That's a funny question because, even when I bought a German camera, my sister said, \"How could you buy a German camera?\" Because I was into photography, obviously, at a very early stage. And then on top of that, made matters worse, my first car was a Volkswagen. I've had seven of them since. Now, I've long ago I've switched to BMW, but I still love Volkswagens. Although I love my BMW. It's 30 years old, 350,000 miles on it. It's a great car. Anyway, so she couldn't understand how I could buy major German products. And then she came over. She was the only one who came to visit me in Germany. And I was living in a two-family house, so I was living with the landlord. And she says, \"They're so nice.\" So everyone she met in Germany, she said, \"They're so nice.\" Everybody, I told her -- of course it wasn't true -- I said, \"Well, they were with the underground.\" And she said, \"Oh.\" But yeah, no, it was never an issue for me. Of course, I was always conscious of the issue, but I never experienced, never had a negative experience. And it was much more of an issue for my sister who was much older and lived through that period much more than I did as an adult. But no, and I still to this day have some...One of my friends from Frankfurt, one of the guys I used to work with when I was in Belgium, whenever I go to Belgium, he and I meet in Germany, but on the Belgian border in this wonderful little town.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3581.0,3682.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/146","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So yeah, I've never...I tried to always separate. It's like, what's happening here. You know, you can't...and I'm sort of annoyed with myself being...I told you I was very involved in politics. I ran for State Assembly and Senate as I think you know, and was very involved in organizing and so on. But, I'm sort of annoyed, but I am having a hard time getting past it. I have a couple of cousins -- actually a couple -- and the guy, we would meet at family gatherings. And he and I would go at each other for half an hour, but respectfully. And at the end of half an hour, he would look at his watch and he would say, \"OK, you're not going to convince me. I'm not going to convince you. Let's eat.\" And that was great. I thought that was great. We could have these exchanges. Except when George Floyd died, we were doing a Zoom call and he made a remark that made me so turned off to him that I haven't spoken to him since. He said, \"That's because Black people were in a kind of revolt at the time.\" And appropriately so. And he said, \"I've got some advice for the Blacks. They should just move on.\" And I thought that was so ignorant of not understanding where they are. What the history is. Where they are profoundly influenced by what happened 400 years ago. Still influenced by that today. And I just haven't been able to talk to him since then. I'm sort of pissed off at myself that I've allowed that to get in the middle, in the way of a family relationship. But it's hard.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3682.0,3798.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/147","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. Well, anyway, it's been wonderful speaking with you. This has been fascinating.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3798.0,3803.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/148","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Thank you. Wonderful speaking with you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3803.0,3805.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/149","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: We could go on for hours, and I really hope you write that book.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3805.0,3809.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/150","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: By the way, I'll try to do something because one of the things I...well, it's not exactly in line with that, but one of the things I said when my youngest little grandson was born, I said to my granddaughter, I said, \"Don't think because you're 17 years older than him that you're not going to have a relationship.\" It's a little hard now that he's living abroad. But I said, \"My sister was 17 years older than me, and her influence was profound.\" And by the way, she was getting married, she was working. I didn't see her all the time either. But believe me, you can be an influence. So she, she's already been there. Anyway, thank you so much for this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3809.0,3851.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/151","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Some other time can we speak about your teaching? Because I realize we didn't touch on that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3851.0,3857.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/152","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3857.0,3858.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/153","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Unless, do you have 15 more minutes now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3858.0,3860.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/154","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah, whatever you need. Yeah, yeah. I have until 3 o'clock. I have to be somewhere. Well, apropos of the teaching, how it's helped me, in addition to teaching for 25 years -- five years at Pratt and 20 years at...and The New School is kind of a funny story because I taught there for 10 years and I moved to Belgium. When I came back, I got a call from The New School -- actually Parsons -- from a guy from Cooper and said, \"Hey, how about coming back and teaching a course again?\" I said, \"I can't do the nighttime thing anymore. I just don't want to do it.\" \"No, no. It'll be during the day.\" I said, \"Al, I have a job.\" He said, \"The class is from 12 to 3. You come a little late, you leave a little early.\" I did it for 10 years. But the other thing how what goes around comes around, is after I had come back from Belgium, I told you I spent a lot of time in Spain and I had done this very successful campaign with my partner and I did a slideshow, and periodically I would go back to my high school and do a talk or a show.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3860.0,3933.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/155","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And I was doing this slideshow on the Spanish campaign, and a teacher comes up to me, he says, \"Do you use typography?\" I said, \"Of course.\" I was still using cut and paste things. And he says, \"Can you come with me?\" And the school's on 56th Street. So we went around the corner to a little studio apartment. There's three guys on little Macintosh computers. You know, the little ones. I have more on my thumb drive than that computer had. So he says, \"We're doing typography here.\" He says, \"If you need typography.\" So I gave him a couple of assignments and it was fine. It was less than I was paying downtown. And he says, \"I'll tell you what.\" He said -- he was the computer teacher, of course -- and he says, \"I'll teach you the computer if you teach me advertising.\" He had a couple of little accounts that he needed some help with. I was living in Bronxville. He was living in the Bronx 10 minutes away. Shows up with a computer, a printer, a modem. Changed my life. I mean, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing today if it weren't for being on the computer, because obviously, it's a computer world.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=3933.0,4002.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/156","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: By the way, one last thing. I don't know if I told you or if you saw it somewhere, but -- because of the comment you made about telling stories -- our tagline for Blauweiss Advertising is, \"Your Story. Told Better.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4002.0,4019.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/157","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: [Laughs] That's great. That's great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4019.0,4023.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/158","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah. Anyway, this has been delightful. Anytime. Where can I see the other ones?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4023.0,4034.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/159","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Google \"Queens Memory.\" Queens Library, Queens Memory, and you'll find the ones that are finished and online.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4034.0,4043.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/160","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: There's something coming up again in a couple of weeks and I sent in some photos and things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4043.0,4050.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/161","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4050.0,4050.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/162","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: To join in that. It's great, it's great. It's so great to be part of it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4050.0,4057.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/163","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: No, it's great to meet you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4057.0,4059.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/164","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Same.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4059.0,4060.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/165","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It's a great thing doing interviews. You meet interesting people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4060.0,4063.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/166","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: By the way, this is the third Queens thing I've had in about two weeks. One was I went to the Louis Armstrong event in Corona a couple of weeks ago. And then we had the Zoom call. And then this thing. It's been great. So I feel regenerated for Queens College because most of my time has really been involved, because I've been so involved always with the Cooper Union, president of the Alumni...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4063.0,4090.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/167","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Armstrong House -- that needs a better, I think, advertising campaign because most people who live here in Queens don't know that it's there. Maybe that's something you can offer your services to.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4090.0,4101.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/168","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Absolutely. Who would I talk to? Oh, you know what? The day I was there, we did a tour of the house and there was this guy on a tour with me. And then when we went to, they were having dinner, the president, President Wu was giving a lecture and they had a trio playing. And then the guy who knows everything about Armstrong was there with some stuff. And he came by and I was sitting alone and he said, \"Can I join you?\" And it turned out he was the chairman of the Music Department and we had such a wonderful conversation. It was really, really lovely. And the whole day was wonderful. So yeah, I'd be happy to do anything. Obviously pro bono for Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4101.0,4146.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/169","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Alright, then.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4146.0,4147.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/170","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I'll find out. Maybe I'll talk to the music chairman. .","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4147.0,4153.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/171","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. OK. After this has been transcribed and checked against, you'll get it sent to you for you to check again before it goes on the...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4153.0,4162.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/172","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, wonderful. Oh, that's great. I did something, I did something similar for Cooper earlier this year. I had nominated a friend of mine for a major award. And then when he won it -- and I had nominated him a couple of times and I said, \"I'll try one more time.\" And he got it this year. And then they said, but they want you to introduce him. And I assumed it was live. No, no, no. It's going to be on video. And so I had to do a video like this two weeks before he actually received the award. So, it was very similar. So anyway, it's been great. I loved it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4162.0,4198.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/173","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4198.0,4199.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/174","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Enjoyed it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4199.0,4200.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/175","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Maybe we'll get you again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4200.0,4200.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/176","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Hope to see you again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4200.0,4204.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/177","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. Bye-bye.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4204.0,4205.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107/transcript/87352/annotation/178","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Ciao-ciao.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298107#t=4205.0,4206.6"}]}]},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - blauweiss_don_20250916_edit.mp4"]},"duration":3347.88,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/298/108/small/Don_Blauweiss_Portrait_copy.jpg?1764798392","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/298/108/original/blauweiss_don_20250916_edit.mp4?1764796909","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3347.88,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript (September 16, 2025) [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. It is Tuesday, September 16th, 2025. It is about 1 PM. I'm Rebecca Rushfield. I'm here with Don Blauweiss to continue or follow up on the interview we did about a month or so ago about his life and times including Queens College. Before we get back to Queens College, I had a question for you, because you're one of the few people I know who's still around, who was alive during World War II. I was wondering, as a child, did you, living in Queens, did you feel any of the effects? I mean, my father, I remember, talking about when he was a kid, there were blackout raid practices and they had to close all the shades and everything, but do you remember anything like that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=0.0,53.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Everything. I remember bringing wagonloads of newspaper over to the local junk place, supporting the war or whatever, and...I don't think I sent you that third grade cover that I did. I should send...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=53.0,78.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Lori shared it with me. Lori just shared it with me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=78.0,81.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, she did? Yeah, of course.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=81.0,84.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Third grade! It is very, very nice.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=84.0,86.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah, that was Mrs. Pfeffer, one of many teachers who did all kinds of extracurricular things. And we talked about this last time, how Mrs. Pfeffer had me do the cover. [Note: See newsletter cover in supplemental file.] And I think -- I'd have to get that original newsletter out. I think I wrote a little poem and it had to do with the war and beating the Japs. You know, what's ironic is that in the interim years, more recent years, a very influential person on me was a Japanese lady at Benton \u0026 Bowles, which was one of the agencies, the agency I worked in Belgium. And she was known in the agency as the Dragon Lady because she was so fierce. But we became very good friends. She was responsible for me becoming a vice president. It would've never happened without her. She was also very knowledgeable about things like working on Proctor and Gamble. And I learned from her and I looked at it as my job was to support her. And what goes around comes around. And then, you know, I said my sixth grade teacher had written a play based on the current events, which had to do with World War II, and my role, if you remember, was Harry Truman, which was one of the other major roles in the play that day.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=86.0,181.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right, right. But it did permeate your life as a child. You were all very aware of...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=181.0,191.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Keeping the lights down and things like that at night and -- very much influenced and aware of the war years. Definitely. And one of my neighbors lost a son. Probably in the invasion of Normandy. I think he was one of the first to go. But yes, totally aware. Very aware.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=191.0,218.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So then when the war ended, you were about 13ish, 14ish?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=218.0,223.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, 1945, I would've been about 11.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=223.0,228.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh, 11. So much younger. So did you feel a difference in life? Was there starting to be a boom in the economy? Did it change your life at all?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=228.0,241.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Not really. It certainly affected my father's life in terms of, because he was in what we would call a luxury business, and luxury were at the bottom of the pole. He was one of the -- I think I mentioned this before -- he was one of the first American diamond cutters, and it caused him to travel across the country looking for places where he could, where people had money -- which was basically oil country, Oklahoma, Texas, and so on. And he made some connections there, which he had for a lifetime. So maybe travels in the early '40s and he died in the '70s.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=241.0,283.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. Alright, so thank you. Now we can get back to your Queens College days. I know you wanted to talk a little bit more about your social life and your girlfriends and...We had focused on school, but now we can talk about other things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=283.0,298.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, I'll tell you why it's funny that didn't come up in our last interview, and I had an incident that just happened, or an experience that just happened recently within...actually, right after our last encounter on July 7th. Later in July, I went down to North Carolina and it only occurred to me a couple of days ago, which is why I mentioned this whole thing about my \"love life\" for lack of a better term. Girlfriends, whatever. That I went down to North Carolina to meet a \"love child,\" a child I had with my last Queens College girlfriend. And it was a totally unique circumstance. I had met him a couple of years ago while she was still alive. It's a whole story in terms of who she was. Her name was Pam.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=298.0,361.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But I had three distinct girlfriends at Queens. The first one was the girl that I first met taking the bus up Northern Boulevard to Main Street and then changing buses. And we both took...and eventually she became my girlfriend. And I thought, \"This is it. This is the girl I'm going to marry.\" I was madly in love with her. Actually, my best friend Stanley, Stan Gertoff, who was a poet and a writer, all three of us -- because she was at 77th or 78th Street and Northern, he was at 90th and Northern, I was at 69th and Northern. So eventually all three of us would wind up in Main Street and got to chat, chitchat. And he was interested in her also, as it turned out. My best friend. As it turned out also. And somehow I beat him out and she became my girlfriend.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=361.0,421.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But, that lasted for a couple of years. Every summer I would work in the Borscht Belt. Hotels, as I mentioned before. And I was doing crafts and sports versus a waiter, where I would've had a lot more money. And every summer, so I remember our first summer, which was probably '50...I went to Brooklyn College for a year, so that was '52; '53 was my first year at Queens until graduation in '56. And I was just taking the bus down to the city on my day off just to be with her, which was a huge schlep. But the following years, the following '54, '55 and even '56, she was going away to school when I was working. And so she went to the University of Wisconsin for summer classes or whatever. And then ultimately in the last year that we were together, she was in LA at one of the California universities. And in, I guess it was '54 was our second year, we were writing each other every day. And then suddenly the letters stopped and I went nuts. And I did something that was kind of tough for the hotel, because I was in charge of the teenage boys and they were the most difficult to handle and I had a good handle on them in terms of sports and things. It was really the last week of the summer, so it probably didn't affect them too much. But I left the hotel. From the Catskills, I hitchhiked to Wisconsin and I had from...sorry? Yeah, go ahead.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=421.0,542.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: When she was going to a summer program in Wisconsin and going in California, was that common or uncommon for students at a City University to go to places I imagine had tuition and cost for that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=542.0,558.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, that's an interesting question. I have no accurate idea of how common it was. There was another girl I knew from Queens College who was just sort of a friend who was also at the same school. So there were two girls from Queens. I don't know how many kids did this as a rule. However...so, from photographs and descriptions and so on, I pretty much knew where her dorm was when I arrived on campus and I positioned myself in what I thought would be her path from the dorm to class, and it was accurate. She passed me and like, \"Oh my God, what are you doing here?\" And I said, \"Well, I came to find out why you just suddenly stopped writing me and what's going on.\" And she said, \"Well, you know...\" She had some embarrassment about a sister who was creating a kind of a scandal with being married to two different guys, and she was very self-conscious about that. Whether that had an effect on our relationship, I don't know. But she said, \"I think I want to see other guys.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=558.0,634.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And, I saw that there was no point in staying there, and I also didn't have much money. I had to find a way, so I started checking the newspapers and things for places for jobs. I had been working since I was in high school -- started high school -- in a supermarket. So I went in Madison, Wisconsin, to the local supermarkets and couldn't get a job. And then I discovered that there was going to be a state fair in Illinois. Springfield, Illinois. So I hitchhiked down to Springfield and managed to, I went to the office where they were hiring. They were just starting to set up and I thought I'd get some kind of a job in setting up for the fair. But then the guy asked me where I was from and I thought, I can't say I'm from New York if I'm at an Illinois state fair.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=634.0,690.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I said, I told him the last town that I stopped in where somebody picked me up hitchhiking, and then they would always ask, \"Where do you want to go?\" I would say, \"Well, is there a Y around?\" Because you could stay at a Y for like two or three bucks, and there wasn't. And they said, \"Come home with us.\" And I said, \"No, I can't do that.\" Well, I did that. So I stayed with them. It was the first town in northern Illinois, and I gave that as my home address. And the guy said, \"Oh, really? I had my honeymoon there. What was the address?\" And then, oh my God, I don't know any address. I said, \"Well, my parents just moved there and I don't remember their address.\" I walked out of the office and I said, I'm not getting that job.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=690.0,737.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I started walking around the fairgrounds and I stopped at the carnival, and I met this guy who ran the carnival. Of course his name was Tex. Perfect name for a carny. And he hired me. And I worked there until the fair was over, and then I had $25. In those days, you could take an airplane from Chicago to New York for 25 bucks. It was like getting on a bus. And I had made some money from the carnival. It was an incredibly unique experience with unique language. They had their own language. Words like: What is a mark? What is a tip? That's getting a good tip. I had a great ability to create a tip, which is a crowd. Saying, \"Hey, I got your prize all ready.\" Whatever. Anyway, I was on a couple of different joints. One was target shooting a little cork gun. Another one was throwing a baseball and breaking dishes. And it was very interesting that people's reaction...learning something about just people and their perception of things. Anyway, I got back to New York and ...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=737.0,817.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Can I ask, were your parents worried at all that you left the camp job, the job and just were out somewhere?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=817.0,826.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, I took the opportunity to be a hundred miles from home when I hitchhiked, and yeah, I'm sure that, I don't know about my father, but my mother was definitely concerned. But I didn't give them the option to have any choice in it. I was already up in the Catskills and started hitchhiking from there to Wisconsin. And then, when I got back, they were very proud that I was able to survive and that I made some money while I was away and things like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=826.0,855.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But I think the next girlfriend was actually Black. She became very famous, Toni Cade, and then she changed her name to Toni Cade Bambara, reflecting her grandmother's history and so on. Toni wrote about 10 books. Actually, I still have photos of Toni in my portfolio -- not that I show my portfolio these days; obviously everything is digital. And I created a book cover with her on, as the cover illustration. I also, because I used to go to a lot of jazz concerts in Harlem with Toni, I did a record album cover because those were more graphic design kind of samples that eventually, that portfolio got me into Cooper Union and eventually into Doyle Dane Bernbach. [Note: See album cover design in supplemental file.]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=855.0,914.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But, it was not a long relationship and it was not as intense as the previous one or the following one. The following one was a lady by the name of Pam. She was a, she became a social therapist. And we had, again, another relationship of probably a couple of years. And she lived in the Bronx and I would travel up there. I had no car, so I would do a lot of sketching on the subway going to the Bronx. And one day I just got, it was after we were together for a year and a half or two years, I got pissed off at her. And she said, \"What are you doing tonight?\" And she said, \"Why don't you grow up?\" Because I used to like to hang out in the Village and she thought that was below my status or whatever, and I got pissed off, hung up, and I said, \"We're finished.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=914.0,975.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: What happened is, I did not know she was pregnant, and quite possibly she didn't know she was pregnant, because this was in November of maybe '56 or '55. I think '56. It was my year of graduation. Oh no, I think it was '56. Anyway, no matter. She didn't, either she didn't know or decided not to tell me. At some point, she must have found out she was pregnant and elected never to tell me. And then I ran into her about three years later at a gathering of some Queens College friends, and she was there. And she said, \"I have to tell you something, I had a baby and I gave him away.\" And she never gave me the option of...and she said, \"I was never going to marry you. So that wasn't an option.\" So she made the choice to put him out for adoption.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=975.0,1033.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Did you ever see a documentary called \"Three Identical Strangers\"? Fascinating film. That agency was on the Upper West Side. That's where she gave him. Anyway...and of course I went to live in Europe, in Germany for a couple of years, and then when I came back, it was years later, but I connected with her again and then we became friends. So, I spent the next decades being in touch with her. Going, meeting her on her birthday for lunch, or...I was doing a lot of contact, I had a lot of assignments with Cooper Union as an alum, and she was about eight blocks away, so I would go to Cooper, do my thing, and then I would have dinner with her. Or I would just stop by for coffee, whatever.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1033.0,1086.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And then one day after about -- so that was about 10 years later that I reconnected with her. And then after we were connected for a number of years, she decided that she wanted to find this kid. And of course, at that time in the '50s, I think, or '60s, whenever, it was illegal. But there was a woman who was doing it, was finding adopted kids illegally. By the way, she wound up in jail for that. However, she did find Pam's son, who was now living in North Carolina. And the reason this came to me, because this past July, I went down to celebrate my love child son's 67th birthday. I didn't actually meet him until he was probably in his '30s or even '40s. As I said initially, I never knew he existed. And then when I did, it was impossible to know where he was. And she managed to track him down. She made contact with him. They had a brief falling out where he had three kids, two daughters and a son, and he was having a bat mitzvah or bas mitzvah for one of the girls. And he invited her, and she said, \"I'll only come if you identify me.\" Well, he was very self-conscious about not offending his adopted parents. And he said, \"No, I can't identify you.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1086.0,1180.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Anyway, they made it up at some point and rejoined each other. And at that point, she invited him -- she had a house in Chelsea on 16th Street with a garden -- and he came to New York with, at that time, his wife and three kids. And she said, his name is Larry. She said, \"Larry's going to be here. Would you like to meet him?\" I did that. It was very strange, as you might imagine. This was an adult who was married with three kids who I've never met, and we have nothing in common. And nothing really, there were no connections after that. However, she and I remained friends until she died, which was about five years ago.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1180.0,1227.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And on her 80th birthday, she invited him and cautioned me about...and I had not shared this information with anyone except my oldest sister. And again, she had this garden apartment in a brownstone on 16th Street, and there were like 30 people there and him. And he knew who I was. I knew who he was. We couldn't even have a conversation, and nothing really came of it. Upon her death, I did a PowerPoint with her daughter, who's with the University of Colorado and is something in the administrative department. And occasionally I would be in touch with her. She was gay and living with another woman -- unfortunately, they got divorced this past year. But I did a PowerPoint to celebrate Pam's celebration of life. And Amanda, her daughter, supplied me with all of the photos. And also Amanda is an amazing musician. In fact, I have a couple of her albums, and she's a terrific musician.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1227.0,1300.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Her father, Bobby, was another friend of mine, sort of friend of mine from Queens College, also. And so she and I did the PowerPoint, and then it turned out that Larry was at this funeral, at this service, and at some point he mentioned me and I said -- my wife was with me -- and she said, did he mention you? I said, yeah, I'm going to tell you about it later. And in the meantime, the service was over and I was talking to other friends from Queens College. In the meantime, my wife was talking to Bobby, Pam's ex-husband, and he apparently let her know inadvertently or otherwise about that this was my son. So everything was coming out. Anyway, my wife and I and Larry stepped aside and had a chat. We took photos together, and then I've been in touch with Larry to some degree ever since.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1300.0,1363.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And this past July, I went to meet my grandchildren. One of whom I had met several years ago. I was on vacation in Virginia, and she was living in, one of the girls was living in Virginia, and he said, \"Hey, you have to have lunch with my daughter.\" And he came down and joined us, and that was one. And then this time I thought, let me get the whole thing together. And this past July, I went down to celebrate Larry's birthday and meet all his kids. One of them did a really lovely thing. She was leaving the next morning for Greece for vacation, but she took the trouble -- and she was working out of Washington, DC -- she took the trouble to fly down to North Carolina to join us for this party so that she could spend that one evening with me. And we've been in touch also since then. I now have all their email addresses. And so this opened up...and this past week or last couple of weeks, I realized this is a Queens College connection that I would've never had if it wasn't for Queens College. I've got this kid in North Carolina. I've got these three grandchildren.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1363.0,1433.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: What amazes me though, as you were mentioning at the celebration of her life, that all these Queens College friends or people you knew from there, so you really kept in touch with people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1433.0,1443.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Well, some of them -- don't forget, we were all from Queens -- so some of them were kids I went to grade school with. None of them went to my high school, because I went to a special high school, but, in the city. But everyone was local. And yes, some of them were kids I literally grew up with from the age of six or eight. And actually, I'm not sure what's, I've been thinking about it lately, especially given my age. And for example, today, Robert Redford died at 89, and here I am a couple of days away from 92 and losing people all the time. I mean, when I left Belgium, I was invited to come back to DDB and travel worldwide. But I had a partner, and he and I had started at DDB at the same time back in the late '50s. And he never made it even to 70. He was a wonderful partner. You know about his book, David -- I know you read his book, \"Playing In Traffic on Madison Avenue.\" For those who don't know, David Herzbrun's book. A wonderful, entertaining book, as I'm sure you'll agree.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1443.0,1514.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: But just recently, one of the people I worked with in Germany, Jack Piccolo, an art director who became a film director. And he would periodically do lunches for two or three guys and we would get together. And a couple of months ago, I was saying, \"Jack, let's schedule a lunch.\" And I have another friend who was a neighbor of his, and we talked about doing lunch in the next week or two. And within a day or two, I get a call from his lady and says, \"Jack died last night.\" And that's happening when you live into your 90s. Not everybody makes it. So there are people, I'm getting announcements all the time about a friend or somebody I knew very well who's gone.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1514.0,1567.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Anyway, that was...and then Toni became, I was also very involved with civil rights and things like that at that time. And having a Black girlfriend made me just more aware of everything. And then joining Martin Luther King on actually the first March on Washington. We all know the March on Washington in 1963 with millions of people, or close to a million people, and I was there for that. But, there was, his first March on Washington was in 1957. And only about a couple of thousand people showed up. I remember Harry Belafonte being there and had taken photos and so on. But nobody knows about 1957. '63 was a major, major event, like some of the events that are happening across the country today. And...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1567.0,1630.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Can I...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1630.0,1630.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Sorry.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1630.0,1632.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I'm sorry. Thinking about a Black girlfriend, your family, your neighbors, everyone were...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1632.0,1640.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I'll tell you. Yeah, no, no, they weren't. Toni lived in St. Albans, which was way out on Long Island, so we would go into the city, and then I would get off at Roosevelt Avenue in the middle of Queens, and I would call my parents and say, \"Hey\" -- since I didn't have a car -- I said, \"I'm coming home to pick up the car.\" Because I was a 10-minute walk. I would ask Toni to grab a coffee at a luncheonette nearby, and I said, \"I'll come back, pick you up.\" Take her out to St. Albans versus having to schlep on the subway to Saint, and bus, to St. Albans and then make my way back and it's well after midnight. So I remember calling my house and saying, I'm coming down to get the car, and my mother said, \"Don't bring her here.\" Which I had no intention of, not because she didn't like it, but because I could walk home faster and come back and pick her up with the car.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1640.0,1696.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And then I had a graduation party maybe a year later, and Toni, along with my other Queens College friends was there, of course. And my mother was talking to her like, \"Oh, sweetheart.\" And with no sign of disrespect whatsoever. But, obviously, there was concern for the neighbors. And one day my father had a, as I said, was in the jewelry business, and he had an Indian friend, very dark-skinned, and a neighbor must have seen him stopping by. And this Irish family calls my mother and says, \"You are not selling your house to a Black family, are you?\" They only saw the color. And my mother says, oh, of course not. Well, obviously in those days -- we're talking about the '50s or so -- it would've been...for all intents and purposes, it would've been unfair to the neighbors, what was called, in those days, block busting by selling your house to one Black family. Then others would come and so on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1696.0,1765.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Ironically, when I bought my first house in Westchester, I had a very good Black friend from high school, and he was a fashion illustrator, fashion photographer, so we were in the same field. We actually studied at the same high school, and then he and I also went to Cooper Union. And then, totally unknowing, I discovered that he was virtually a neighbor of mine. Walking distance from my house. And it was very interesting at that point -- and this was in the early '80s -- that he was involved with neighbors and they had decided that they just did not want to mix. Of course, I was just across the road practically from Mount Vernon, which is predominantly Black. And so my friend Lenny, we got together and talked about the fact that they did not want to make the neighborhood where he bought a house, and he had a very beautiful wife -- unfortunately, their marriage didn't last -- but the point is that they did not want to make, they did not want to get more Black. They wanted to keep a balance of Black and white, which I thought was actually a better arrangement all around. And Lenny eventually got Parkinson's or something and moved down South and so I lost touch with him. But he was a good friend from high school and college -- not Queens, but Cooper.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1765.0,1857.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I know your second wife, you knew from your childhood, but did you meet your first wife at Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1857.0,1865.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: No, no. My first wife, actually, it's funny. One of my best friends from high school was a guy who was very connected with my father because I was never really that interested in the business or money or stock. And my friend's father was in the diamond business also. So while he was in high school, he was making a hundred dollars a week in 1950, which was an adult salary, and he's still in high school. Well, to make it short, when he graduated high school, he was in business and traveling all over the world, and actually wound up making a lot of money. He eventually moved to Brazil because he was looking for the original sources for the stones that he was selling --emeralds. And I even have an emerald. He bought an emerald mine, and he gave me -- let me show you this thing he gave me my 50th birthday.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1865.0,1925.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Wow, OK. Oh!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1925.0,1938.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: [Holds large stone up to camera.] This was a stone that came from...I don't know if there seem to be some kind of crystals there or whatever it is. Anyway, it's a beautiful little sculpture, which I keep as a memento of him, and it's just an interesting thing to have. But he became a millionaire and one year...and he would fly in and out of New York. And he had offices in other places like Switzerland and so on. And he was dealing with very high-end people. And one year, for some reason, he came back by boat, which really is kind of almost insane to come, like, it was many days coming. And he was traveling with another guy, and the other guy said, he has some girlfriends in Brooklyn. He said, do you have a friend? He said, there were these three girls. He said, there's you, me and bring your friend. And that's how I met my first wife.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1938.0,1991.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And she had a special connection for me because at that time in my life, I was still thinking about pharmaceutical agencies and her father was a doctor, and they traveled all the time. And the mail was all backed up, and she was letting me pick all the pharmaceutical stuff, graphic designs that I wanted, and I called to tell her that I had taken something from the mail that maybe I have to bring back. And she thought that, well, maybe I was calling really for a date -- which I wasn't. But eventually I did. As a matter of fact, my friend from Brazil had a car. And so he would come and visit to pick me up to go on a date or whatever it was. And he would spend a half hour with my father because my father loved him because they had so much in common, which I didn't care to share.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=1991.0,2045.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So they knew the jewelry business. My friend was involved with the stock market, had made a lot of money. My father admired his...it was not what I was doing. And so he actually, he and I both had an interest, like my friend Stanley on the bus going to Queens College. Again, I had a good friend who we were both interested in the same girl, and we flipped a coin, and I never win anything, but I won Greta. She was a Holocaust survivor, very pretty and very sweet. She wound up pretty much almost dying. I mean, we got married in 1960. Ironically, it was the same, within a month of the time that Pam, Larry's mother, my girlfriend Pam and Bobby, my other friend from Queens College, were getting married. We were getting married like a week apart. It was just an ironic thing. And eventually, like I said, Pam and I became friends after she divorced Bobby, but I'm still in contact with her daughter also, who's, as I say, is in Colorado. So...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2045.0,2127.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I admire how long your friendships go for.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2127.0,2131.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah, what does that say? I don't know. As long as they live, let's put it that way. Not everybody is living long enough for me, all of us, to continuously stay friends. So many of my friends have died. And it's one of the downsides of longevity. Recently, I had a doctor's appointment and he was quizzing me about the age of my parents, and I saw that he was going to plug into the...he wanted to see if it's genetics that accounts for my longevity. And I said, \"Listen. I understand where you're going with this.\" And my parents did outlive the median age. The median age when my parents died was about 65. My father lasted until 76 and my mother to 81. So obviously...and today, the longevity is 76, and I'm going on 92 next week. So obviously there's median, but it doesn't mean that's where you're going to land.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2131.0,2196.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Anyway, what happened with Greta is our marriage was relatively short. About five years. When I got invited to move to Germany -- and she had been from Vienna -- I called, because we never had an acrimonious relationship. I never had an acrimonious relationship with either ex-wife. To me they were still, we were still connected. And so I called Greta and I said, \"Look, I just have an offer to go to Germany.\" I said, \"Would you consider moving back to Europe so I could have my son in proximity?\" And she agreed, and she said fine, that's great. She moved to Vienna. Back to Vienna, I should say. And my second wife was Brazilian, and she worked for Brazilian airlines. And instead of... I received two tickets from New York to Dusseldorf where I would be working and living, and Alba, my second wife, was with Varig Airlines, which was a Brazilian airline at the time, and she would get tickets for the price of just paying in the tax. So she turned in my two tickets -- not turned in, pocketed my two tickets, New York -Dusseldorf, for New York-Rio -Dusseldorf. So we went and spent a week with her family in Brazil on the way to moving to Dusseldorf.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2196.0,2280.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And so what happened was, just to bring it up to the current event over the last few years, as I said, I remained...As a matter of fact, when I bought the house in Westchester, I mentioned to my current wife, my third wife, who I've now been married to for over 45 years, we've been together over 45; we've been married for 38 years. I think we're together for 45 or something like that. Anyway...when we moved to this wonderful house in Bronxville, Westchester, a 3,600-square-foot house on an acre of land. Historic house, because it was built by the French Huguenots, and I was very involved with the historical society, so we would raise money by letting people come and visit. So I said, the next time we're having Thanksgiving or something, some holiday, I'd like to have Greta and Alba. And she said -- I won't use the language she used -- but you have to be blank kidding, because my parents and my family would just not understand that. And let's face it, most people are not friends with their exes. But in my case, I was close. And she resisted initially, but eventually they all did wind up together and everybody got used to it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2280.0,2373.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: As a matter of fact, what happened, Greta had Grave's disease and my son asked me if I could take her for a few days, and it went on for much longer than that. And Diane, my current wife who's a type A -- why walk when you can run -- and she's skittering back and forth across the house and helping to take care of Greta and so on. And it was actually September, it was Labor, it was Labor Day weekend, and she calls us into our guest room where she was staying and she says, \"I want to apologize.\" I didn't realize there were so many terrible symptoms associated with Grave's, I thought it was just bulging eyes. Anyway, she said, \"I apologize for my behavior.\" And she was acting kind of strange, and she understood that she was not acting normally. And anyway, it was fine. We were taking care of her. I had to bring her back to her apartment in Manhattan because my wife had fallen and broken her hip. And Greta died a couple of weeks later, actually.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2373.0,2443.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And Alba also was slightly, was about three years older than me. She was the Brazilian girl on the street who everybody was around like flies. But we wound up...And my other two kids were actually Alba's kids, but they're my kids. You know, everybody else is gone, and they are absolutely my kids. They are fantastic. I have no thought about ever using the word \"stepkids\" or anything like that. As far as I'm concerned, I have three kids, Jill, who's a girl, and Keith is her older brother. And then I have the son I had with Greta, who's now living in Belgium and has... [RR starts to say something] Go ahead.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2443.0,2494.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: And then you have the fourth kid, I guess.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2494.0,2496.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And then I had the other one who's actually older than...Steve is now about, I think in this December he'll be 64, and Larry is 67, and they've made a connection. Larry has been here a couple of times, and I introduced him to Keith on one occasion and went to have lunch with Steve in Kingston when he was living there. And they sort of connected, although I don't think there's much going on now, but they did connect for a while. So that was the history of Queens College -- my love life, if you will. That popped into my head after I got back from North Carolina and I said, wait a minute, this is all connected to Queens College. None of this would've happened without Queens College.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2496.0,2546.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Any other aspects of your life connected to Queens College that we didn't talk about? No?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2546.0,2555.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: I can't...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2555.0,2555.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: You wanted to tell about one of the professors' wives who was the artist.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2555.0,2560.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I forgot about that story. Yeah, so it was Robert Goldwater's wife, Louise Bourgeois, a very famous sculptress. Actually, one of her sculptures is outside the office of the president of Cooper Union. So she actually has a sculpture there, and I don't know if you know her work, it was all...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2560.0,2582.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Spiders and...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2582.0,2582.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: ... collage of wood things, all painted black. Very, very, very interesting stuff. So, what happened was, at some point I had another artist friend of mine, a guy who also died way too young. When I moved to Germany, he kind of moved in with us. It was like a really strange thing. He followed us to Germany and he was living with us part-time when I was living there. And at some point, either before Germany or afterwards, I don't remember, I was very involved with doing television commercials, and I was interested in directing. I even took a directing...I wanted to take a directing course at Parsons before I was teaching at Parsons. And they didn't have an opening or they weren't giving any. So, well, Lee Strasberg was running the Actors Studio, and his son was teaching directing -- um, acting. So I took the acting course. I don't know why. It wasn't directing, but I took the course anyway.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2582.0,2645.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And in any case... so, at some point, because I was interested in film and directing and things like that, my friend Sandy, who was an illustrator and also Cooper Union -- we both went to the same high school and Cooper Union, not simultaneously, but at different times. And he said, \"A friend of mine just got a video camera and he doesn't really know what he's doing.\" He said, \"Could you help him out?\" And he's doing, he's filming nine women artists in the East Village. And one of them...well, was not...somehow, I guess it was Louise. So I was going to the house and I did a thing that was not very cool. I sort of took over the assignment. So he became the cameraman, I became the director, I became the moderator interviewing all of these women, and there were nine. Some of them became fairly well known, Louise Bourgeois in particular.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2645.0,2714.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And I went to, it turned out it was Goldwater's house, and Louise Bourgeois was there, and he said, \"Oh, can you give us a copy of this when you\" -- you know, after I did the interview with them. And then what happened was I never got...what happened is the guy, I guess was offended because I sort of took over the whole project, and I was really, it was really almost all about, well, in a way, it was about me because I was the moderator of every interview. And looking at their work and so on. And I also related, because I was also a painter. I was relating very much to their work. Most of them, more of them were painters. Louise was a sculptor. And a year or two later, I said, \"Oh, by the way, what happened to that film that we did of these nine women?\" And he said, \"Yeah, I don't know where it is. It was in the car and it got lost or something.\" So it was a shame that, because that probably would be a valuable film to see today or to have in any case. And so that was the connection to Goldwater that I did not know that she was his wife. And then I wound up interviewing her in their house. In each case, I went to the studio or house of the person, these nine women. And that was the art that was, I think it was the Ninth Street. On Ninth Street there were galleries, and it was very hot for a couple of years in terms of young artists. So that was the Goldwater-Louise...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2714.0,2815.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Did he remember you from...you had him as a student?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2815.0,2820.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yeah. Yeah. I don't remember, per se. It was a lot closer in time. It was probably in the '80s, but it still had been 30 years since he was my teacher. I don't remember if, how much he remembered me or not. But we did have a nice rapport. And it would've been a wonderful documentary to have. So...that was my Queens College love life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2820.0,2852.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. Thank you. And it adds to the whole picture of you and your life. So, you were so busy with these girlfriends, did you have time to be involved in anything else in school or...?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2852.0,2865.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Yes. Yes. I started something called the Art Group. And it was something I started that...there were various things that would happen at lunchtime. Various kind of clubs and things like that. And I started this thing called Art Group, and I would invite artists to come and talk, and people to come and visit. Listen to a lecture about one thing or another to do with art. And the other thing was, are you familiar with, I think I donated a copy of Spectrum Magazine. There was a Queens College literary magazine, and I got together with a couple of other people, and we started a new magazine. Called It Spectrum. I designed the cover. [Note: See cover of Spectrum magazine in supplemental file.] Oh, as a cover theme I had used the carnival as a visual from the experience I had had just previous to that. I think the year before. And I had also done a wonderful wood engraving with my wood engraving instructor, Mr. Heckenblocker. And I did a wonderful [coughs], excuse me, engraving based on a photo I had taken in Cleveland.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2865.0,2940.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And I also -- oh, when I went to Europe with my friend's family, we were traveling on, it took us nine days to cross the Atlantic on a boat. And I would spend every day drawing people. Just sitting around drawing. And I used a lot of those drawings of people sitting around in the magazine. So there was my connection with the magazine. And then also when I was involved with the ROTC, I would do the baseball programs. I would do an illustration of ballplayers or something for the ROTC. I was expecting actually to get a commission in the Air Force, but they decided that I had something, I was born with a distortion in my spine, and they said that I would not survive the g-force. And since I wasn't going to survive...they were only interested in pilots. And so I got dropped from ROTC, but I continued to do the baseball programs with the...oh, and also there was a cadet, something called, a little newsletter called \"Cadet Capers,\" and I did the logo for that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=2940.0,3020.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So there were various things that I was kind of involved in on campus. And then there was something that was less official, I don't know if it exists still any longer. It was called \"The Small Caf.\" There was the cafeteria, and then there was the Small Caf. And in the Small Caf was a gathering of artists, poets and writers. People like in psychology. It was always a unique little group that would always...and separated from the sorority, fraternities, house plans and so forth that would have a table, have their own table in the cafeteria. We were sort of uniquely separate from them in the Small Caf. And so that's why I would get involved in whatever it is, artistic issues of one kind or another. Or my friend Stanley was, as I said, was a poet and a writer. And so some of those people, the ones I started, we started the magazine.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3020.0,3087.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Was your second girlfriend involved as a writer? Was she involved with the...","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3087.0,3091.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Oh, Toni? No, no. Well, yeah, she was in the group, but she didn't, at that point, she wasn't involved as a writer. She ultimately wrote, if you Google her...unfortunately, she died very untimely. She died from colon cancer, and she was in her mid-60s. So, I wish I could be in touch with her again. I thought about her recently and thought it's too bad that she's not with us. But she died over 30 years ago. [Note: Bambara died in 1995 at the age of 56.] And I remember, I was doing some painting in my house and I had the radio on, and they announced her -- because she was pretty well-known -- they announced her death. That she had died of cancer. And I knew she was in her 60s because she was four or five years younger than I. She was either a freshman or a sophomore when I was in my senior year. So she was a year or two younger than me. Anyway...but she did not participate in that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3091.0,3157.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: But I was wondering, as much as your family and neighbors weren't thrilled about your relationship with her, how about her family and neighbors?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3157.0,3168.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: The only one I had -- I had dinner at her house with her and her mother, and I never felt any particular, like, \"You don't belong\" or \"What are you doing with my daughter?\" Or anything like that. So I only knew her mother, and she seemed great to me. And, like I said, we used to go to Harlem. I remember one place was called Smalls. And there was a place...oh, and my friend Lenny Wooden -- the other Black friend of mine, and his wife -- I remember going to a concert at, it wasn't Carnegie Hall, it was the other place on, I think, 43rd Street, another hall.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3168.0,3217.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Town Hall?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3217.0,3218.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: And for some reason, we wound up with tickets on the stage, and Dizzy Gillespie was on the stage with us. It was incredible. And I guess they were trying to get as many seats as possible. And some of them, we were literally on the stage with the musicians. Town Hall, I think was called. I think that was Town Hall. So we used to go to jazz concerts or...and I very often went with my friends, Lenny and his wife. And it just seemed to make sense to be with another Black couple.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3218.0,3266.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Alright. Well, this was fun!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3266.0,3269.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: So yeah, my neighbors were never aware of...as I said, I got that one call about my father's Indian friend, and obviously they were conscious, but nobody ever commented or saw anything about Toni. Anyway, I can't think of anything that we haven't touched on now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3269.0,3292.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. It's been great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3292.0,3295.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Thank you. And you are such a great interviewer! Oh, by the way, you know, I think you're aware because you've been copied in my emails, that somebody mentioned that they weren't getting the kind of response to some of the events. And when I get off here, I'm going to contact somebody who deals with marketing for Queens College and see if there's any way I can help as repayment for this and my education, and my love children, grandchildren.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3295.0,3332.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK, then. Bye-bye. It's been wonderful. Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3332.0,3334.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Wonderful. By the way, I hope that we get a chance to meet in person at some point soon before I get too much further into the 90s.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3334.0,3345.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK! Alright, bye-bye.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3345.0,3346.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108/transcript/87353/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don Blauweiss: Alright. Ciao, ciao.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/163780/file/298108#t=3346.0,3347.88"}]}]}]}