My parents were Orthodox Jews but not very regular Orthodox Jews. I was bar mitzvahed and all that. But God was hardly ever mentioned in my family. Franklin D. Roosevelt was. Nat Hentoff More Quotes by Nat Hentoff More Quotes From Nat Hentoff It was a competitive examination [in Boston Latin School]. Poor kids, Brahmans, middle-class kids. The masters, as the teachers were called, didn't give a damn about - how we felt, what was - things like at home. I mean, this goes against the current grain. All they thought about was: `You're here. You made the exam. You can do the work. And if you can't, we'll throw you out.' Nat Hentoff latin home teacher My mother, when she was younger, worked at Filene's in Boston. And she was chief cashier. And I always wondered why she never went back to some kind of work 'cause that was a very responsible position. Nat Hentoff boston causes mother My father had always been a traveling salesman - New England, the South, whatever. Nat Hentoff salesman england father [My father] was very impressed when he saw "Death of a Salesman," I must say. He recognized himself to some extent. Nat Hentoff salesman saws father The main jobs would be The New Yorker, The Village Voice, The Washington Post and - I'm thinking of The Reporter when Max Askeli was there, but I got fired from The Reporter. Nat Hentoff voice jobs thinking I went to a lecture of [Arthur Koestler ] once, I never met him. Nat Hentoff arthur mets lectures I once did a - the first piece on Malcolm X that anyone had ever seen in the - white press. Nat Hentoff pieces white firsts I was very much against the Vietnam War, and Max Askeli was visiting Lyndon Johnson in the White House cheering him on, writing editorials. And in The Voice one day I once referred to him as Commander Askeli. And I called in to The Reporter to go over the galleys of a music piece I had written, and the editor whispered to me, `It's not gonna run. You're not gonna run. Max Askeli has fired you because of what you said about him.' Nat Hentoff cheer running war The person who has the strong ownership of free speech is the one who owns the press. Nat Hentoff ownership speech strong I don't like to feel intimidated by where I make a living. Nat Hentoff intimidated feels My father was pretty independent. He was - he was arrested once in Nashville when he was on one of his sales trips because he had a black - guy to lunch. So that took a fair amount of courage at the time. Nat Hentoff nashville independent father I felt better about myself that I did it [calling Max Askeli Commander Askeli], rather than have - rather than thinking it and not writing it for being afraid of what might happen to me. Nat Hentoff max writing thinking My chronology is terrible. [Work with William Shawn] must have some ago. It was after he was fired by Newhouse. After New - when Newhouse bought The New Yorker, he said in one of those grand press Nat Hentoff chronology terrible said After New - when Newhouse bought The New Yorker, he said in one of those grand press conferences that `Bill Shawn will stay here as long as he wants to be here.' Well, he wanted to be here until he died, but he wasn't allowed to. Nat Hentoff bills want long [I wanted] to play the clarinet well so I could be in Duke Ellington's band, but that's now impossible. Nat Hentoff dukes band play [William Shawn] took over The Voice and tried to turn it into New York Magazine - very glitzy covers that promised practically nothing in terms of what was inside, very rushed paper anymore. You - not very contemplative, thoughtful or whatever. Nat Hentoff thoughtful voice new-york The present Stimulus Bill sets up the equivalent commission in the United States similar to that which is in England. Nat Hentoff united-states bills england Even though the clock didn't work, we kept the clock because of how we felt about Franklin D. Roosevelt . A lot since then I knew about FDR I wouldn't have been so enthusiastic. Nat Hentoff franklin enthusiastic clock The whole politically correct movement, if it - if that's what it is, was spawned by liberals. So I try to avoid categorizing myself. Nat Hentoff politically-correct movement trying I had written a book called "Boston Boy" some years ago, and that took me from the time I could speak, I guess, in Boston through the time when I finally left to come to New York. One was understanding and coping with anti-Semitism. Boston, at the time, was the most anti-Semitic city in the country. And I found out when I was an adolescent that you have to be crazy to go out after dark all by yourself; you'd get your head bashed in. Nat Hentoff crazy new-york country
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