And Reuben was a man of opportunity.
From a young age, he taught me that opportunities were always in front of us. It was simply our job to open our eyes and find them.
In the late 1970s a film came out called Stevie, about British poet and novelist Stevie Smith. Reuben, knowing that I loved literature, made a novel suggestion: why didn’t I pick up copies of Smith’s poetry and sell it to patrons on line waiting to see the film?
Although I loved the idea of it, the reality was a completely different thing. I was at that “difficult” age – thirteen -- and the last thing I could picture myself doing was walking up to total strangers on the street and asking them to buy a book. To, of course, say nothing of the fact that no movie theatre manager would let a teenager cut into their ticket sales.
Still, it was such an amazing idea. I never took Reuben up on it, but I did learn something more lasting: the ability to always try and forge my own way, without asking someone else’s permission.
Reuben was always a man of business and I was always a creative. At times, we weren’t able to see eye-to-eye on certain things, yet this was a moment when his business acumen merged with his understanding of my love of art and literature.
In the end, Reuben won. He taught me to always look for the possibilities.