tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post6508587386302552708..comments2024-03-29T09:25:08.645-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Ed AsnerNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-18189213334498192372021-09-01T01:13:20.544-05:002021-09-01T01:13:20.544-05:00Probably because I was insured by State Farm for o...Probably because I was insured by State Farm for over forty years, I never saw a copy of Mature Outlook. Not to be confused with Modern Maturity, the former name of the largest circulation magazine (23.5 million) in the United States. That was the title of the monthly AARP magazine between the late Fifties and the late Nineties. <br /><br />When I worked in a nursing home in the early Seventies, the staff used to collect images of scenic landscapes from Modern Maturity, and paste them on the walls in the hallways. Snowy farm fields, winding back roads lined with autumn foliage, bright red barns, green hillsides, and the like. Probably to calm the residents, I suppose, most of whom had spent much of their lives as farmers, or in small towns.<br /><br />I doubt if they even noticed them at all. Most of the residents were in a state of rapid physical and mental decline. I worked there for just two months, but that was time enough to experience the deaths of thirteen of them.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-59596028378450087432021-08-31T16:33:25.679-05:002021-08-31T16:33:25.679-05:00Thanks for the reply. Yeah, even with the, ahem, ...Thanks for the reply. Yeah, even with the, ahem, mature crowd that comments here, there may not have been any reading Mature Outlook in 1987. At age 57 at the time, Mr. Asner could have been a subscriber, though! Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-78879753753382092032021-08-31T15:52:01.130-05:002021-08-31T15:52:01.130-05:00Had to be better than Leather & Shoes, not to ...Had to be better than Leather & Shoes, not to speak of Funeral Directors Review, on which I honed my proofreading skills, such as they are.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-59331394465361579132021-08-31T14:40:39.739-05:002021-08-31T14:40:39.739-05:00No, there wasn't an online to be on when it wa...No, there wasn't an online to be on when it was published, about 1987. I guess I didn't mention it because I assumed nobody would know what it was: Mature Outlook, the magazine that Sears sent to everybody over 50 who held Allstate Insurance. I wrote for them for a few years.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-19541953601694388062021-08-31T14:22:59.504-05:002021-08-31T14:22:59.504-05:00He seemed like quite a guy, in addition to having ...He seemed like quite a guy, in addition to having won 7 Primetime Emmys, the most for a man. Even to the point of maintaining a presence on Twitter, on the shall-we-say "righteous" side of things at 91.<br /><br />Who could have predicted, when "Mary Tyler Moore" off the air in 1977, that the oldest member of the main cast, Betty White, would be the last survivor?<br /><br />If I may ask... Am I correct in assuming that the profile is not online, Neil? Is there a reason that you don't mention the name of the magazine?Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-26929317447867516922021-08-31T08:11:19.622-05:002021-08-31T08:11:19.622-05:00He was way ahead of his time. As many, I too was u...He was way ahead of his time. As many, I too was unquestioning. I bought the propaganda that was sold to us as American history. We learned that propaganda was only distributed by our enemies.<br />The only reason I protested the Vietnam War was because I didn't want to go. They'd be shooting at me (apologies to Heller's Yossarian). <br />My eyes have finally opened and I don't like what I see.<br />I wish I paid more attention to those like Asner. Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-79137816809574388442021-08-31T01:05:48.320-05:002021-08-31T01:05:48.320-05:00My father's youngest brother worked with Ed As...My father's youngest brother worked with Ed Asner during his Chicago days. No, not on the stage. They were employed at Brooks Brothers in the Loop, where they sold men's clothing and accessories in the mid-Fifties. Even actors gotta eat. It was a day job.<br /><br />Later on, my uncle became a woodworker (and a beatnik), and worked for years as a set painter in the Hollywood studios. He was the guy who could take plywood and paint and turn it into a rusty and corroded 'L' pillar for the cameras. He never hung out with Ed Asner, as far as I know. But they remained friends because they both worked in the same places, although in far different capacities. <br /><br />My uncle had only good things to say about Ed Asner. They were the same age, the same religion, came from similar backgrounds, and had the same leftist political beliefs (My uncle was better-looking, though--in his younger days, he resembled Omar Sharif). <br /><br />There aren't too many guys like Ed and David left in this country anymore, and we are much the poorer for it. R. I. P.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.com