[Fandfs] Cynthia at 83 !

Dear Barbara:now,

You'll probably remember me-------I was a friend of Dan James when he and Lilith lived on Franklin Ave in L.A. ----before we ever moved up here so many centuries ago now, it seems, and became ---luckily for us ! ----part of Cynthia's ashram.....

I loved the piece you just lovingly filed ---recalling the texture and tapestry of Life With Cynthia, especially as seen through the eyes of a growing child, (though there was a sense in which we all somehow turned into toddlers in Cynthia's presence!).

What you don't know is that about 12 years above a friend of ours ---a retiring U Prof fo U of Cal at Riverside ---fell into a deep depression because he was turning the ancient age of 80 ! We debated how to bring him out of it and I decided to record a series of phone conversations with some of the truly vital and even inspirational 80 yr olds I knew----one of whom, of course, was Cynthia ! It was then she told me she was studying Greek ---but , of course, I had no way of knowing she was studyingit with YOU.! So I've attached a 3 minute segment from this old tape---now a CD ----because someting of the essential Cynthia, I think, comes out in this brief interchange. At the time I made this recording, I was only a stripling of 72, of course, and could hardly imagine the vast expanse of experiences which lay ahead of me. But Cynthia did, of course.....though I need not go into that since so many other wonderful memoirists have done that already. ! I've also attached a song I wrote for her 95th birthday recently ----using as a model an old favorite sung by many famous singers whom I"m sure you'd recognize.....I accompanied my daughter( Naomi) on the piano who sang it with fervor , and I'm told it was a great success, though we weren't there when it was played for Cynthia, of course. At the end, the lyrics expressed the hope that we'd be able to sing it again next year at her 96th birthday, (which, alas was never to hjappen !)

But the loving way she was cared for and gently shepharded -- or "weaned"--away from her wordly existence was a miracle all lby itself, I think : something none of us who actually were privileged to witness it, will ever forget !

Again, best wishes from the Marcus clan; we'll probably see you at the ingathering of the Cynthia tribe at Easter.

Alan M.