Manny Karp
Invitation From Bob Karp: “Moses lived 120 years”, so that’s the greeting given before asking one’s age, warding off the evil eye.
There’s no ceremony for such a thing. We’ll spend an hour or so in remembrance.
From Larry Siegel:
“Manny Karp had a beautiful, soulful baritone, a bit like Bing Crosby in timbre, but not playful in that way, more melancholy. You Are My Sunshine, When They Chopped Down the Old Pine Tree; I will always hear those songs in Manny’s voice. From Sol Siegel and my Dad, I got Beethoven and Schubert, from Manny and Rich, and Bob, I got traditional music. So– absolutely fundamental to who I was to become.
Sol Siegel, I lived with as a child, basically a second father. He was Pop-pop, the OG Pop-pop. Manny was Grandpop, the OG grandfather. He smelled like sweet pipe smoke, had soft, handsome features, and somehow, in my perception, beautifully mixed the warm and the rueful. I loved him dearly.”
From Albert:
From Ben Karp: ” About Grandpappy:
“They built a -cabin- of pine.”
…and that shows something of Grandpoppy’s character. The original lyric to the song “Cut down the old pine tree”is “built a coffin of pine” which makes sense in theme (and engineering).
“He’s a really sweet dog,” he told me, “and we only got him because his owner, Brian De Palma, was travelling too much to take good care of him.”
So I asked him to ask his neighbor a long curiosity of mine, which is why the Dennis Franz character in his 1981 film Blow Out (filmed partially in Mt Airy btw and I remember when they roped off Lincoln Drive) is named “Manny Karp.”
De Palma did go to schools in the philly area. Was it made up completely, perhaps a name in his mind, or did he ever encounter our very own Manny?
(added) – It’s that way he had of imparting wisdom. Rabbinical, you might say. However he learned to do that, he did do that, in a lovely, understated way. One relied on him for that.
Still waiting….
Looking forward to seeing you all very shortly.
Ben
From Becky Siegel:
“Hi everybody.
I share Larry’s happy memories of the pipe and the lovely singing of those two songs. Grand-pop was a gentle, sweet, beautiful presence in my life. And he is still very present. Thank you all for coming together to celebrate his memory. Anybody feel like writing down some of the shared stories for Larry and I to read? Or, some of you tech wizards, is there some way we can listen to this zoom later on? Thanks.
Sending lots of love to you all. Becky
From Liz Kaufman-Taylor: “I have only the fondest memories of Pop-Pop. I loved his calming smile – I can still see him watching me with that smile! So many memories of every phase of my life. And in every one he was smiling. I loved our visits to Margate, which always included Corned beef, Fritos, and Tastykakes – the frozen peanut butter Kandykakes. I remember playing games and walking on the beach. And then there was Century Village. They loved to take us around and show us off to their friends. And still, deli and games. It was always so warm and welcoming. And then what a blessing when they came back north! While this is where my memories are saddened, there were still many years of spending time together. Listening to Pop-Pop’s stories, watching game shows, playing games, and chatting with all of the staff who took such good care of them for so many years. I learned about respect and dignity and the simple joys of life from my time with Pop-Pop.”
