Newton Baer Jaslow 1916-1997

Some of you called him Newt, some Jazz, some Newton some even called him Rootin tootin, Newchie and Figgy. The first street gang affectionately referred to him as The Old Man. Others knew him as Mr. Jaslow. To us the family, he was grandpa, uncle Newt and dad.

When I think of my dad the qualities that most stand out were his strong will, his generosity, and his passion for beauty, actually life itself. Once he made a decision to do something, he did it and with intensity, grace and often beauty. When my brother Doug and I went down last week to his apartment in Florida we found it filled with Bears. Stuffed and porcelain bears - Kuala, brown , black , grisly , teddy and panda bears. His middle name was Baer - B A E R - a surname passed down through the family - but he preferred to think of it as bear, the animal. And he was, the bear.

I remember that time at the pool when some of my girl friends that didn't know Newton was my dad were pointing at him saying, "look at that hairy man". And he saw and dived into the water and swam clear across the pool under water and emerged from the water with a big splash like a giant polar bear right at our feet as we stood at the edge of the pool. My friends shrieked with alarm and then he smiled and splashed us until we were all laughing and squealing with joy.

I remember dad pointing out the stars to my brothers and I - Orion's Belt and of course the big dipper which is also called Ursa Major or the bear. And taking my brothers and I to where the astronomer's clubs had set up their telescopes to look close up at Saturn and Jupiter and the moon. He loved the stars.

He was a person of extremes. The bear - real active in the summer picking berries or in winter, hidden away in his cave. The doctor's diagnosed him manic depressive or what we now call bipolar disease. He cried easily, moved by the beauty of the actions of others and could whoop it up too.

Some of you probably don't know that he graduated 6th in his class at NYU law School and managed the JV and Varsity baseball teams in college at City College of New York. He loved baseball and took us to many Senators games. When he was little in New York city, he had played ball with Babe Ruth in his neighborhood in Washington Heights, maybe that's where he caught some of his spark for this sport.

He practiced law in several branches of the government and privately too. We always used to watch Perry Mason and he would point out the things that were theatrical about that show, that a judge would never let happen in an actual courtroom.

He had a passion for theater. In college he made extra money as an usher in the Alvin theater. He loved plays. So when he retired he took up acting in community theater. His first main part was a judge in the production Nuts. He had always wanted to be a judge and was so thrilled to get to be one even if it was a theatrical one.

He loved many kinds of music and especially to dance. He knew all the together dances. He had a strong lead and taught many people how to dance. Sometimes he would dance around the house
when he got excited about something or even out in public.

He kind of reminded me of the wizard of Oz in the movies. He could breath fire and it could be scary like that man on the screen, but he was really the kind generous man behind the curtain and most of you got to see both of these sides.

Many of you spent the night under his roof, he had a way of taking many people in. Some of you played chess and back gammon with him and he loved this.

Yes he was the summer bear - really out there at the center of the dance floor, marching in an antiwar demonstration, standing up sharing in a seminar or writing letters to the editor at the Washington post. He was also the winter bear, pensive, introspective, sitting many hours silent in his chair watching the birds, sleeping hidden away in his cave.

In the last days of his life he got very pensive, the winter bear, We found his place immaculate, graceful and elegant there in Florida. He had left everything in order. There were pamphlets about assisted living by his chair. Bears are loner animals, I think he might have had a fear of not being able to remain independent. The people down there commented on how well he always dressed and how kind he was to them. He had gotten around a lot and made many friends down there really loving his freedom. He had made a decision and he did it decisively like he did everything. He had quit smoking in the seventies cold turkey and he quit his life the same way.

Newton left a note saying he loved us all and we knew he did.

Of course I'll miss him, I always knew when I talked with him or looked at his face that he was my biggest fan. I'll look up at that bear in the sky like he showed us and think of him. I'm sure we all will miss him, but I'm also sure wherever he is, he's really OK, dancing it up in whatever way they do it where he is now.