Lotus Weinstock

The year 1997 was a rough one in the loss department. I had to say good-bye to two women who were very special to me. In December, Sally Marr died. Sally was Lenny Bruce's mother, and for all intents and purposes, my adopted grandmother. She was 76 when I met her, 91 when I lost her, and maybe the hippest woman I ever knew. Ever since I became a fan of Lenny's in high school, I had always hoped to meet Sally. Little did I know that twenty years later, I'd be personally making her funeral arrangements and delivering her eulogy. Someday, I'll sit down and write my remembrance of Sally.

Earlier that same year, I lost another magical woman in my life. The connection, again, was Lenny Bruce. Lotus Weinstock had been Lenny's girlfriend during his final year. For the last few months of his life, she was Lenny's fiance. I did write a posthumous remembrance of Lotus which I include here.

Paul Krassner had published an abridged version of this piece in the Spring 1998 edition of The Realist. Paul's excerpt focussed primarily on the Lenny section and the whole Joan Rivers mess. This is the first time I have made the entire text available to anyone other than Lotus' close friends.

I should add this note about good ole Paul Krassner. There was this period where Paul was seeing me deliver a lot of eulogies. I told him I was feeling like the Georgie Jessel of my generation. In less than a year, Paul saw me deliver four eulogies. Paul also saw me speak at a much happier occasion when I toasted my wife Linda at our wedding in July of 1998. Paul cornered me at the reception and told me he was going to compile a book from the speeches he had seen me give over the last couple of years. He said he was going to title it, "Four Funerals and a Wedding."

Thanks, Paul. Thanks, Sally. Thanks, Lotus.

Lotus Weinstock Remembrance

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