August 5, 2021 --

It was with  considerable dismay that LPR learned of the passing of Reb Jackie.  He was a favorite of my parents.  We must  have seen him entertain at the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, NY. 

 My dad, Sol Zukerman, bought his first record that included this chiding of an anti-perspirant:  "They say Arrid stops perspiration around the clock. Well, around my clock there's no perspiration, but me? --I still perspire like crazy."   Yup,a lot of his humor was based on wordplay. At least in the early days. Reb Jackie went on to be an incisive commentator on politics, culture, foreign relations.

Not too many years ago, I caught his one-man show at  the Strand Theater in Torrington, Ct.  He went over big, of course, before an audience that probably didn't have many Jews in it,

After the show, I managed to get a photo of him that Terri Fassio, best webmaster in the country, posted at this website.  Some years earlier, walking along Broadway, a few blocks south of Columbus Circle, I spotted Jackie in a coffee shop -- and had to make conversation with him.  He did not brush me offf. 

As I recall, we must have chatted ten minutes or more. Yet I recall just one thing he said to me.  It wasn't a joke, either, but a serious observation.  Reb Jackie told me: "It is not enough to be intelligent; you have to be effective."   Reb Jackie Mason -- so very intelligent; so very effective.