{"id":935,"date":"2013-06-23T23:54:06","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T23:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nosmallthing.net\/main\/?p=935"},"modified":"2021-05-08T14:41:22","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T14:41:22","slug":"lunch-with-larry-phonecohen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nosmallthing.net\/main\/lunch-with-larry-phonecohen\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunch with Larry (phonecohen)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"larry's<\/a>I think most people have experienced getting an email from someone who they\u2019ve lost touch with; an old flame, a former co-worker or collaborator, a mentor.<\/p>\n

I was surprised when I got an email from Larry.\u00a0 He traced a trail of connection suggestions on LinkedIn until he found me.<\/p>\n

I met Larry over ten years ago through a professional writers association. Neither of us fit the typical member profile. His professional background emphasized creative work, including some copywriting, at mid-sized ad agencies. I was neither a novelist nor a journalist. I wrote some how to<\/i><\/b> material but wouldn\u2019t have described myself as a technical writer.<\/p>\n

He was a deeply feeling person and had an ironic sense of humor. His business card was made of a sort of brownish card stock and on the back, hand-stamped with an ink blotter, were the words, \u201cSealed for your protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a few weeks of postponing getting together, he stopped over for a visit and a short walk to First Slice, a neighborhood caf\u00e9 and sandwich shop where we planned to have lunch.<\/p>\n

As if no time had elapsed since our last schmooz fest, we provided clues for where each others’ narratives should pick up. I recalled what was happening in his life. (You were going through a divorce. Your son wasn\u2019t speaking to you. Etc.<\/i>) He performed a similar service for me. (The last time we connected, you had just broken up with the artist and wrote that story. Pretty racy.<\/i>)<\/p>\n

Taking his cues, I shared other factoids from my life; how my mother had passed away a couple years earlier and about how my boyfriend and I bought this great building. He said \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d at all the right places and bubbled over with \u201cJust beautiful\u201d at all the right places too.<\/p>\n

He confirmed some things I already knew about his life, that his marriage was unimaginably hollow and his divorce was beyond painful. Then he gushed about the unconditional love he has been receiving from his current partner. I was so happy for him on hearing his relationship news.<\/p>\n

Before we left my kitchen to walk to my neighborhood caf\u00e9, he began sharing his adventures, or misadventures, trying to find work as a man in his sixties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you just do caricatures?\u201d I tossed out, knowing he had a talent for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cSh. Sh,\u201d he said holding up his hand, the telling of his story obviously being more important than arriving at a conclusion.<\/p>\n

He told me about landing a copy writing job with a big corporation where he was embraced for his keen understanding of what needed to be communicated then was let go after a change in supervisors. He participated in a re-training<\/i> program in computer design, but wasn\u2019t able to see the re-training<\/i> culminate in a new career. He told me about how, as a retail salesman, he was wrongly accused of merchandise theft and then held up as an award-winning example of customer service by the same management team.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhone Cohen,\u201d he confided to me. That\u2019s what people in his shop used to say about him because Larry Cohen could listen to customers and make them feel important then cut through red tape to solve any problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you just do caricatures?\u201d I echoed my earlier suggestion.<\/p>\n

Again, he held up his hand. \u201cSh. Sh.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued his saga, explaining how he did turn to doing caricatures, unexpectedly adding that he did this type of work at Great America<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee,\u201d I chided him, hoping we would get to the happily ever after part. Instead, like a seasoned voice-over guy peddling Popeil miracle devices for the kitchen, he cautioned me. \u201cBut wait.\u00a0 There\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doing caricatures in the sun at Great America among twenty-something year-old face sketchers who, while not as character-rich, could render serviceable likenesses in a third less time led to a long talk with management. This was followed by a reduction in hours which was followed by his decision to just manage his own business doing caricatures for parties, corporate events, invitations, unique facebook faces and such.<\/p>\n

He handed me a business card. Phonecohen.com. <\/b>Of course the card featured a current caricature. His face, his hairline and the frames of his glasses spoke volumes about a man who tried to keep his dignity and sense of humor while life was not always kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do your caricature if you like,\u201d he offered as I asked him for second and third cards to give to friends.<\/p>\n

Ha, I thought.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even have to say I told you so<\/i> about how he came to his new vocation.<\/p>\n

Having lunch with an old friend who is not afraid to show his story in his face and is proud of his ability to show you your story<\/i> in a picture is no small thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think most people have experienced getting an email from someone who they\u2019ve lost touch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","grateful-dozen-people-who-touch-me"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLunch with Larry (phonecohen) – No Small Thing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nosmallthing.net\/main\/lunch-with-larry-phonecohen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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