HUNGRY GERALD

Anyone remember Walter Winchell? In his prime he was God,  the most powerful force in media (a column syndicated in 2,000 newspapers reaching 50,000,000 readers and a top rated weekly radio broadcast with 20,00,000 listeners).  WW’s journalism career began in 1924 when he invented the gossip column  at the New York Evening Graphic and continued for decades at the New York Mirror.  The Mirror closed in 1963.  Television replaced the gossip column as a mass media force.  WW couldn’t adapt.  His family life a tragedy, he died in 1972 (age 74). One person came to his funeral.  WW was a vigorous anti-Nazi and after World War Two an even more vigorous anti-communist and a Joe McCarthy admirer.  WW’s feuds were vicious and since he was close to FBI head J. Edgar Hoover he was a dangerous enemy.  WW made and broke careers.  In 1952,  HG was a Hearst journalist and a moonlighting night club press agent.  An HG client was heavyweight champ Joe Louis  (and the night club he fronted).  HG penned a prose poem about The Champ and his latest showbiz girl friend.  Off it went to WW who published it in full  (bold type, no less).  WW  sent HG a note: “Keep it comin’,Keed…WW.”  Of course, that’s exactly what HG has done for the last 58 years.  Okay, let’s talk about Lindy’s.  WW held court at two venues:  Lindy’s Restaurant  (Broadway and 51st) during the day and the Stork Club at night.  Lindy’s was called “Mindy’s” in the “Guys and Dolls” fictions of Damon Runyon.  Unlike the fictional “Mindy’s,” mob guys did not frequent Lindy’s.  (Yes, in the 20’s and 30’s it was the hangout of  crime kingpin Arnold Rothstein and his nefarious buddies).  Latter day  Jewish mobsters liked Lower East Side spots like Dubiner’s.  Mafiosi preferred red sauce joints.  Irish mob guys (Hell’s Kitchen and the docks) were not interested in cuisine.  Lindy’s had a big show biz following, especially among comedians.  Milton Berle and Jack E. Leonard were regulars.  Lots of music business people.  Agents, managers, horse players, bookies, gamblers, garment center biggies filled the tables.  Lots of Yiddish (most of it obscene) was spoken. Waiters were imperious (legend had it that tips made them owners of numerous Bronx apartment houses).  WW’s table was surrounded by press agents who fed  him column items and whose careers and finances were dependent upon his whims. The film, “Sweet Smell of Success” with Burt Lancaster as the megalomaniac columnist and Tony Curtis as the nasty press agent, Sidney Falco, captures the WW-press agent relationship accurately.  HG has often noted that he is a graduate of the Sidney Falco College of Public Relations and Mass Communications. The food, HG, the food?   Lindy’s food was great.  The kind of menu you don’t find any more. Certainly, there were  Jewish specialties like pickled herring, corned beef, pastrami, blintzes, matzo ball soup and goulash. But, there was the best eggs and sizzled sausage platter in town.  A Virginia ham and aged swiss cheese sandwich was without equal.  Kippers and eggs.  And, those  combination sandwiches!!   HG’s favorite was a construction of turkey breast, tongue, swiss cheese, cole slaw, sliced onion, Russian dressing….your choice of rye or pumpernickel bread.  Apple pancakes were a specialty and, of course, New York cheesecake.  Lindy’s cheesecake was  legendary…..and unlike many legends, it lived up to its reputation.  Lindy’s had a long run…1921 to 1969. The founder, Leo “Lindy” Lindemann died in 1957 (his absence was felt).  The name was bought. There are three Lindy’s in New York now. Tourist traps.  Sad. As sad as WW’s lonely end as a Los Angeles recluse.

§ 2 Responses to WW. Lindy’s."

• old gringo says:

  January 8, 2011 at 4:04 pm

  Good evening Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea! Let’s go to press!

  Reply
  • Gerry says:

    January 8, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    You nailed it, Gringo……

    Reply