Tribute to Arnold Weisenberg, generous community patron, friend to a common good
TREMONT, July 17, 2023 - My friend Arnold Weisenberg died Saturday at MDI Hospital after a battle with a blood infection. He spent the last two months at MDI Hospital where he was treated by staff who would inject the needed antibiotics twice day, something he couldn’t do at home on his own, he told me.
Arnold was an accidental friend. I got to know him best after Larry Stettner died in 2017. Arnold’s death jolted my memory of how long it’s been since Larry left us and his imprint on the Common Good Soup Kitchen in Southwest Harbor.
Arnold took over Larry’s role as chair of the soup kitchen, my favorite community on the island for friendship, music and shared purpose.
He was born Jan. 3, 1936 during the Great Depression. Coming into his own in the Fifties, he went on to a successful career as an engineer at Honeywell and Xerox.
He, Larry and I would commune at a table at Common Good and banter - like three old guys at a deli in Riverdale in the Bronx. Mostly we found comfort and a like-minded sensibility. We found kinship, humor and bonded on a shared desire to help others.
Larry received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1963. I attended Stanford Business School from 1980-81. We would both display our gaudy Cardinal merchandise with hearty irreverence and absolute hatred for USC and that state college up the road in Berkeley.
After Larry’s passing, Arnold and I picked up the pieces and discovered our own shared interests.
He was a supporter of my reporting on Tremont. He worried that the town would lose its rural character.
On Oct. 13, 2022, Arnold, then 86, resigned from Common Good because of failing health.
“It is with heavy heart that I resign from the Board of Directors of the Common Good Soup Kitchen, and consequently the Chairmanship of the Board.
“Chronic health conditions require my attention, and limit my availability.
“I have been with the program starting with peeling and chopping for Bill Morrison. The move to Seawall, and then the post office square have both been memorable.
“Over the past years I have served as counsel to Larry, to cooking, teaching, Board membership, and ultimately Chairmanship and those experiences have always been positive.
“I am enthusiastic about the plans for enlarging space, programs, and service to the community. Laurie has been instrumental in the Common Goods financial health.
But I can no longer be a principal in helping to lead the charge and I wish you all and the Common Good well.
As much as I am able to, I will volunteer in the coming Café season.
Kindly,
Arnold”
(Laurie Ward is the director of the soup kitchen.)
One year and three months ago, Arnold lost his adopted son Ezra Peter, who worked in the debris that had been the World Trade Center for several weeks immediately after 9/11, in the pit with the heavy equipment, sifting human remains from the other materials.
“Ezra came into our lives at 7 months and will leave at 58 years. That’s a long time, and conventional wisdom tells us that parents should not have to bury their children.”
“We will mourn his passing, but there it is.”
The last few years were not kind to Arnold Weisenberg. He expressed a wary resignation in several conversations with me in May and June.
But it’s his emails with prosaic touchstones that I will remember for their simple human connections.
In 2021 he wrote me:
“Have you eaten at the Royal Indian on Rodick Street in Bar Harbor? The food is closer to Sri Lankan than Indian. So, if you want a typically creamy Chicken Tikka Masala, you will need to order Butter Chicken - Mild. Reva and I have not had a bad meal there, and we are slowly working our way through the menu.”
And he followed up with this:
“And China Joy is back, after being closed for a year or so. They have a 'red' menu that is much closer to Chinese than their regular menu, and has flavors like fermented black bean, ginger, scallions - you get the idea.”
This is a guy from New York City with some of the best Asian food in the world serving up more than a dollop of respect for the local fare and its effort.
I shall miss those simple connections and generosity.
Arnold’s wife, Reva, was at his side Saturday.
A celebration of his life will be at the Harvey Kelley Meeting Room (the Tremont town office), at 2 pm. on Wednesday July 19.
I read this through Molly Wizenberg. Beautiful, life-affirming tribute.
I was friends with Ezra when we were young boys. Reconnected as he was dying. Arnold and Reva were a constant prescence in our lives growing up in the Bronx. He reached out to us when my father died 3 years ago. My sister reconnected with him as Ezra was passing and we have exchanged emails since then. We will mourne.