Fishers and Cohens (almost certainly Bronx, NY, about 1950)

This is my favorite of all the family pictures, having all four of my grandparents, and almost all their children, in one photo. I don't know where this was--Betty and I noodled over it, and eliminated all the likely places, but I'm sure it was someone in our family's apartment. I don't know the event either, but given how everyone is dressed, it could well have been a Passover celebration. In any case, in this photo are:
[Back row] Annie, Sam
[3rd row] Jerry, Betty, Mollie, Isaac, Sue
[2nd row] Rae, Paul, Rose, Sol
[Front row] Josh, Willa

Missing are Bud and Harry Cohen, plus my father (who undoubtedly took the picture). As always, click on the picture for a much larger version.

Puppy Rosie at Betty & George's (Teaneck, NJ, about 1985)

With my father and his mother (again, the 2 family thing, with Rose at Betty's house).



Betty's long-haired dachshund.

Orchard Beach (Bronx, NY, about 1951)

From a New York Times article a few years ago, At Orchard Beach, people remember summer days when their apartments felt like steam baths, and how a trip here meant not just relief but an escape from a harder-edged world.

Among my most enduring memories from my childhood were trips that my parents and I took across the Bronx to Orchard Beach. These always involved lots of my parents' brothers and sisters, and were usually arranged on very short notice. Sometimes it would be after dark, unbearably hot, and no one could sleep, so we would pile into whatever car could be scared up (usually one of Bud's). We'd sleep on the beach.

I don't know who is with Willa here, but you can see Paul and me in the background. Also in the background are the colonnades, the front of the bath house, now a NYC landmark. Here's a current picture on Flickr. Orchard Beach is in Pelham Bay Park, yet another Robert Moses megaproject from the 1930s, and NYC's largest park.


With one of my omnipresent comic books. I had a vast collection of the humorous kind: Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, etc. My 20 year old parents read them too, and embarrassedly insisted they were doing it to vet them for me. I believed them at first.

My mother at about 23.

And two pictures of my grandmother, with Willa, and then with me.

Harry Edward Fisher, 1929-2009, Part 2 (Various Places and Times)

From this past New Years Eve.

With his mother and sister Annie.


The boys who married the 3 Cohen sisters.



He loved going on cruises, and even took 2 freighter cruises.

Gardening in Rochester.






When he was younger, he was an avid photographer.



With his mother.

Being affectionate with Bud (I think that's Bud). Who is in the forground??

My Grandmother and Dora (probably near Ramapo, NJ, around 1986)

My father's mother ("Nana") and Dora, with Ann's daughter Betti and Sam. I think this was at Ann's house.

Three Pictures from Betti Joy's Wedding (Somewhere in NJ, probably late 1970s)

It's Sunday, so family event picture. I like this picture because back and center is Larry, my mother's nephew at my father's niece's wedding, as was typical then (the two large families were very close). Seated left to right: me, Elizabeth (just a sleeper, but we were sometimes pretty tired at my cousins' weddings--with 19 first cousins, there were many--because we brought our kid(s)), Mike (Moose, Betsy's ex-husband), Betsy (Cousin #2/Sam's #1.5), unknown. Standing: Larry (Cousin #3/Betty's #1), Judy (Larry's wife), unknown couple. Betti, whose wedding it was and is pictured below, is Annie's first daughter. Now I've got pix of 5 of my 19 first cousins in this collection.


Front: Willa, Annie, my grandmother Rose Fisher, Lisa, I'm pretty sure that's Lisa, anyway, she sure looks like Annie (Cousin #4/Annie's #2). Back: unknown, Annie's husband Stretch (Irving), Betti (Cousin #5/Annie's #1), Joe (Betti's husband), Sam, my father.


Front: my mother, Willa, Rose, unknown couple. Back: my father, Annie, Sam, Sue, Stretch.