Ira Glass

My dad and his brother Lenny both worked in the store from the time they were little kids. And chickens were slaughtered at the store, which freaked them out, both of them. To the point where, decades later, as grown men, neither of them ate chicken. And they'd explain this was the reason why. Or there's the story about my great-grandfather's bookkeeping skills.

I'm actually named for my great-grandfather, Isidore Friedlander. My parents chose Ira instead of Isidore because Isidore Glass is a parsable English sentence. Isidore Glass? My mom once told me that they picked Ira over the alternatives because it sounded less Jewish to them. It just goes to show how completely, utterly Jewish their entire world was back then.

I'm actually named for my great-grandfather, Isidore Friedlander. My parents chose Ira instead of Isidore because Isidore Glass is a parsable English sentence. Isidore Glass? My mom once told me that they picked Ira over the alternatives because it sounded less Jewish to them. It just goes to show how completely, utterly Jewish their entire world was back then.

I've heard all my life what a kind-hearted man Isidore was and a soft touch, which brings me to this next story we would hear now and then. During the Depression, when everybody in the neighborhood was broke and buying on credit, Isidore set up a system where every customer would have a little book, like this flimsy paper thing, where he would write down what they owed.

I've heard all my life what a kind-hearted man Isidore was and a soft touch, which brings me to this next story we would hear now and then. During the Depression, when everybody in the neighborhood was broke and buying on credit, Isidore set up a system where every customer would have a little book, like this flimsy paper thing, where he would write down what they owed.

But the thing about the system was the customer kept the book. Maybe you see the problem with this. All the time, customers would show up at the store and say, I lost my book. And Isidore would say to them, ah, it's okay. What do you think you owe? And then they'd say some not very high number. And he'd write it down and hand them a new book to take home.

But the thing about the system was the customer kept the book. Maybe you see the problem with this. All the time, customers would show up at the store and say, I lost my book. And Isidore would say to them, ah, it's okay. What do you think you owe? And then they'd say some not very high number. And he'd write it down and hand them a new book to take home.

Years later, my dad became a certified public accountant. And this became one of those, the day Peter Parker got bit by the radioactive spider sort of origin stories. What bad bookkeeping he saw his grandfather do at 1119 Bayard. And how he was going to do better. I'm sure some good things happened at 1119 Bayard. But those stories didn't get passed down. We heard painful things.

Years later, my dad became a certified public accountant. And this became one of those, the day Peter Parker got bit by the radioactive spider sort of origin stories. What bad bookkeeping he saw his grandfather do at 1119 Bayard. And how he was going to do better. I'm sure some good things happened at 1119 Bayard. But those stories didn't get passed down. We heard painful things.

My dad was miserable working there. So was his brother. His mom, my grandma Frida, got out of the store. Went to college. Taught Latin in junior high school. But then got dragged back into the family business against her will like Michael Corleone when her dad Isidore got sick. I visited 1119 Bayard, I don't know, maybe half a dozen times in my life. A dozen times.

My dad was miserable working there. So was his brother. His mom, my grandma Frida, got out of the store. Went to college. Taught Latin in junior high school. But then got dragged back into the family business against her will like Michael Corleone when her dad Isidore got sick. I visited 1119 Bayard, I don't know, maybe half a dozen times in my life. A dozen times.

Usually it would happen when my Uncle Lenny came to town. He and my dad would drive us all downtown. We'd stand outside 1119 Bayard. And the two of them would marvel at the place. At the fact of it. I think at the distance they'd come from there. My dad with his accounting firm out in the suburbs. My uncle, who became a surgeon and moved to San Diego.

Usually it would happen when my Uncle Lenny came to town. He and my dad would drive us all downtown. We'd stand outside 1119 Bayard. And the two of them would marvel at the place. At the fact of it. I think at the distance they'd come from there. My dad with his accounting firm out in the suburbs. My uncle, who became a surgeon and moved to San Diego.

Their kids raised in the kind of middle-class comfort that we ate all the chicken we could ever want. I always found those trips disappointing. We'd take a picture and hang around there on the sidewalk. It's not a store anymore. It's just somebody's house. It doesn't look like anything. A row house in a block of row houses.

Their kids raised in the kind of middle-class comfort that we ate all the chicken we could ever want. I always found those trips disappointing. We'd take a picture and hang around there on the sidewalk. It's not a store anymore. It's just somebody's house. It doesn't look like anything. A row house in a block of row houses.

Somewhat a few years ago, somebody painted a cheerful Christian mural on one side of the building. The quote from the book of Mark. Every time I've gone to 1119 Bayard and stood on the sidewalk, I've tried to picture it. My family there long ago. Frida in her 30s at the cash register against her will. My dad as a little boy opening boxes and putting stuff on shelves.

Somewhat a few years ago, somebody painted a cheerful Christian mural on one side of the building. The quote from the book of Mark. Every time I've gone to 1119 Bayard and stood on the sidewalk, I've tried to picture it. My family there long ago. Frida in her 30s at the cash register against her will. My dad as a little boy opening boxes and putting stuff on shelves.

I'm not great at that kind of thing. It's like trying to summon ghosts with a Ouija board and the little pointer refuses to budge. We've all got these spots from our family's past. We go to them. They're like Civil War battlefields that have been washed of blood long ago. We pause there and look at the trees and the grassy fields. And we want what? Some connection to something.

I'm not great at that kind of thing. It's like trying to summon ghosts with a Ouija board and the little pointer refuses to budge. We've all got these spots from our family's past. We go to them. They're like Civil War battlefields that have been washed of blood long ago. We pause there and look at the trees and the grassy fields. And we want what? Some connection to something.

I am who I am partly because of this place. But now it's mute. So we take a selfie and try to tune into the past like a distant radio station whose signal we can just barely make out. Today on our program, we have a story of somebody else who heads out to a place like that from his family's history, looking for answers.