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It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be with those timid and cold souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Alfred, the man behind Alkit Camera, was family photographer for President Roosevelt's cousin, FDR, for many years. At Hyde Park, NY, presidential estate, you see photos that communicate. Young, tall, skinny, energetically gifted with an honest soul, Al had that rarest of accents: the one that physically delights your ears. By the time FDR became President, Al's fortunes were secured. He and a close friend, Armand Hammer, made several trips per year into the center of then-communist U.S.S.R. in days of great peril to help thousands and thousands of Russia's poor. His presidential access influenced his income greatly. Although providing his wife and cherished only child, Laurel, with a Sutton Place-dignified life and style, they were never spoiled. His charities and personal philanthropy quietly became legendary. When he spoke, your ears felt as they'd been fed ear candy; a musical, truly unique accent. In the course of his travels, he did countless quiet favors behind the Iron Curtain for the U.S. State Department. Tere were one or two other official agencies that benefited from his intimacy with back doors and his refusal to display fear to the dreaded, and rightly so, KGB. Legend has it that his daughter Laurel, who personified the best kind of people we produce, people of rich service, could not resist the blandishments and smooth patter of a Jewish John Gotti-wannebe at a time when Gotti was in second grade. By the time that the son-in-law had power of attorney twenty-five years later, he was allegedly blackmailing his father-in-law, who'd just been voted "Man of the Year" by his cherished comrades in the national camera industry. The son-in-law threatened to leave Alfred's daughter and grandchildren with nothing if Al didn't co-sign a one-million dollar loan for Eddie to open his own set of camera shops. Never mind that Eddie had gone from a Marine Corp paycheck to running his father-in-law's lucrative New York chain, and receiving a piece of every dollar coming in. When Alfred firmly said "Sorry, no," there is evidence to more than suggest that Eddie simply stole the money through his power of attorney, which had been necessary with the great man travelling to Eastern Europe so often.Eddie (Buchbinder) bought hundreds and more hundreds of expensive items using Al Sleschinger's line of credit, knowing that he, Eddie, would never repay a dime.
Eight million naked faces in the city. Back to the Top of Page Masters and Millionaires
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