A BENediction - Benjamin Zander turns 75

On his 75th birthday, I'm reminded that Ben always likened the Zander Fellowship to a marriage, and one of my fondest memories of him remains our amicable separation. It followed an enlightening year with Ben, a devastating life loss (a crushingly broken heart) and a soaring summer of glory, which culminated in one of those decadent nights that can't be conveyed among polite company. The lonely eight-hour drive (in Ben's little roller skate BPO car) back to Boston should have been followed by a brief night's sleep and an international flight, but waiting up until well past midnight on Brattle Street — with a glass of fine merlot, a lit cigar, that world-encompassing embrace and those eyes that shine like no others — was Ben. In his garden, we stayed up all night discussing the sacred and profane in our lives and in our art. The balmy Cambridge summer provided a benediction as our lives parted ways.

Levi Hammer - August 2014