Sonny Writes a Piece for the NY Times Magazine

[Michael Weiss]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/magazine/sax-and-sky.html

[mjzee]

Nice; thanks for posting that.

[duaneiac]

" . . . she used to visit a man named Izzy and his wife, who ran a pickle store on Suffolk near Grand."

Those were the days! And we probably are due for a revival of the "Just Pickles" retail concept. Of course, nowadays, they would have to sell heirloom, organic, artisinal, gluten-free, chipotle pickles, as well as copies of the inevitable Pickle Aficionado magazine once pickles become the next big trend amongst foodies.

[jlhoots]

We have a mainly pickles store here in Santa Fe - The Barrio Brinery.

[mjzee]

I wonder if Sonny is or will be writing his memoir.

[paul secor]

I was familiar with the story Sonny told (as I'm sure most here are), but it was probably new to the vast majority of Times readers.

I did like his ending:

"I could have just stayed up there forever. But Lucille was supporting us, and I had to go back to work. You can't be in heaven and on earth at the same time."

[JSngry]

I think this is the first time I've ever seen Sonny make specific mention of the "interracial couple" thing.

Sonny's seems to be really opening up to "looking back" in all kinds of ways....very interesting to see unfold.

[Brad]

Nice little article.

[MartyJazz]

I could easily picture all the streets Rollins discusses as I was raised on the lower east side of NY and lived on Grand Street for many years before moving out as a young adult. My mother and sister still live on Grand and I get to visit the old neighborhood from time to time. I recall a friend, Jeff Hittman, who also lived on Grand who told me one day that he knew Rollins, and that Sonny had helped him with sax lessons years ago. Sure enough one time we went backstage after a concert Rollins performed at SUNY in Purchase NY and when Sonny immediately greeted Jeff by name and they started reminiscing, I realized that Jeff wasn't just telling imaginary stories.