“It made me think about the people around me.”
“I did some investigating and found in the ‘Unclaimed funds’ office in New York State he had 11 outstanding accounts.”
“Did you know he used to drive, and I think he had a Mercedes.”
I have been doing blog posts big and small, trivial and somewhat informative, since my Fordham classmate and author Carlo DeVito told me that the blog would serve as a good companion to our book “Sports Publicity,” which was published in 2007, updated in 2012 and is being updated again for next January.
Never, ever did I expect the response for a post that went up last Friday night on the late Robert Elkin.
At last look close to 60,000 views, scores of comments and emails from friends and colleagues from years ago, who I don’t know even how they saw it. It spurred a nice mention by Mike Vaccaro in Sunday’s New York Post and a very nice tribute by the Knicks at their second to last home game.
There were also a few mentions about the strange side Robert had, which frankly didn’t surprise anyone, but for the most part there were notes of gratitude and acknowledgement that the life of one of New York’s unique character was noticed. I realized today the column may have gotten more views than all of the clips Robert mailed or handed to people in yellow envelopes throughout his star crossed career.
That’s OK, I think even as a person who really existed in the shadows of the media room, he would have appreciated the light being shone down. The sad thing was no one seemed to be able to locate the date or time of his funeral, or even his next of kin. Regardless, it was a worthwhile effort with some unforeseen and mutually appreciated responses.
Sometimes you strike the match and it lights, sometimes it goes out. This one shone bright. A Mitzvah to Mr. Elkin of Long Beach, you were noticed, and yes, you probably will be missed!
