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saturday may 23 | sunday may 24 12 2015
Glenview | Northbrook
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Jeff Shapiro’s barbecue is as real as it gets. P.27
Illustration by Barry Blitt
social scene
Benefit raises more than $470,000 for Have Dreams.P.17
SPORTS
Glenbrook North High School sprinter Hannah Wilson qualifies to state in two events. P.23 Follow us:
No. 45 | A JWC Media publication
By Gregg Shapiro
NEWS
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Grandfathers devoted to students — and each other By Selena Fragassi
M
arty Polin and Seymour Weiner are not only friends to the hundreds of elementary children they engage with every week as “grandpa volunteers” at Northbrook’s Wescott School — they have also been best friends to each other for more than 70 years. “In all these years we’ve never had an argument or falling out. If you boil it down, it’s because we really love one another,” says “Grandpa Marty” Polin about “Grandpa See,” as they are known to the students in their respective first- and third-grade classes. The school celebrated the duo in a patriotic assembly this spring that both honored their service during World War II and celebrated their birthdays — which is where their story begins. Polin and Weiner were born only four days apart in 1927 (they’re now 88). Both grew up on Chicago’s West Side, but they did not meet until freshman year at Crane Tech High School in 1940.
“We both had a common interest in architecture and took drawing for three years, so we were together a lot in high school,” recalls Polin. The two lived together for one semester in college before being separated by World War II. While Polin was drafted into the Navy and lived at Naval Station Great Lakes, Weiner was dispatched to South Carolina to join the Marines. The geographical distance caused their one and only drifting apart. Neither can recall exactly how long it lasted or exactly how they reconnected (“You’re asking two 88-year-olds to remember details,” Weiner jokes), but none of that really matters because they’ve always been connected regardless of time and space. “We’re twins. They didn’t create us that way but we are twins,” says Weiner. “I’ll wake up in morning and put on a blue sweater. I have not talked to Marty, but when I see him he will have a blue sweater on. This happens two to three times a Continues on page 11
Todd Hasak-Lowy Photography by j0el lerner
author just being himself with latest work
rolific author Todd HasakLowy has written books for adult and young adult (YA) readers. His latest novel, Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You (Simon Pulse, 2015), falls into the latter category. At 656 pages, the book might seem daunting, but don’t be put off by the size. Told through a series of more than 300 lists — some as short as one item — the novel is a quick read for readers of all ages. Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You follows the sudden “insane” turn of events that occur in the life of North Shore high school student Darren following a shocking revelation by his father that will forever change the course of his family’s life. Told with heart and humor, Hasak-Lowy’s novel is timely and topical. I spoke with Evanston resident Hasak-Lowy shortly after the publication of his latest YA novel. Gregg Shapiro: Todd, your new novel is told in lists. What was it about lists that made the structure the best way to tell the story? TH-L: The list structure was simply how I started writing this story. I hadn’t written for a few months before starting this project, and so I was anxious and eager to be writing. Some of the Continues on page 11
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