From the Publisher & Editor-In-Chief

For years now, my early morning routine has been to hit the gym at the JCC, taking the past week’s Sunday New York Times with me to read on the treadmill, thinking it’ll help pass the time. But I rarely look at the paper I’ve brought because I almost always end up talking with another regular, 93-year-old Leon Horwitz, who’s usually on the treadmill next to me (except for Saturdays–Leon doesn’t come to the gym that day in observance of Shabbat, so that’s the day I actually do read my paper). I don’t even know why I schlep the paper every morning, you think I’d have learned by now that I’m not going to read it until Saturday when Leon isn’t there. Come to think of it, just like the Times, Leon always seems to know all the news that’s fit to print, anyway.

I’m an early riser, but no matter what time I get to the “J” (it opens at 6 a.m.), Leon beats me there. And he never seems to have a bad day. I say hello and ask how he’s doing (he’s 93, remember!), and he always comes back with, “Well, kid...I woke up, my feet hit the ground...it’s a great day.” His attitude inspires me (and, at 60, I love it that he calls me “kid”).

As you can imagine, Leon’s outlived most of his friends. And he’s lived a long, full life. After graduating from high school, he joined the Army and was stationed in Japan during the Korean War. When Leon returned to Indianapolis, he worked in his family’s grocery; when they sold the business, he opened an auto parts store. In his first “retirement,” Leon sold cars, finally retiring for good about 14 years ago. He’s a proud husband, father and grandfather, and has been married to his wife Joan for 58 years. Together, they raised a son and a daughter; their son is mentally disabled and lives at a residential care facility, where Leon visits him every day.

I asked him the other day what he enjoys most about coming to the gym every morning. He said it’s the interaction with other people, that he’s a “people” person. I’m the same way. In fact, I told him, I have the same treadmill that he and I use at the gym at home in our basement, but I come to the J because, well, I don’t run into many people in our basement (thank goodness). And I have to say, my chats with Leon are often the highlight of my day.

I really enjoy Leon’s wit. I travel a lot for this magazine, and each time I return after a trip, Leon acts like he doesn’t know me, and asks if I have a visitor’s pass. One day, I was telling him about my mother-in-law and that she’s worked in the NICU at Riley Hospital for Children for 45 years. Leon seemed to listen intently, then deadpanned: “She’ll get it.” As in, “one day, she’ll get the hang of it.” And he’s never short on commentary; you may have heard the old saying, “Ask two Jews and you’ll get three opinions”? Well, with Leon, let’s just say you get more than three. Leon on Starbucks: “Worst coffee I’ve ever tasted. If I wanted to make bad coffee, I could do it at home, and for a lot less.” Or his thoughts on the day’s headlines: “This is news? Next they’ll be printing the school lunch menu.” He reminds me of Henny Youngman, the famous Jewish comedian–king of the one-liners.

I found out a long time ago that there isn’t anyone at the gym Leon doesn’t know; though he may have outlived his friends, he’s constantly making new ones. On his birthday recently, another member made a big poster for him that everyone signed, and people continually stopped at his treadmill to say hello and wish him well, so many that I began to wonder if we’d get to chat at all. (It reminded me of the scene in “The Godfather” where they line up to kiss Marlon Brando’s ring.) Actually, it might as well be Leon’s birthday every day, the way people gravitate toward him.

So anyway, as I said, I’m a guy of routines. Every morning, I wake up early, make coffee, grab my Sunday Times and hit the gym. And Leon, a guy of routines too, is usually there first, asking me sarcastically if I’ve brought something to read. I always show him and say “Yep, I’ve got it. And I’m not going to touch it.”

Jeffrey Cohen jeff@slmag.net