THE LIFE AND TIMES OF UNCLE SIDNEY, OR "VERE VAS YOU VEN DEH ROBBES CAME?

Abstract

I suppose there is nothing unusual about imagining the power of a stern, almost mythological uncle when one is just a child. Still, even as an adult I can’t help but feel that there was something special about my Uncle

Sidney, even though I was eventually to learn about the limits of his authority.       Growing up rather close to our extended Bronx family, I often found myself on weekends having to engage the peculiarities of my most outspoken uncle. Of course, other relatives had made their mark as well, especially my other uncles. They weren’t as bright as my aunts or grandmother, but they tended to take center stage whenever possible. After all, didn’t Uncle Sam during a Passover Seder at my grandmother’s house put out the fire in my sister’s hair by rapidly clapping his bare hands? Apparently, she got too close to the festive candles. Or how about Uncle Phil, who lived to celebrate his