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Bradley Richard London
Brad London, 61, of Lyndhurst, Ohio died Sunday, January 17, 2016 at Maltz Hospice House at Montefiore in Beachwood, Ohio. He was the husband of Susan (nee Weltman) and son of Harvey A. (Deceased) and of Vickie (nee Rabinowitz) London. Beloved brother. PRIVATE FAMILY SERVICES WERE HELD.
Deceased Classmate: Brad London
Date Of Birth:
Date Deceased: January-17-2016
Age at Death: 61
Cause of Death: Cancer
Classmate City: Lyndhurst
Classmate State: OH
Classmate Country: USA
Survived By:
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Shari Berman (Berman)
I was very sorry to hear of Brad’s passing.
The date here says January 2015, but I read the obituary saying he passed away two weeks ago—January 2016.
I didn’t know him well, but I have a story. It was about six months before we started at Heights. For university entrance purposes, we were already considered high school students, but we were very young…
Like all exciting stories, this one included a car chase. It was the morning of the 9th grade trip to New York City and the Londons overslept. The bus was rolling down the road when a car driven by Brad’s dad (I assumed), came barreling after us. The man tossed Brad and his suitcase toward the bus. The chaperoning teacher was not one to negotiate much, but the other man was charming and Brad climbed aboard. The trip began without further incident.
Like all memorable stories, this one had a scene at the top of the Empire State Building (ESB). The next time I noticed Brad was up at the highest observatory. Some authority figure had filled our underdeveloped brains with the notion that a penny traveling from the top of the ESB could gather enough momentum to dent a car or a skull when it finally reached ground level. Some say that stories of pennies falling from the ESB come from an urban legend. Others think of it as a rudimentary example of "mass x velocity." In any event, I actually lived it.
Since I have a bit of acrophobia I’m not exactly sure why I lingered up there, but at 14 everything in NYC was fascinating and iconic. I was lost in thought until, stage right…there was Brad pitching pennies through the narrow slit of a window at the top of the ESB. Who knows what I was looking at before? Now, I was watching Brad.
Well, Brad ran out of pennies. What was the next logical step? Panhandling, of course. Brad approached me for spare coins. Yes, I hesitated, but, like his father, Brad was exceedingly charming. I know I started my end of the conversation with the 1969 equivalent of “Seriously, dude?” Nonetheless, I fished out my pennies and Brad continued his mission with a bit of a maniacal grin on his face. And, I must say, never, neither before or after, has putting in my “two cents” been as memorable.
I took solace in the fact that I was pretty sure his pennies were landing on another ledge, not that far down--things are not always as they appear. I noticed about a year later that a New York snow globe that I bought that day actually said, “NEW YORY,” due to a mistake in the Asian factory.
I did communicate to Brad that I was worried about my role as his accomplice. He said, “Well, if we hear about anyone being killed by a penny, we’ll know how it happened.” To that, I nodded. Somehow, to our 14-year-old minds, that statement seemed logical. And, in fact, we didn’t hear of anyone being killed by Brad’s pennies.
May the unforgettable Brad London rest in peace.
Shari J. Berman
Richard (Rick) Fleeter
Beautiful, Shari. Thank you. - Rick