Lessons Ed Asner Taught Me: An Appreciation (Guest Blog)

How lucky it was to be Ed Asner’s friend. I left every conversation always feeling politically fired up while nursing a sore belly from laughing so hard at his running commentary.I first encountered Ed while we both were working against Central American dictators. For that solidarity work and his grand union organizing, Ed was honored at an L.A. dinner sponsored by a Latin organization that he invited me to attend. Ed came up with absolutely the funniest line ever said at a podium. He retorted, “Thanks for tonight’s award at the biggest gathering between Latins and Jews since the Spanish Inquisition” to great laughter.From his earliest years, Ed had to walk a careful line growing up Jewish in the Midwest town of Kansas City. In his interview for my film about TV sitcom pioneer Gertrude Berg, creator of “The Goldbergs,” he admitted his ambivalence towards...