Posted on 12/28/2022
Jonathan Leff died on September 8, 2022, at the age of 100, having led a long and storied life.
Born February 20, 1922, in New York City, Jonathan was raised along with his older brother David by their parents, Meyer Isaac Leff and Jeanette (Jacobson) Leff, first in Nacozari, Mexico, then mainly in Glendale, Arizona. (Later, his mother's faulty recollection of his birthdate as February 10, rather than 20, led to a "tale of two birthdays" that spanned 100 years.)
As a youth, inspired by the 1935 movie "Shipmates Forever," Jonathan dreamed of entering the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, and in time he did, graduating with the Class of '44 - one year early, along with his classmates, the sooner to see service as World War II raged. His service saw him on the battleship USS Maryland, as a lieutenant in charge of the front turret of 16-inch guns, in the Pacific Theatre engaged in the battles of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, and Peleliu. At one point, he left the ship for flight training in Iowa - though he soon "washed out," describing himself as "a terrible pilot, constantly airsick," and returned to his ship in the Pacific.
Though he resigned from the US Navy in 1946 soon after the war ended, he remained a proud World War II veteran and self-appointed USNA ambassador for the rest of his life.
At around that time, Jonathan was briefly married to a nightclub singer in Greenwich Village in what he always dismissed as a "wartime marriage." However, it did afford him a kiss on the forehead from Duke Ellington, who sought him out at the wedding reception.
In 1948, Jonathan volunteered to help the newly founded State of Israel by joining the fledgling "Army of the Sea" (there being no Hebrew word for navy at the time). His adventure began in clandestine fashion, involving falsified Panamanian third mate's papers in order to help sail a former USN patrol craft from New Orleans to Vera Cruz, Havana, Lisbon, Marseille, and ultimately Israel. Once there, he served briefly as head of the Department of Ordnance and Gunnery and taught at the nascent naval academy.
After a year in Israel, Jonathan returned to the U.S. and began a long editorial career in communications - including newspaper, magazines, radio, public relations, and ultimately book publishing. An early stint as a Hollywood reporter found him interviewing the likes of heart-throb actor Victor Mature for "Argosy" magazine. Another early prized claim to fame involved editing then-Commander Edward L. Beach's book "Submarine!" - who inscribed his copy "To Jon Leff...once of the U.S. Navy, who had more to do with this book than either he or I will ever admit."
Meanwhile, Jonathan had fallen deeply in love during an auspicious blind date with Dolores Morin. Married in 1950 and living the bohemian lifestyle in Greenwich Village, Jon and Dee began to try for a family, but experienced disappointment for several years. So they embarked on a delightful sojourn to France - where daughter Claudia was soon conceived. They promptly set sail back to the States and took an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, where their baby was born in August 1955, followed two years later by son Michael.
After several years, with kids in tow, Jon and Dee bought a house in Mount Vernon, NY, where Jonathan joined the staff of Consumers Union (CU), the non-profit, non-commercial publisher of Consumer Reports, as Public Information Director in 1960. After an interregnum commuting back to New York City to pursue commercial book publishing, he returned to CU for good in 1967, to head Consumer Reports Books. His most gratifying achievement there involved editing and guiding the groundbreaking 1972 work "Licit and Illicit Drugs: The Consumers Union Report on Narcotics, Stimulants, Depressants, Inhalants, Hallucinogens, and Marijuana - Including Caffeine, Nicotine, and Alcohol," written by Edward M. Brecher - who famously described Jonathan in the Acknowledgments as "a bulwark of strength." Among other prescient insights and recommendations, the book called for the legalization of marijuana and argued against the ill-fated approach that came to be known as the war on drugs.
At about that time, priced out of Cape Cod vacation homes, Jon and Dee established a family foothold by the shores of Lake Champlain on South Hero Island in Vermont. The house - designed by Dee, a professional engineering designer - ultimately became the couple's year-round home when Jon left Consumers Union in early retirement at the age of 62 on April Fool's Day 1984 (though he continued consulting for CU for several more years).
In the 1990s, there followed several years of crisscrossing the country in their "fifth-wheel" RV to escape the harsh Vermont winters, living "the van life" before it was a thing. And it was during those seasonal travels when they chanced upon the charming city of Fairhope on Mobile Bay in southern Alabama. They ultimately bought a house there, embracing new and dear friends in the community, and left northern climes for good - except for summer-long visits to be close to family and old friends in New York and New England.
Jonathan was known for his warmth, his wit, his way with words, and for letting out a loud bellow upon immersing in any body of water. He was a self-proclaimed hugger, whose abundant sense of humor ran the likes of Tom Lehrer, the Marx Brothers, Jean Shepherd, Monty Python, and Bob & Ray. He was not reluctant to break into song, and was especially appreciated for his baritone in the Fairhope Unitarian Choir - including the very low notes on the little-known final verse of "Oh My Darling, Clementine."
He maintained an uncanny memory for clever limericks, which we will not repeat here.
Jonathan was a lifelong leftist. In 1949, he attended the Civil Rights Congress benefit concerts, which became known as the infamous Peekskill Riots when racist, antisemitic mobs attacked participants. He was a personal friend to some of the "Hollywood Ten" authors and playwrights blacklisted during the Joe McCarthy witch-hunt era of the early 1950s. Together with Dee, he led their little family on peace marches to protest the Vietnam War in the 1960s. And many years later, he eagerly joined his grandchildren as they marched in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2013. Though an atheist, he never rejected his Jewish identity, but became increasingly disillusioned with the State of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and apparent ongoing sabotage of the "peace process."
Jonathan's favorite movies: "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," "The Bridge on the River Kwai," and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" - where another brush with fame positioned him there on the set for the barroom scene where the wounded protagonist crawls across the floor, directly toward Jonathan (off screen). His musical tastes ran from classical to mariachi, from jazz pianist Dave Brubeck to the Big Bands of the 1930s and '40s - including, of course, Duke Ellington.
As old age took its toll, after several years in Fairhope without his beloved Dee, who died in 2010, Jonathan moved to an assisted living facility in Northampton, MA, to be closer to his adult children and young adult grandchildren. (Plus grand-dog Mateo, whom he adored, and the feeling was mutual.) As always, wherever life found him, Jonathan forged treasured friendships, including with facility staff as well as residents, up until the end. In particular, he spent a great deal of time visiting with his next-door apartment neighbor, another WWII vet with whom he shared stories of the past - and an epic ongoing cribbage tournament.
It was there, five years later, that Jonathan died peacefully this September, with Claudia and Michael at his bedside as he took his last breath.
Jonathan Leff was predeceased by his darling Dee, whom he described as "the most important everything in my life for 60 years." He is survived by daughter Claudia and her partner Jim, son Michael and his spouse Leslie, and three grandchildren - his namesake Jono, Alex, and Koby. He also leaves other cherished family members as well as dear friends made over his long life.
A man of many sayings, Jonathan would often observe of life's twists and turns, channeling Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - "And so it goes." As we say goodbye, we offer this nautical blessing: "Fair winds and following seas," our beloved Dad.
Link to hour-long interview of Jonathan Leff at age 89 in 2011 for the Veterans History Project, now archived at the Library of Congress: https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.96841/
Published by Daily Hampshire Gazette on Dec. 28, 2022.