Carl SCHLESINGER

SCHLESINGER
Carl Tobias, Printer, Historian, Composer, Entertainer Carl Schlesinger, 88, died November 9, 2014 leaving family and friends to remember a vibrant man who loved the printed word, The New York Times, tap dance, music, writing rhymes, union and printing history and entertaining audiences.
Born to William and Lillian Schlesinger on Oct. 12, 1926 in the Bronx, NY, he launched a penny newspaper at age ten and ultimately published two books on printing, including a biography of Ottmar Merganthaler, the inventor of the linotype. He co-produced and narrated the award-winning film "Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu" depicting the last night of hot lead at the New York Times, which is in the permanent collection of MoMA and has won numerous awards around the world. Commemorating the first use of color printing in the paper, Schlesinger composed "The New York Times Color March" and in 1999 it was recognized by Times' publisher Arthur Sulzberger as the paper's official march. It has been performed across the country. His career as a printer began in 1946 when worked at Fairchild to serve a five-year printer's apprenticeship learning linotype and page make-up. He went on to work for other major New York newspapers and joined The New York Times in 1952. A member of the Typographical Union, Schlesinger created an education committee and wrote curricula, teaching other union members about printing and the machinery, and then taught these courses for Rutgers and Cornell universities. Taking the helm of the Union bulletin in 1962, he was in place to write the all-important daily paper giving updates to the workers during the pivotal 116-day labor strike in 1962-3.
In 1967, he was invited to head up a printing program in Nairobi, Kenya, teaching the art and establishing a school with the newest machinery. After six years, he accepted a two-year position of fundraiser, marketer and publicist for the Flying Doctors Service of East Africa. In 1975 he returned to The Times in New York City developing a retraining program for the linotype operators to learn keyboarding. Schlesinger retired from The Times in 1990. His love of the printed word continued and through Schlesinger's efforts, in 1996 the US Postal Service issued a set of stamps acknowledging four pioneers of communication, including Mergenthaler. At age 85, he starred in the documentary Linotype: The Film.
His lifelong fascination with the art of tap dance led him to co-found the NY Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance Day. He co-chaired the Tap Extravaganza® gala show in New York City for 20 years, creating a videographic record of the greatest tap dancers of the past century. Carl is featured in Heart and Sole, an award-winning 32-minute documentary that tells the story of some of the greatest tap dancers of the 20th century as they received Flo-Bert® awards and peer recognition for their contributions to tap at the annual Tap Extravaganza. For his efforts to recognize and promote this American dance form, Carl received the Heritage Award-American Dance from Oklahoma City University School of American Dance and Arts Management (2001) and a Flo-Bert award in 2009
Carl was an inveterate story-teller. In the NY Army Reserves he - along with fellow soldiers Joe Layton and John Cassavetes - wrote and produced the musical "Magee." Besides stories of the linotype, Carl would often relate how he met Marilyn Monroe during a publicity visit she made to the Times' composing room. After he demonstrated the linotype machine for her, he was rewarded with a kiss on his forehead.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Renée Schlesinger who supported him throughout his adventures, as did his three daughters, Laura (Craig) Minor, Barbara "Tia" (Michael) Amdurer, and Jeanne Buesser; his grandchildren, Natalie Ponte, Francesca Kühlers, Zachary Amdurer, Adam, and Joshua Buesser, and great-grandson, Milo Ponte. His son-in-law and grandson, Ray and Daniel Buesser pre-deceased him.
The service will be on Tuesday, November 11 at 11 AM at Louis Suburban Chapel, 13-01 Broadway, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations in his memory go to Carl's wish to digitize and make available through the New York Public Library the record of 20 years of Tap Dance Extravaganzas®. Contributions in memory of Carl Schlesinger: online donations or checks including a cover letter referencing "Schlesinger fund" www.NYPL.org or 445 5th Ave. NY, NY. 10016.