The Best of Times

Ephraim Greenwall

As I think back thirty-seven years to the day I arrived at the GSB and about the two years which followed, my memories are sumptuous and profound. It was the best of times. A few vignettes in no particular order about people who I scarcely knew during our two years on The Farm and with whom I have only developed friendships only after many years away.

Kien Pham. I was at the Schwab Residential Center for our twenty-fifth reunion and across the room, I saw my wife in the company of a distinguished Asian gentleman striding rapidly away from me with the sheer aplomb of a twenty-five-year-old. He was leading her somewhere, and I hurried off in pursuit. Just as I caught up with them, I overheard the man saying, “How does it feel to be being led to the party by a blind man?” I didn’t really know him then nor did I remember him being sight impaired. Of course, it was Kien and, over the course of the next ten years, the Phamily and mine have developed a remarkable friendship despite 7,500 to 10,000 miles, one full day, and eleven time zones. He is courteous and kind, responsive and caring, with an historical perspective unmatched by most, and a febrile intelligence. Kien is a mensch. Whether it is constructing huge multifamily developments in Ho Chi Minh City, underwriting the university educations of dozens of blind Vietnamese students, or raising a remarkable family of polyglots with big hearts, he is a Renaissance man of uncommon character and depth. I am proud to call him friend.

Laird Q. Cagan. In a word, I was dead wrong about Laird. More wrong than I have been about any other human being in my life. In business school, I thought Laird was a D league playboy whose tastes were a bit deviant and whose prospective business abilities were lower quartile, although admittedly being in the lower quartile in the GSB class of 1985 is no insult. As it turns out, Laird is a distinguished entrepreneur which I know because whenever one of my companies was going public, Laird suddenly appeared independent of me with more shares and higher preference. Again and again. But, where, in my humble opinion, Laird truly made his mark is in his eleemosynary achievements, specifically in the search for treatment and an eventual cure for Lyme disease. He and Sherry bring not only financial resources to the battle but strategic vision and the ability to multiply their resources with those of their many friends and others. Achievement in life is not how much money you make but what you do with it. What completely changed my original appraisal of Laird, however, was Sherry. Anybody who could woo and wed a woman of such spectacular abilities, specifically as a sculptor, as a philanthropist and as a mother, is a special guy.

Mark Zitter. Thirty-five years ago, I scarcely knew Mark. Over the years, I read about his marriage, his young family and his peculiar return to his roots in New Jersey but I had no idea really who he was or what he did. Then, one shabbas evening Mr. Zitter appeared at one of my Friday night Scotch get-togethers unexpectedly and, frankly, unbidden. It turns out that he had moved into the neighborhood, had three children the same age as mine, joined our Orthodox shul (for which he shows up constantly JFK), and was a flaming leftwing radical. Notwithstanding, we have become friends and, remarkably, find a certain comity whether over shabbas dinner or walking the Oakland hills. Above all, he is a world class Scrabble player and, in keeping with his quiet elegance, does not make fun of me, as week after week, he crushes me in Words with Friends. We share a love of our children, a love of our country and a love of our people, if nothing else at all. We never raise our voices to one another. We listen respectfully and learn. I come out of our conversations enriched and optimistic although across a whole slew of topics there is no common ground between us. What a remarkable man.

Mark Conroe. It was 1993 and I was on my second date with Donna Katzman, who later became the first and only Mrs. Greenwall. She asked me what I “did,” and I explained very proudly that I bought companies and provided secured debt instruments. And how did I pay for these “investments”? Well, I or “we” borrow a lot of money. And, how did I expect to live while working on borrowed money? Obviously, I just borrow more. So, three hours into our second date, Ms. Katzman uttered those now famous words, “That just won’t work for me.” Second date, mind you. Well I wanted Donna and Donna determined that I needed to be in real estate. This brought me to Mark Conroe whom I remember as an Atlas among men with the work ethic of a rabid dog. A somewhat scary, if also highly intelligent and charitable gentleman. From multi-family development deals in Los Altos and Sunnyvale to commercial projects in Idaho, I learned an amazing amount from Mark and he has always been a straight and dependable partner. I watched him develop spiritually, come to terms with a crippling injury, marry a great partner, start a family (when most of us were considering grandchildren), remain the glue which keeps the class of 1985 together, and decamp to Thailand. His mentorship gave me a career, which as the Bible tells us is the highest form of charity. And he did so without me realizing it was happening. Donna thanks you too.

David Blumberg. David and I were at most casual acquaintances during business school and the early years thereafter. I did know that he single-handedly dated every attractive Jewish female descendant from the ten families in Our Crowd which, by itself, was enough to piss me off. Why did it take me until thirty-eight to find a spouse? I had to wait until David was off the market. And, when he did get off the market, he did it with the grace I have come to expect from him over thirty years of friendship. He found Michel, the most attractive man, both inside and out, in San Francisco. For the record, David, I am still angry but, at least I got Donna before you got to her.

Luis, Ian M, Ian V, Mary, Farah, Skip, and others, we have continued the friendships developed first in Section 4. I value both their constancy and length. I look forward to seeing everyone soon.