Bob McKeo wn

SINGLE

Robert Radner and Michele Gamburd
examine books in the humor section.

Checking out the Gershon book are, from left: Randi Berry, Alan Abrahams and Pam Lippitt.

Sweetie, Baby...

HEIDI PRESS

for an entertainment law firm. Of
the period, he said, "A lot of Ameri-
can innocence evaporated at that
time." he added with the death of
President John Kennedy, "that's
when the '60s began."
Gershon talked about the influ-
ence rock and roll had on life in the
U.S. and described the role he
played for his rock star clients. "I
was the spiritual adviser. I had to
understand astrology and drugs. I
became the surrogate parent to these
young people." In return, he often
got credited on the backs of their re-
cord albums.
He left entertainment law, he
said, because he could not bear se-
eing "rock stars die and self-destruct
from drugs." About the rock stars he
said, We create little monsters."
Gershon got into producing and
helped arrange financing for the
film, Saturday Night Fever. At first
he said, there was much opposition
to making the film. Investors
wouldn't believe people would go see
a movie about a Brooklyn boy who
frequented discos on Saturday night,
Gershon said. But, he felt it could be
successful. To date, he said, the film
ha8 grossed more than $200 million
in the R version and $9 million in
the PG version.
He has since become a motion
picture producer.
99

Local News Editor

S

ingles filled the Aaron
Deroy Studio Theater
when Freddie Gershon,
author of Sweetie, Baby,
Cookie, Honey, appeared
at the annual Jewish Book Fair at
the Jewish Community Center.
An attorney, who through his
dealings with rock stars and other
entertainment figures became
known as "Freddie the Lawyer,"
Gershon regaled the audience with
his stories about the entertainment
world.
Gershon made his mark in the
entertainment field when former
Beatles drummer, Pete Best, sued
the rock group in a defamation case.
When the news media got wind of
Gershon's accepting the case, he be-
came an instant celebrity. It thrust
me in a limelight I never expected I
would be in," he said.
He studied at Juilliard, where,
he admitted, he learned he wasn't a
musical prodigy, as his parents
thought him to be. "It's very impor-
tant in life to know your own limita-
tions," he advised. His parents then
wanted him to be a doctor, but he
hated the sight of blood, so he com-
promised — he became a lawyer.
In the 1960s, Gershon worked

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Book Fair workers help Freddie Gershon advertise his book.

Author Freddie Gershon
entertained singles with
his stories about
the rock music world

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