D. DENNISON S
'
Bronx," says Linda Ruzan. "I al-
ways talked like that. I'll tell you
the truth, I never knew that that
wasn't English. I never knew that
I knew Yiddish until I met Mike."
That was about eight years ago,
when Robin introduced her com-
panion the comedian to her moth-
er.
Faced with meeting her daugh-
ter's gentile friend, Ms. Ruzan fo-
cused on his face. "I looked at him
and said, 'What agoyishepunim,"
recalls Linda Ruzan with a laugh.
Mr. Myers enjoyed it. "He took
it just the way it was meant," with
affection, says Ms. Ruzan.
"If you're a prejudiced person,
you wouldn't say such a thing out
loud."
Mr. Myers, who hails from
Toronto, was loud and clear about
his own affection for Ms. Ruzan.
"From early on in his relationship
with Robin (they married two
years ago) Mike would imitate me
right to my face," says Ms. Ruzan.
"Never in my wildest dreams
did I think that what he was do-
ing out of fun could become such
a character."
But Linda Ruzan is somewhat
of a character herself, claiming an
irreverent look at life. "I laugh at
myself before anyone else can."
She is getting the last laugh.
• Her gentile son-in-law, she says,
may be helping perpetuate the
rich beauty of the Yiddish lan-
guage. "On buses, on trains, I hear
non-Jews talking about being
farklempt," says Ms. Ruzan.
The language travels well — as
does Ms. Ruzan. "I travel all over
the country for work and hear
everyone talking Yiddish."
Did Mike Myers really make
Yiddish more in vogue? "I don't
know if what he's doing is re-
sponsible for it," she says, adding
with a laugh, "but it couldn't hurt."
Linda Ruzan vigorously dis-
agrees with any notion that the
Linda Richnman characterization
could be hurtful, enforcing stereo-
types. "If I for one minute thought
that was possible, I would tell
Mike and he wouldn't do it," says
Ms. Ruzan.
As comical as Myers' character
is, Ms. Ruzan takes the image se-
riously. Linda Ruzan is also seri-
ous about what matters most in
life: Fun is fun, but family is for-
ever.
And so, it seems, is a good cup
of coffee. "When Robin used to live
at home, the first thing we did
when we got up in the morning
was go for the coffee," says Ms.
Ruzan.
Making coffee was no instant
decision. "The night before we
would put in the grounds and pre-
pare it."
And the coffee is chock full of
caffeine. "Never decaf," says Lin-
da Ruzan with a pheh! in her
voice. "Decaf is like a sissy; regu-
lar coffee is like a real person."
Nu, so why does Linda Rich-
man come off as such a real per-
COFFEE LADY page R52
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