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His Old Roommate

S

ince there weren't enough
Orthodox Jews for a syna-
gogue of their own in
Grand Rapids in the 1950s,
Herman "Rocky" Goodstein at-
tended a Conservative congrega-
tion: When the Conservative
synagogue shortened its service,
Rocky refused to go along with
the changes. He continued to
pray after the rest of the congre-
gants had Stopped.
"He made it tough on one
young Conservative rabbi after
another," said Rocky's grandson,

10721 W. 10 Mile Rd. • Oak Park
Hours: Mon., Thurs., Fri. 9 to 9
Tues., Wed. 9 to 6; Sat., 9 to 5

Max Apple

1995 ACURA LEGEND L SEDAN

Max Apple, who will be in West
Bloomfield Jan. 22 to read ex-
cerpts from his new book, Room-

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Rocky's synagogue rebellion
would come as no surprise to
those familiar with this irascible,
tender curmudgeon from Mr. Ap-
ple's recent memoir. Much of
Roommates centers around Mr.
Apple's relationship with Rocky,
his on-again, off-again roommate
who lived to 106.
Rocky, a 5-foot, 110-pound im-
migrant-from-Lithuania-turned-
Grand-Rapids-baker, possesses
an indomitable spirit that fills the
book. When the teen-aged Apple,
who works at a drugstore, is fired
after he is caught reading comics
on the job, Rocky goes with his
fists after the pharmacist. Later
in the book, when Gerald Ford is
offered the vice presidency, Rocky
writes Ford a letter, telling him
to work in a paint factory rather
than accept Richard Nixon's of-
fer.
Apple first becomes Rocky's
roommate at the age of 7, when
he starts sleeping in his grand-
father's room to show solidarity
in a family dispute. The two be-
come roommates again when

Rocky accompanies Apple to
graduate school at University of
Michigan. Mr. Apple, a professor
of English at Rice University who
has written several works of fic-
tion including Zip and The
Oranging of America, approached
Roommates with a certain
amount of trepidation. While he
deeply loved his grandfather and
considered Rocky "both a father
and child," he said he didn't know
"how people who never knew him
would react to it."
Yet the book has received both
popular and critical ac-
claim. Readers have so
sympathized with Rocky
that an impromptu Rocky
fan club has sprouted up.
Some readers have writ-
ten Mr. Apple to tell him
how much they appreci-
ated Rocky, while others
have sent him pictures of
their own grandfathers.
Mr. Apple draws a sim-
ple lesson from the over-
whelming response: "It
does seem like there's a
real hunger for grandfa-
thers."
While most readers
have grasped that the
book's title refers to the re-
lationship between Rocky
and Mr. Apple, few know
that the title also refers to
the relationship between
Apple and Debby, his first
wife, who is struck with
multiple sclerosis after the entire
clan — including Rocky — moves
to Houston. (As Debby becomes
too sick to take care of their two
young children, the 103-year-old
Rocky steps in.)
"I knew I could write about my
grandpa; I wasn't sure I could
write about Debby," Mr. Apple
said.
Moviegoers will see a different
version of Roommates this spring,
when a film version of the story,
starring Peter Falk as Rocky, is
scheduled to be released. In the
movie, Mr. Apple is a doctor (not
an English professor) and the
family is not even Jewish.
In a reversal of the usual
make-a-book-into-a-movie, Mr.
Apple wrote the movie's screen-
play before writing the book.
But Mr. Apple made sure to
put a more accurate record into
the public domain. He said he
didn't want the public to think of
his grandfather as a gentile. O

Max Apple will read an excerpt
from Roommates 2 p.m. Jan. 22
at the Janice Char ach Museum
Gallery at the West Bloomfield
Jewish Community Center. Ad-
mission is free, but call 810-661-
7647 for reservations.

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