at least 200 con-
tests, a quirky but
psychologically
understandable
way to gain
acceptance.
Through her win-
nings and acco-
lades, Aronson
has made friends
and found atten-
tion.
"It makes me
feel good," says
Aronson. "It's not
always what I win
— the win I like,
I like to win.
Somebody said I
must have been
oppressed, living under the Nazis
during my teen years," she explains.
"I have a need for acceptance. When
you go through this, you become
mentally stronger. Going to hell
makes you stronger."
It all began with 25 words or less,
in which Aronson explained why she
liked a particular product. From
there, she won electric frying pans
and grocery gift certificates and saw
her recipes published in the Detroit
Free Press. Eventually, she moved up
in awards, becoming an honorary
citizen of Oklahoma for her partici-
pation in the National Beef
Cookoff, and winning a freezer from
Hudson's.
It's ironic, says Aronson, that her
recipes win contests. "When I came
to this country, I didn't know how
to cook. I could boil water and boil
eggs. I can't believe I won all this.
"I'm not really a gambler," says
Aronson. "I like to buy sometimes a
few lottery tickets. I was also very
cautious with money. I went from
riches to rags, came here by myself."
Through the years, Aronson has met
"very interesting people through the
contests." She met Bob Talbert after
writing down and mailing some
one-liners. She won the Michigan
Beef Cookoff and started corre-
sponding with a newspaper editor,
Marianne Jordan, whose letters she
has folded neatly into old envelopes.
She went to the wedding of the
woman who interviewed her for a
documentary on the Holocaust, and

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Aronson
shows o her
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the Michigan
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became friends with a DJ from
WDIV.
Nowadays, the contests — which
Aronson rarely enters anymore —
are one of her only outlets to the
world. Since losing her drivers
license in a car accident, she is left
at home, save for the generosity of
mobile friends who pick her up and
take her out.
Her son, the documentary film-
maker Jerry Aronson who lives in
Boulder, Colo. and won attention
for his film about Beat poet Allen
Ginsberg, says he takes after his
mother. She "always wanted to be in
the limelight," he says.
Certainly, the contest way of life
has been a challenge. At times,
Aronson entered under the name of
her husband or her son since she
had already used her own moniker.
And, clearly, it disturbs her when
she doesn't win. She crinkles her
soft face when admitting that she
doesn't always emerge victorious.
But then she's back into memo-
ries of the Oscars prediction contest
and the time she won gift certifi-
cates from Great Scott. She kept
label-less cans of food in the base-
ment and won a case of DelMonte
Products for her essay, "What
Mother Knows Best" in 1975.
"When I think about this, I
think I must've been a little bit
meshugge to want for contests like
that," jokes Aronson. "My husband
used to say, If you cannot laugh
and cannot joke, it's nothing.'" ❑

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**FDIC insurance covers a maximum amount of $100,000 per depositor, per institution (including principal and interest combined)
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A member of abgrour

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2000

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