OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY
68 | AUGUST 17 • 2023
MILTON WEISS,
85, of Palm Desert,
Calif., formerly of
West Bloomfield,
died July 28, 2023.
He is survived
by his beloved wife of 57 years,
Jewel Weiss; loving children,
Jason Weiss, Kayleen Arafiles,
Michelle Danks, Jeffrey Kay;
five adored grandchildren;
sister-in-law and brother-
in-law, Andrea and Ken
Bernard; much-loved nieces
and nephews, and a world of
friends.
Mr. Weiss was the dear
brother of the late Lester
Weiss, the late Sammy Weiss,
and cherished sister, Dorothy
Bovitz. Milton was predeceased
by his devoted parents, Jacob
and Sarah Weiss.
A memorial service to be
held locally is being planned
for the near future.
continued from page 67
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I
was just out of college when
I got a freelance assignment
from a small entertainment
magazine to interview a rising
comic named Pee-wee Herman.
Of course, that wasn’t his real
name, but the man-child perso-
na — one part Howdy Doody,
one part third-grade nerd, who
spoke as if he just took a hit off
a helium balloon — created by
a comic and actor named Paul
Reubens.
The publicist warned me that
Reubens would be only talking
to me as Pee-wee, but the voice
at the other end of the call
spoke in a flat, polite baritone.
It was Reubens as Reubens,
who had decided to drop the
Pee-wee character, at least for
our conversation.
I don’t remember what we
talked about, but the conver-
sation was disorienting: a peek
behind the curtain at the real
Wizard of Oz. And Pee-wee
was sort of a wizard: In his
brilliant Saturday morning
“children’s” show, Pee-wee’s
Playhouse, and in riotous films
like Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
and Big Top Pee-wee, the adult
Reubens fully inhabited a
Looking
Back at Paul
Reubens
ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA.ORG