D

r. Jeff London loves 
telling his grand- 
children about the old 
days, but there’s one part he 
stresses. 
“Before cell phones, people 
actually wrote and mailed let-
ters to each other,
” he likes to 
say. “When I think back to my 
17-year-old self, I had no idea 
that one particular letter would 
have such a profound effect on 
my life.
”
In January 1966, Jeff’s AZA 
chapter (Rose) scheduled a 
weekend of activities with 
Leslie Silverman’s BBG chapter 

(Chavayros). 
“I had joined AZA mostly to 
meet some Jewish girls other 
than the ones I saw every day 
at school, who felt more like 
siblings or friends to me,
” Jeff 
explained. “My AZA buddies 
and I would go to AZA/BBG 
parties and quickly tell each 
other that the girls were either 
‘out of our league’ or somehow 
not worthy of approaching, 
which gave us permission to 
stand together, eat snacks, 
make dumb jokes and talk 
about sports … Clearly, I had 
no reason to even imagine that 

this would turn out to be the 
most momentous weekend of 
my life.
”
One Friday night, at an Oneg 
Shabbat, Jeff first met Leslie. 
“I had brought my trusty 
red steel-stringed guitar to 
lead a singalong — and to hide 
behind,
” Jeff said. 
Leslie, then 15, had brought 
along her nylon-stringed 

Gibson guitar.
“I tended to sing loudly and 
bang on my guitar; she played 
her guitar softly and sang much 
more sweetly,
” Jeff said. “Leslie 
was more than a bit annoyed by 
this older guy who drowned her 
out when we were supposed to 
be singing and playing togeth-
er.
”
Jeff, for his part, was 
entranced. After a delightful 
weekend of fun activities, the 
groups ended up at Leslie’s 
grandmothers house, where 
they enjoyed hot chocolate. 
“Later that week, I sum-
moned all my courage and 
phoned Leslie to ask if she 
would see a movie with me,
” Jeff 
said. Leslie agreed but was only 
allowed on double dates, which 
was fine with Jeff. “That would 
mean someone else available to 
help carry the conversation and 
avoid those awkward silences.
” 

“All Because 
 
of a Letter”

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

18 | JANUARY 11 • 2024 J
N

OUR COMMUNITY
HOW WE MET

Jeff and Leslie at high school prom

PHOTOS COURTESY JEFF AND LESLIE LONDON

Leslie and Jeff London

Leslie and Jeff in high school

