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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1981)
Entrepreneur recounts jet-set past Lenny sees we By SHEILA SCHMITZ Ofth* EmaraM It wasn't enough to rub el bows with jet-setters and cele brities, to make and lose a mil lion dollars and to travel all over the world from the South Pacific to Lichtenstein Lenny Nathan "just had a flavor" to set up a gourmet hot dog restaurant in Eugene. Oregon Well, sort of Actually, Lenny had a flavor to set up a giant nosh bar ( "nosh" is Yiddish for munchies) with mezzanine rooms and spacious outdoor eating areas But until he earns part of that million back, he'll have to settle for the truncated version in the 13th Avenue Courtyard Lenny's journey to Eugene began when he left Detroit in 1938 at the age of 17 After waiting tables in the Navy he sold Indian jewelry and sun glasses down the aisles of Sante Fe trains A train derailment later broke his back and ended that career, but a court settlement of $12,000 from the accident ena iners as winners bled him to set up a diamond business in Los Angeles That was the start he needed, and with it he says he made a million dollars Lenny s life was then full of transcontinental flights, mar riages and business schemes He says he bought a night club in Majorca, Spain, moved to Wimbledon, England, and ran a diamond syndicate in Lichten stein At Wimbledon, a London ac tor he roomed with introduced him to the theatre crowd, where he befriended such notables as Oliver Reed It was a life of par ties at "Ollie's'' house, jaunts to Paris and the Mediterranean and long-distance business calls, Lenny says But during this jolly time, Lenny s second wife back home in California was silently plotting his destruction, he says She squandered money on racehorses and the social life and managed to use up most of Lenny's wealth on her own in vestments So Lenny hurried back to the States to salvage the remnants The Discount Card... 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Earn up to $100 a month (•X And remember, bring a friend and get a $5 referral bonus. : ■ Bring in this ad and get *5 extra on your first donation, r - Clean, friendly, medically supervised, Call for an Appmt. 484-2241 Mon, Wed, Fri 8:00-4:00 Tues, Thurs 11:00-6:30 EUGENE PLASMA CORP. 1071 Olive St. FWtfVtf tftf Lenny Nathan, before his bearded, long-haired days, sits in a Paris bistro with actor Oliver Reed of his fortune After three years of litigation, he settled for a fraction of it, he says By this time it was the late 1960s. so Lenny traded his black bow tie tor some wood beads and opened an art mu seum at Haight-Ashbury, where he sold funky posters like the ones that now adorn his res taurant He later added an Eng lish-surplus boutique vending such things as bobby capes and Color Graphics for Porjects. Papers, Grants • Pie Charts • Bar Charts • Line Charts MEC Computer Graphics 747-1261 velvet Edwardian suits When the police raids and the riots broke out in 1969, Lenny left the bohemian life His for tune and dreams of retirement gone, he was in the market for another career His oldest son happened to live in Eugene at the time so Lenny came here to try his hand at the nosh busi ness If not for that divorce settlement some years ago Lenny claims his restaurant would now be a grand affair in the center of town or down the street from Hayward Field Instead. Lenny made chee secakes to survive, selling them to local restaurants and at the Saturday Market Still deter mined to have his dream come true — "By that time. I just had to do it" — Lenny settled tor the smallish spot in the Courtyard and went to work Although his nosh originally included fare ranging from omelettes to meatball sand wiches, his small shop shrank his menu possibilities now Lenny serves just hot dogs "But these are not just any old hot dogs," he says, brandishing a wiggly specimen with his tongs These weinies come in long strings from Casper s of San Francisco "They have real skins on them and that kind is hard to find, he says Patrons can also sample Lenny s almond-mocha or chocolate-rum cheesecake and match wits with one of six video games Money is tight these days, especially since those signs were stolen from outside the Courtyard but Lenny remains optimistic about the future "I )ust hope I don't tall over into the hot-dog steamer," he says Heard about the Cervical Cap? The Cervical Cap is an effective barrier method of birth control It is a thimble shaped cap made out of rubber which fits tightly over the neck of the cervix, preventing sperm from entering the uterus They were used in this country years ago. but have not PORTLAND WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER 6510 SE FOSTER ROAD PORTLAND. OREGON 97206 503/777-7044 ... and to think we met through an ODE PERSONAL
