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...
Just for Students!
Save S10 with every
S100 purchased
Well-Trained Staff
Lane County s most
complete art store
142 west 8th Avenue
Eugene Oregon 97401
345-4001
.D‘"m C'n”’u s<r- Zja »
' _
pjjuiiiLLLnz:
MMMM
EARN MONEY
WHILE YOU STUDY
DONATE PLASMA
Bring your books in to Eugene Plasma Corp.,
study for two hours while you donate
plasma, and walk out with cash
in your pocket.
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