An American's Journey: The Autobiography of Abraham Lapidus Schulman

A Grandson's IntroductionMy father's father, Abraham Lapidus Schulman, was one of the most remarkable men I ever knew.He traveled on his own and with a friend the same age -- seeking work -- through Daŭhinava -- at various times either Belarus, Poland, or Russia -- when he was a small Jewish boy.At age 16 he traveled alone to the United States, and when a telegram to relatives didn't arrive in time -- the only way he could have left Ellis Island to the American mainland legally -- he illegally entered the United States by attaching himself to another family.He traveled mostly on foot and alone -- except for a concealed pistol -- from New York to New Orleans, finding shelter from a black family, and avoiding an epidemic flu virus. He entertained his hosts on the violin. When he told people who had never before met a Jew he was Jewish they thought he was a Hebrew out of the Bible.Starting with nothing he built a personal fortune in the millions then lost it all during the stock-market Crash of '29 when he refused to declare bankruptcy and insisted on paying off all his creditors for years to come.He married a girl so young (my grandmother) that by today's standards he would be sent to prison as a child molester.He was a scholar who educated himself by reading everything he could get his hands on, and was well known as an stand-up storyteller to everyone around him.He was a man of deep and abiding faith in God. This colored everything he was and did.His life's journey, in this his hand-written autobiography, is his most amazing story.I remember, in particular, one book he recommended to me as his Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy. A political science-fiction novel.So maybe it's not surprising that I ended up writing political science fiction novels, too.J. Neil Schulman