Laurence Essig

Laurence Essig was born and raised in the Cincinnati area. He grew up in Newport, Kentucky, a first-generation American and one of seven siblings. He went to medical school during World War II and, through an Army program, skipped undergrad and entered medical school directly. He was a cornerstone of the Cincinnati community for years, and through his medical practice, he touched the lives of countless people. He was a man of many talents. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 88. Editors' Note: This episode was originally recorded in late 2014. My Uncle Lazar (the name I knew him by) was a fixture at family gatherings and Jewish community events. He was one of the connections I had to my family's past and to my grandfather, Stan Fisher, whom I never got to meet. I decided to interview him after we had a conversation at a Bar Mitzvah party, when he lamented that the younger generation of our family didn’t know him, and that he didn’t know them. So I set out to change that. It was before I knew anything about the technical aspects of podcasting, but I knew I wanted to get some of his stories recorded so they could be shared. I hope you enjoy this show as much as I enjoyed talking with him over a decade ago.