Spring Break
Halberstam's distant cousin a first-year
by Jacob Kamaras
Senior Editor
News | 5/22/07
Posted online at 5:14 AM EST on 5/22/07
For one Brandeis student, David Halberstam's death meant more than a change in the University's commencement speaker.
Manny Halberstam '10, the sixth cousin of the Pulitzer- Prize-winning reporter and author, said he didn't know Halberstam had agreed to speak at commencement. The son of a different David Halberstam, a play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Miami Heat for Westwood One radio network, Manny said he received news of his cousin's death through a text message from his mother April 23. She reassured him that it wasn't his father who had passed away.
"It just hit me that the situation could have been a lot worse," Manny said.
Manny's father said he was relieved that his son hadn't experienced any confusion.
"When I saw that David Halberstam died in a crash," his father said, "I thought it must have been a plane crash, and since I fly so much, I was worried my son was going to think it was me. Thankfully, my wife called [Manny] soon enough."
Though Manny never got the chance to meet Halberstam, he said he is used to the outside world confusing his father and cousin.
"People have come up to me my whole entire life and told me that 'I think I have a book of your father's in my room,' and I would say 'that's the other David Halberstam.'"
Manny Halberstam '10, the sixth cousin of the Pulitzer- Prize-winning reporter and author, said he didn't know Halberstam had agreed to speak at commencement. The son of a different David Halberstam, a play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Miami Heat for Westwood One radio network, Manny said he received news of his cousin's death through a text message from his mother April 23. She reassured him that it wasn't his father who had passed away.
"It just hit me that the situation could have been a lot worse," Manny said.
Manny's father said he was relieved that his son hadn't experienced any confusion.
"When I saw that David Halberstam died in a crash," his father said, "I thought it must have been a plane crash, and since I fly so much, I was worried my son was going to think it was me. Thankfully, my wife called [Manny] soon enough."
Though Manny never got the chance to meet Halberstam, he said he is used to the outside world confusing his father and cousin.
"People have come up to me my whole entire life and told me that 'I think I have a book of your father's in my room,' and I would say 'that's the other David Halberstam.'"
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Michael Schakow '01, MA '01
posted 5/23/07 @ 12:03 AM EST
Good lord, SIXTH cousin?! How does anyone even track that down? Aren't we all sixth cousins of David Halberstam?
Post a Comment