Howie. Howard Wolf. I've known Howie for a half century. He's the father of Alexis, Dante and Hannah's step-sister, pictured in the middle, and former husband of Judith, on the right. Part of our small family. Howie died over the weekend. Alexis wrote to me from Buffalo, where Howie spent his adult life as a professor of literature at the university there. She flew in from Israel with her sons and husband, to be at her father's side. Howie was also an author of novels and articles. He considered himself primarily as a writer. He was my friend, and we exchanged many letters over the years. The last I saw him was here in LA. I remember sitting on a bench at the beach in Venice, discussing the big questions. He was a year or two older than me, and I learned some things from him. This is how it usually goes: you get the important stuff from those who have been around longer. There's something about the length of time a person experiences that really counts. I find myself listening more and talking less when I'm with an older person. It's been that way since I was a boy.