 |
||
| Izzy Strier Israel “Izzy” Strier was the manager of General Cinema’s original Shopper’s World theatre complex at Framingham, MA for many years until it was closed in 1994 to make way for the new Framingham 16. Before accepting the Framingham position, Izzy held a similar post at General Cinema’s theatre next to their headquarters in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Izzy’s reputation as a superb theatre manager was firmly established during his years with Boston’s Sack Theatres. Owner Ben Sack engaged Izzy skills in managing the Gary Theatre, the Saxon Theatre and the Metropolitan Theatre (now known as the Wang Theatre) -- Boston’s largest. Most times Izzy managed all three at once. The Strier family story began in Europe. During World War Two, as with so many other millions, the Nazis took Izzy, his infant brother and their parents away from their home and sent them to Auschwitz. They would surely have died there were it not for the heroic efforts of a local priest who had the twice daily duty to bring trash barrels filled with water into the death camp. On his way out the barrels would be filled with garbage. When possible, the priest would smuggle prisoners out hidden in the garbage. If a family was involved, he would only take one if he could take them all together. Indeed, this brave priest, risking his own life every time, one day did succeed in rescuing the entire Strier family, hiding them in the garbage. He brought them to a nearby farm where the farmer could hide them. For an entire year, the Strier family “lived” hidden in a hole in the ground with nothing more than pieces of wood for cover. Once a week the farmer would bring them bread and water. Most of this was given to the infant brother so that he wouldn’t cry and alert the German soldiers patrolling in the area. Finally the day came when they were once again rescued, this time by the American Army. All but starved, the family eventually made its way to the United States where they lived for the rest of their lives. Such an ordeal does leave its scars and Izzy was no exception. And yet Izzy never let them show. He just went about his life as well as his job with dedication, fairness and humor. Were it not for the film SCHINDLER’S LIST, he might never have mentioned his own past. When the film was booked at the Framingham theatre, he said that he didn’t know if he would be able to come to work while the film was there. But in the end, he did what he always did and performed his job without complaint. Following the installation of the Framingham’s first HPS-4000 sound system in the old theatre 6, I had the pleasure of knowing and working with Izzy for several years. We occasionally held special technical programs at the theatre and whenever we did, Izzy went out of his way to ensure that everything went perfectly. Izzy retired when the Shopper’s World complex was closed and replaced with today’s Framingham 16 in December 1994. I saw him only a few times after that but we spoke often. He never failed to remember to send a Christmas card. When asked how he was doing, even after surgery, he would always respond, “...can’t complain.” He died on Thursday, May 18, 2006. When describing Izzy, everyone would use the word legend. Indeed he was a legend in his business and one might say in life itself. I never met a finer gentleman than Izzy Strier and am happy to dedicate the HPS-4000 reference sound system in theatre 6 in the new Framingham 16 to him. Click here to read more about Izzy. |
||