Moammar Khadafy is dead — and his unlikely pen pal, a retired Jewish florist from Brooklyn, never got to say goodbye.
Louis Schlamowitz, 81, had been writing to Khadafy since the late ’60s and over the years amassed a pile of letters and autographed pictures from the Libyan dictator.
“He was a good pen pal,” said the lifelong Canarsie resident. “I felt it was very nice of him to take the time to write back to me, because I’m nobody special.”
Schlamowitz, who as a hobby has corresponded with everyone from President Harry Truman to Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, wrote his first letter to Khadafy shortly after Khadafy seized control of Libya in 1969.
“I wished him well and congratulated him on being the new leader of Libya, hoping for many more years ahead of him,” Schlamowitz said.
“At end of letter, I said I’d be very grateful if he would send a personal picture of himself to add to my Middle East collection.”
About a month later, Schlamowitz received an autographed picture of Khadafy in the mail — and a note thanking him for his “kind message.’’
And a strange, long-distance friendship was born.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
wack a jack
How is this any different than what the Neteurei Karta do?
Wow! Really something to be proud of. If this nut job was around earlier, he might have been pen pals with Hitler and his ilk.
#1. I think this man is briliant!
#2. This is VERY different indeed. This man wrote letters privateley, not as a protest for or against anything. His letter writing did not add any support, nor any fanfare to that ‘leader’. Therefore there was NO CHILUL HASHEM. He has a very unique collection of letters and photos that are worth a lot. A real collectors item. A piece of history.
#3. If this man would have letters from the horrible Hitler YMSH”MO that would also be worth loads.
To #3, If you read the full article, you would understand that he would NOT have written to Hitler YMSH”MO