Starr Scott Brin was the first friend I made when we moved from New York to Great Neck in 1955. Starr lived on Ballantine Lane, two sidewalk-free blocks from our splanch on Kings Point Road. We rode our bikes to Fleetwood pool, a haunted house on Pond Lane, and to West Egg, the tip of the point. There was a small beach there covered with horseshoe crabs. High on a hill to the left was the Calderone mansion. Otherwise the point was pure wilderness. In the 7th grade, Starr was reading e.e. cummings. She lived in a modern, low-slung brown-stained house. Her parents, Jackie and Arthur, cared about design. Starr grew up in a home with no faux Louis anything. It was straight Dansk, Eames and Annie Albers. The floors were terra cotta tile. Jackie swanned around in a djellabah with a cigarette in a holder and fried us vast platters of bacon after school. Arthur worked for Simplicity Patterns and had his bow ties made to match his shirts. Starr and I used to double-date and one New Year's Eve, four of us squeezed into a boy named Adrian's MGTD and headed for Greenwich Village which we never found. We wound up at a HoJo's on 11th Street. Starr and I used to love to say, "But what does it mean?"
She got engaged at nineteen to Steve Schwimmer but broke it off. She lived in Florence for a while. Then Greece. Then she moved back to New York and an apartment on Gramercy Park South. She worked at Bonniers, the first modern design store on Madison Avenue. She moved to 4 Park Avenue. Her apartments were curated and understated just like she was. Starr had an eye. The last year of her life, she lived in San Francisco.
Recently I went back to 179 Kings Point Road to see my old house. It's been replaced by a large gray barn. I drove down to the point but the beach has vanished under a McMansion. Starr's house is still on Ballantine Lane but it's yellow. She died in September 1972. There was no better friend.
Patricia Volk (Blitzer)
Starr Scott Brin was the first friend I made when we moved from New York to Great Neck in 1955. Starr lived on Ballantine Lane, two sidewalk-free blocks from our splanch on Kings Point Road. We rode our bikes to Fleetwood pool, a haunted house on Pond Lane, and to West Egg, the tip of the point. There was a small beach there covered with horseshoe crabs. High on a hill to the left was the Calderone mansion. Otherwise the point was pure wilderness. In the 7th grade, Starr was reading e.e. cummings. She lived in a modern, low-slung brown-stained house. Her parents, Jackie and Arthur, cared about design. Starr grew up in a home with no faux Louis anything. It was straight Dansk, Eames and Annie Albers. The floors were terra cotta tile. Jackie swanned around in a djellabah with a cigarette in a holder and fried us vast platters of bacon after school. Arthur worked for Simplicity Patterns and had his bow ties made to match his shirts. Starr and I used to double-date and one New Year's Eve, four of us squeezed into a boy named Adrian's MGTD and headed for Greenwich Village which we never found. We wound up at a HoJo's on 11th Street. Starr and I used to love to say, "But what does it mean?"
She got engaged at nineteen to Steve Schwimmer but broke it off. She lived in Florence for a while. Then Greece. Then she moved back to New York and an apartment on Gramercy Park South. She worked at Bonniers, the first modern design store on Madison Avenue. She moved to 4 Park Avenue. Her apartments were curated and understated just like she was. Starr had an eye. The last year of her life, she lived in San Francisco.
Recently I went back to 179 Kings Point Road to see my old house. It's been replaced by a large gray barn. I drove down to the point but the beach has vanished under a McMansion. Starr's house is still on Ballantine Lane but it's yellow. She died in September 1972. There was no better friend.
Susan Talent (Hellerman)
Starr died extremely young. Does anyone know from what?