Walter Ehrlich biography (Continued).
bookkeeping., all of which turned out to be of great use to me later - - and then started at Washington U.
in September of 1938. To help pay tuition -- all of $125 per semester!! - - I taught in a Hebrew School - -
all that pushing by my mother was not for nought - - as well as part-time work on campus, paid for by
the N.Y.A. - - National Youth Administration, part of the FDR New Deal program - - for the grand pay of
35 cents per hour. Too busy working, I couldn't participate in many campus activities, and certainly
could not afford a fraternity - - but I had enough friends, some members of a fraternity, that I really did
not suffer from lack of socialization.
It was there, in my senior semester, that I met Sylvia. Being a history and political science major, my
N.Y.A. job was to assist Professor Charles McKenzie (political science) - - taking lecture notes for him
to use, grading papers, and taking roll in his large lecture class - - that was pretty standard procedure
in those days. So I walked up and down the aisles, noting who was absent from the class. Naturally I
had a seating chart with the names of all the students in the class. It was there that I saw this
beautiful, raven-haired young lady whom I can only describe as the Queen Esther of modern times.
Oh, would I love to meet her - - but how? One afternoon I was doing some work in the Library, and two
tables away I saw a body with her hair hanging over her head - - she was looking down at her book - -
and curiosity just made me wonder: what the heck is under that hair? Then, as I was staring at that
head of hair, she suddenly flipped it back - - and lo and behold, Queen Esther! By the sheerest of
coincidences, as she raised her head, she happened to be looking right at me! Of course I recognized
her as the girl I wanted to meet; and she recognized me as that guy who walked up and down the aisle
taking attendance. She didn't know my name, but I did know hers - - from the class roster. So we sort
of smiled at each other. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally found the courage to walk over to
her , and introduced myself - - and we chatted briefly - - who remembers about what? Well, a few
weeks later, the Washington U. Quad Club staged a musical - - written, directed, etc. by students - -that
was "The Quad Show," always a popular event on campus, and one of the big "date" events. Several
friends and I decided to go, but this was an affair to which one brought a date. I had been "going"