International House Berkeley

40 Victor Shick, Michael Blumenthal and Peter Komor, and they called themselves the Shanghai Mafia. With Victor Shick I have a very funny memory. You see at I-House women didn't go to the left side, and men didn't go to the right side. And so Galen Fisher from the left side was on the balcony calling down to Victor who was in the Great Hall. He was calling: "Vic Shick!" and I couldn't help it, I was just smiling and Victor and Blumenthal and Fisher looked at me and said, "Julia, why are you smiling? What does it mean?" And I said, "In Lithuanian it means 'Chasing shit.'" And that was the last time anybody called "Vic Shick!" Yes, the Shanghai Mafia: they were three Russian Jewish boys who emigrated first to Germany and then to Shanghai. From Germany, when they escaped, they landed somewhere like Harbin, and then they were able to get to Shanghai. They were trying to get away from Germany as far as they could get. And they did. And when they came, they called themselves in I-House, "Shanghai Mafia." I have the best memories of Elliott Castello. You know, Elliott was in I-House, and my husband died when our youngest child was a year old. And Lottie Wallerstein called Elliott. Our house had just been sold before my husband died, and the Sunday before we had to move out, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, and it was Elliott, and Elliott said to me: "I understand you have to buy a house." And I said, "But Elliott, I don't have any money!" And Elliott said to me, "And what's wrong with my money? Go and look for the house." I said "OK!" He said, "You're going tomorrow, and look for a house." And I did. And I bought a house, and I called the bank, and they said: "You know, somebody just deposited some money for you." It was the company where my husband worked. My husband's company had left insurance. So, I called Elliott and I said, "Elliott, I have money!" So I never needed that help. But ever since then, if I needed help, a ride or something, Elliott's wife, Dorelee, or Peggy Grunland, they would give me a ride or help. What memories do I have of Elliott while he was still at I-House? It was wonderful. He was always downstairs singing. Whom do I remember singing? You know, I come from a country where there is a song for everything, but I don't know any English words. So I used to sit and listen, but I didn't know the words. They used to pass out words sometimes.... Whom else do I remember from that time? Joan [Obidine] Rush and Maideh Mazda— her Persian name, Maideh Magee is her American name. She married Charles Magee and lives in Washington, D.C. There was Ingrid Borland – Bergstrom then. I used to serve soup; I knew everybody. No, I didn't eat with the others. I ate my breakfast at 5 o'clock in the morning because I used to go part-time to Stanford. I got my thesis written at Stanford, at the Hoover

• Cover