Arnost Lustig
December 21, 1926 - February 26, 2011
A rowdy Czech writer who wore his faults on his rolled-up sleeves. He led a course called, "Love, Friendship, and Death in Jewish Film & Literature"; swam the butterfly-stroke into his 80s; hated fascists, and regularly sold-out to them.
He was a great storyteller and liar who never lied about the horrible things that he had to do to survive the Holocaust. He was 15 when he was imprisoned, and 18 when when the engine of his train to Dachau was bombed by U.S. B-52s.
After the war he spent 2 years in a warm bath writing novels, using a block of wood as a desk.
He once led 10 thousand+ North Vietnamese comrades in a lusty chorus of dirty Czech songs (the Charlies thought they were Communist anthems), and later became the Hugh Hefner of Prague.
He once told me that I looked like Elia Kazan, and yelled "FIGHTER" across the quad whenever he saw me. (He must have called lots of people 'Fighter,' because there is a film about him by that name).
Once, during a break from class, he bummed a cigarette off of a fat co-ed, inhaled deeply, and said to her:
"My only regret, when I look at you, is that my hands are so small."
Cheers!
-Fighter
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