Irving Hamlin, raconteur and supporter of pre-state Israel, dies

Irving Hamlin was considered a natural storyteller. His ear for anecdotes made him a frequent source for the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. He loved to tell stories about many things, and he was often hilarious in doing so.

But he was serious about how he helped raise money for weapons and army supplies that were smuggled into pre-state Israel.

"It was an all-day, all-night effort," Hamlin told the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California (now j.) in a 1998 interview. "It dominated us, ate us alive."

Hamlin, of San Rafael, died July 17. He was 88.

Hamlin was born to Russian immigrants in Cambridge, Mass., on June 2, 1918. His father ran the East Coast office of the Histadrut, the Israeli labor union, and his family was heavily involved in Labor Zionism.

Hamlin attended the prestigious Boston Latin School, but was thrown out in his junior year for pulling a prank. He studied journalism at Boston University, and then worked for the Boston Globe as a cub reporter.

Hamlin felt deeply indebted to the United States for allowing his parents in. He was greatly affected by the fact that they were able to go to night school and make good lives for themselves in their adopted country. So he enlisted in the Army before Pearl Harbor was bombed, and when he was shipped out from Fort Mason in San Francisco he vowed he would return here to live.

Hamlin spent two and a half years fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea, and was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded.

He returned to Boston, and on March 25, 1945 married Ruth Kushner, whom he had known since childhood. They had a military wedding, and soon after they drove to Los Angeles, where Hamlin first worked at KFWB radio, and then as a publicist for Warner Bros.

In 1947, he opened the Los Angeles office of Materials for Palestine.

"It was from the West Coast that Israelis got their first steel helmets, their first copper telephone wire, their first pup tents, their first camouflage netting," Hamlin told the Jewish Bulletin in 1998.

While the work was tiring and stressful, Hamlin also said it was exhilarating.

"We were doing something and we saw results," he said. "I was meeting people out of history. I was part of history."

According to Hamlin's daughter Nancy Beth Cohen of Novato, the family often hosted visiting Israelis in their home.

"Teddy Kolleck was his boss in the gun-running operation, and he was there when my sister was born," said Cohen, who works as an account executive at j. "He gave her the name Shelley."

In 1948, the FBI closed down the office for violating the arms embargo on the shipment of war goods to pre-state Israel.

"That was it," Hamlin said. "But we had done the job."

Hamlin opened the El Al Israel Airlines office in Los Angeles, and later worked for KLM Dutch Airlines.

In 1960, the family moved to San Rafael, where they became very active at Congregation Rodef Sholom.

"He was not a religious man, but he was very proud of being Jewish," said Cohen. "He felt that being Jewish meant how you relate to other human beings and how you take care of others."

Hamlin remained in the travel business, organizing tours for many groups, including a tour for Jewish funeral home directors to Israel. He loved traveling, and was an avid World War II buff, speaking to high school students about the war and his experiences.

"We were educated about the Holocaust when we were little kids," said Cohen. "He and my mother wanted us to know who we were and where we came from."

In addition to his daughter Nancy, Hamlin is survived by his wife, Ruth, daughter Shelley and son Jesse, all of San Rafael, and four grandchildren. Plans for a celebration of his life are pending. Donations can be made to the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, 1200 Centre St., Roslindale, MA 02131.