by FRED LOMBARDI
When I first met Abie Torres what struck me was what seemed his mocking tone towards just about everything and everybody. He didn’t seem like someone to whom you’d want to confide.
Yet when I was very green and had to manage various miscellaneous services, most notably our messenger staff, Abie was the one person who patiently sat down with me and gave me very sound advice.
Abie gave the impression of complete insouciance, not rebelliousness but imperviousness to all the slings and arrows of authority that left him unruffled. But both from the quality of his work and from conversations with him, I realized that no one could have had more personal loyalty than he did to Jimmy, Mort and Syd.
Under his different masks, I know that Abie had his share of emotional scars. I hope that his last years in Florida were happy and tranquil but know that he always enjoyed the hurly-burly of Variety, 46th Street style.