Don Lerman (DL)

DL: Everybody got something in their life that they’re good at.  This is what I do good, I eat.  I was always a bigger eater than most people in my family and about five years ago there was an ad in the paper for a matzo ball contest.  I went down to the contest.  I broke a  record  I ate 10 matzo balls, half-pounders the size of baseballs, in 2 minutes 50 second.  No one ever ate more than 10.  And I went on to the finals and I won.

Mayor Giuliani gave me the trophy.  And the announcer said, Lets hear it for Don Lerman and Rudy Giuliani! And were both shaking hands like the president and the vice president elect.  That was the first trophy, the matzo ball trophy, ever in my life.

I always wanted to be famous.  I always wanted to be president, or a big lawyer, or a doctor or something, and it just never happened.  I had a couple of day old bread stores.  That was my business.  I worked 80 hours a week, 7 days a week.  I just thought the parade would pass me by, until the eating.

My father never lived to see me famous.  And he always thought I was a loser, you know.   But I wish he was alive to see that I was somebody.