Been there! Done that! Still Here!

ADVENTURE—Wikipedia defines adventure as “an exciting or unusual experience.” Other synonyms include brave, bold, risky, uncertain, dangerous or even travel. My life, my education, my loves, my work, my businesses, my occupations have included all of the above

My wife, Chie, often accuses me of blowing my own horn too often and probably showing that in this book. “Who the Hell would be interested in the life of Marvin Rubinstein?” Possibly true, but my life has had so many twists and turns, so much adventure, so much romance and an unusually large number of contacts with “the latest,” so much of everything that I feel that you readers will find it interesting. There are so many things where I can say “Been there! Done that!” Think of my life as an adventure story, not with lions and tigers, but with humans.

I was there! As I was in many significant historical events over the years. The growth of folk singing popularity—I once sponsored a weekend folk singing series at a Greenwich Village bar long before the popularity of Harry Belafonte (whom I once met); the Henry Wallace third-party attempt—I was there at the Nominating Convention; small businesses with substantial export sales—I was there in the forefront with my company, Selectrons, Ltd.; Match.com, E-Harmony, Christian Mingle? I ran a dating service, East Meets West, before there was an Internet. We did it by mail. In a small way, I was there at many of the vanguards of history. Been there!

Many things happened to me during the ensuing working years but, true to Bill Shakespeare, this chronicle now shifts to my age as a lover. And what an age it has been, starting with my burning High School romance at 16. In the words of Dion, in O’Neil’s Desire Under the Elms, “I have loved, lusted, won and lost, sung and wept.”

But what is love? And what is a lover? Love for a spouse or girl friend is obviously different from love for a child, a parent, or for a friend, or for your job or for love of apple pie. We all seem to have a good, but murky (and sometimes painful) idea of what the word means.

An alternative definition. In a TV Law and Order show a man who murdered the father of his girl friend’s niece claimed insanity. He was trying to show his girl friend how much he loved her; it was believed that the murdered party was a pervert, who was sexually molesting his daughter. The DA concluded that “This man was not insane; he was in love.” Some may claim that there is little difference.”

Match.com. E-Harmony. Christian Mingle. If you watch television, you have seen and heard these names. They are popular boy-meets-girl arrangers, who advertise on TV. There are even specialty services for the young, for those over 50, for African Americans, Christians, Jews. Most of them are now well-known but they didn’t exist 50 years ago. When I lived in London, there were few sources for mating correspondence —Time Out in London; the Saturday Review of Books in New York. Most were correspondence clubs for pen pals; a periodical called Cherry Blossoms in Hawaii dedicated itself to marriages between Americans and Asians. There probably were a few others All contacts were by mail.

Some recent variations. Seeking Arrangement has pursued a different agenda, Sugar Daddies seeking Sugar Babies or vice versa, prosperous older men and attractive younger women establishing a mutually satisfying relationship short of marriage, sometimes involving sex and sometimes not. The young ladies are seeking a mentor to help them through college, start a business or make their lives more comfortable. The financially stable older men are seeking companionship, friendship, affection and a boost their egos, often with benefits, but not necessarily so. I personally have no moral objection to such arrangements, as long as there is mutual honesty and both parties benefit. Many of such pairings eventually turn into love; we all become closely attached to those who are very good to us.

My social success in London led me to use a similar mating procedure in the Far East for meeting delightful women. Eventually, I turned that into a second business— matchmaking of Far Eastern women with American men, called East Meets West.

I was a groundbreaker in what is now a very prosperous business for many. Pity that I didn’t continue. Been there! Done that!

I am a walking travel agent; friends frequently consult me as to the best places to visit. “As the sun sets in the West, we say goodbye to (many wonderful places).” That sentence is for those, about my age, who remember the travelogues in movie houses, before the main feature.

Been there! Seen that! I have seen the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Ellora and Ajanta cave temples in India, the Rosetta stone in the British Museum in London, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Skytree in Tokyo, the Coliseum in Rome, The Sistine Chapel, the Acropolis in Athens, Delphi and its temples, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, La Baisse sculpture at the Rodin Museum, the Sphinx and pyramids in Egypt, the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower, Ayers Rock in Australia—almost every famous place in the world worth seeing (if not too far off the beaten path). Some off the beaten path, such as the Greek Orthodox Santa Catherina Monastery in the then Israeli Sinai (now Egyptian), one of the oldest in the world the place where Moses accepted the ten commandments from God. From my 26th floor window, I have seen the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers when planes crashed into them.

I do, however, exercise bragging rights in another successful end to a great life: three very successful children: My oldest, Jonathan, has an MA in Electrical Engineering from Cornell and a second Master in Computer Science from the University of Colorado. He was Senior V.P. at Apple for many years and is known as the “Podfather.” [I am the grandpodfather of the Ipod.] Steve Jobs had the original vision for the IPod and the IPhone but Jon and his team really spearheaded the electronic and engineering developments. Jon later served as C.E.O. and Executive Chairman of the Board at Palm, until bought out by Hewlett Packard, where he served as VP. He is now on the Board of Qualcomm and Amazon. His wife, Karen, engineer and a former C.E.O., is on the Board of British Telecom.

My second son, Dr. Jay T. Rubinstein, in addition to his medical degree, has a PhD in Bioengineering. He is a UN Professor of Otolaryngology & Bioengineering at the University of Washington Medical Center and Director of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center. As a surgeon, he has performed hundreds of cochlear implants. His wife Kate is a Forensic Psychiatrist. Jay travels extensively, giving lectures wordwide.

My daughter Sari has a BA from Bennington. She is a musician and a well known Party Organizer. Her late–night NY parties have a huge following. They are held in industrial lofts. In corners of the main room are performers––musicians, singers, magicians, dancers and mimes, all Sari’s friends.

My wife, Chie Hamaguchi Rubinstein, has a BA in Marketing from Baruch College and an MACI in Conference Interpreting, in addition to her Mrs in being a wonderful wife.

I leave behind me 12 published books; the Selectron Process (a useful engineering system I developed); through my son Jonathan, world changing computer developments and through Jay, world famous life improvement developments in his field.

In closing, let me thank readers. I may live another 10 years, or 10 minutes. My will asks for cremation. I should make a great piece of ash. Before I go, however, let me use the words of gladiators in the Roman Coliseum, morituri te salutant. We, who are about to die, salute you.

BEEN THERE! DONE THAT! STILL HERE!