Shep Gordon: The Supermensch Interview
OMTIMES: That ties into my next question–which is: Many people perceive the entertainment industry as being ruthless, and yet your reputation has always been one of operating from a position of integrity. Do you think your work ethic is derived from your Jewish upbringing?
Shep Gordon: I just had that conversation with someone. I think it probably was a big part of it. You know, I was saying I never–I was always a cultural Jew. I wasn’t a religious Jew. And I find as I get older and I learn more about the Jewish religion, I see that there’s things in my blood that I never quite understood that I’m starting to link together.
Like, I love cooking for a lot of people. And recently I–for some–I went to view this cemetery when I was in New York a couple of weeks ago. I try and go once a year. I was in NY you know, I went to my grandmother’s grave, and we–I have always have, like, a little conversation. And I could remember her–that this is the first time I can remember I could hear her voice. I remember saying–I’d always say, “Grandma, why did you cook so much food?” And she’d say, “You never know when a bus is going to pull up of people that are hungry.” And that made me start to think about the holidays where you leave the extra chair in case someone shows up who’s hungry. And so, I think, ‘Well, maybe that’s–because I never could understand why I do what I do.’ I just do what I do. But, in Maui, it’s always 20 people for dinner, or 30 people for dinner, and I go to sleep right after dinner, but I love cooking and serving them.
