Nate Braunstein - Death of a Salesman
I met Nate Braunstein in 1981. My connection to him was remote; the father of one of my good friends’ lifelong girlfriend. Sometimes you meet someone, and you feel you have a connection. In this case I admired him as a wheeler dealer garment business factory owner. He had a friendly charisma, and I felt graced that I was able to get along with this successful tycoon. I realized during the run-up to the wedding of my friends - his daughter and soon to be son-in-law - that one of his gifts was making people around him feel good about themselves. After college I struggled personally. My life was like jungle warfare, and I was losing. Nate represented for me a kind of mutual admiration club. I didn’t have a lot of people I respected saying nice things about me. This man somehow saw me for who I was, that I had a good heart, and made me feel as if I could trust him. Mostly, though, he gave me something to aspire to; the dignity of being a top sales professional. For a short time