Neil Diamond, A Solitary Man

An Interview in Philly, A Concert with My Mother in Law, 1992

Before I was floored by two weeks of Covid in early July, we had my mother-in-law Esther and her nurse Shorna over for dinner most Sundays. Esther is having a difficult time, as her memory dims into dementia. A few weeks ago, she had a memory blast: Do you remember when you took me to see Neil Diamond and you wrote about me at the show?

I certainly did. It was a hot August night, 1992. Neil Diamond was coming to Long Island's Nassau Coliseum. I thought I'd get around the concert review by seeing the show first in Philadelphia, where I then interviewed Diamond the day after the show for a Sunday Newsday feature.

But Diamond was playing three nights in a row at the Coliseum, so it had to be reviewed. And there were no other volunteers. Rather than bringing my own Neil Diamond biases, I brought Esther. As the show went on, I took notes on her comments, and when it was over, I wrote a review of the concert through the Neil Diamond-infatuated eyes of my mother-in-law. It's not a trick one ca…