Robert Mann, 97, Founding First Violinist of the Juilliard Quartet

Margalit Fox's obit byline hasn't been seen much of lately. Apparently she's been assigned to updating and adding to the pre-written obit pile. These are the obits that are nearly done. They just await the subject to pass on before the rip cord can be pulled and they can float onto the page. Sometimes years can pass by before a pre-written obit can be pressed into publication. Thus, an update is always in order when they finally do.

A Margalit Fox obit can be a bit like trying to find Al Hirschfeld's daughter's name Nina somewhere in one of his drawings. The hair is usually a good place to look, but Nina can be anywhere.

So when I saw Ms. Fox had an obit in today's NYT I was prepared not to look for 'Nina' in her text, but rather some kind of spin, or very unique combination of words that would make it a Margalit Fox obit.

It wasn't front and center, but it was there. As a kid, Robert Mann had a violin teacher his parents engaged for $1.50 a lesson. Robert's lesson with the teacher started when he was 9, but by the time he was 11 the teacher, who it turns out was an alcoholic, was shot and killed, an event that Ms. Fox described as "an actuarially unorthodox end for a classical musician." The Fox jot.

I agree. Line up a list of occupations in one column, with cause of death in another column, and my guess is the probability of a classical musician's cause of death being lined up with a homicide by gunshot will not be great. It will probably even be "off-the chart" at the low end.

Years and years ago I heard of a very posh restaurant in the city, Monsignor, that was staffed with at least one strolling violin player. We used to meet a fellow at the racetrack, our older mentor Les, who would usually spot someone's chauffeur, Nobby, at the track. Who Nobby drove for, I have no idea. I never met Nobby directly, but Les always told us that after the track Nobby would be outside Monsignor while his boss and his party were inside eating.

One Saturday evening I happened to pass by Monsignor at the height of what would be the dinner hour. There was a small fleet of double-parked limos idling at the curb, waiting for the owners to finish up their meal. I have no real knowledge that Monsignor might have been a mob joint, but at least one of the patrons favored the race track, because Nobby was always spotted at Aqueduct or Belmont by Les.

Thinking of it now, in the context of Margalit's obituary on Robert Mann today and the story about his violin teacher, it is completely possible that the strolling violin player's life at Monsignor could have been in jeopardy, especially if he owed too much money for too long to the wrong people, or, if he got upset at having to play the same thing over and over, and registered that compliant to the wrong people.

Of course there was a famous movie about a pair of musicians whose lives were in danger, those played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in 'Some Like it Hot,' especially after they witnessed a mob rub out in a Chicago garage. But come to think of it, they escaped harm. They were only jazz musicians.

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