Lou Nasti

I have little in common with Mr. Nasti other than his photo from March 20, 1965 that appeared in the NYT as they did a story on Mr. Nasti as a teenage prodigy for building robots and other forms of animation.

No, I didn't just read that edition, but I probably did buy the paper that day. In 1965 Mr. Nasti was 19; I was 16 and still in high school, but even then a daily reader of the paper.

Mr. Nasti is seen in the lively, appreciative story by Philip Dougherty as what a typical, well dressed teenage boy in Brooklyn, or NYC in general looked like then; white, tab collar shirt, thin tie, hair in a pompadour. He is Billy Joel in the song 'Keepin' the Faith.'

I wore a white shirt all through public high school, but not the thin tie. Mr. Nasti graduated Midwood High School in Brooklyn in 1963, when you could still go to a Dodgers home game at Ebbets Field; I graduated Stuyvesant in Manhattan in 1966.

The above photo is part of the March 28, 2025 obituary for Lou Nasti, 79; Charmed Brooklyn and the World With Mechanical Magic written by Ash Wu.

What attracted me to the obit, other than it was an obit, was the 1965 black and white photo of Mr. Nasti at the controls for the robot, Mr. Obos, named after the Sobos glue Lou used. (I used Duco Cement glue —still on the market—to build the balsa wood houses for my HO train layout.)

Lou and I seemed to have gotten similar Christmas presents. He and I, Tinkertoys, that he animated; me, I only put them together.

Additionally what also attracted me to the obit was the caption used under the reprinted 1965 photo saying it "made the front page of the New York Times in 1965." This I had to see for myself. I really couldn't imagine a story like the one for Mr. Nasti could land on a 1965 front page. 

Years ago I would have had to go to the library to gain access to digital stories from publications. Hello Internet. A little digging, front page yes, but in reality the front page of the second section, page 29 in a L++ edition, two sections, eight columns in those days. (And a lot cheaper; 10¢ for daily; 25¢ for Sunday. But money is relative.)

This hardly diminishes Philip Dougherty's story, written in a lively style with details you wouldn't find in a story today.

Mr. Nasti's home address in given, 1866 Flatbush Avenue. The lede is lively in that it goes: 

"The other fellows around East 38th Street and Flatbush Avenue have had a pretty busy winter, what with shooting pool at Cannon's, going to dances and all that.

But where has Lou Nasti been? He's been in the basement of the Styling by Silhouette Beauty Parlor every free minute, and what he's been doing has really become a neighborhood topic. No wonder, for how many fellows are building 6-foot 5-inch copper colored robots around Flatbush Avenue these days?"

The young Mr. Nasti turned down a scholarship to M.I.T. in order to work, eventually building a thriving animation business with international jet set clients. Had to gone to M.I.T. he likely might have helped design the Lunar Landing Module for NASA. But by the narrative of the obituary, it sounds like Mr. Nasti had much more fun on his own without being part of a giant government bureaucracy.

Dyker Heights in Brooklyn is famous for its over-the-top Christmas decorations, and Mr. Nasti's company completed commission for clients there. The neighborhood is so famous at Christmas time that A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours makes sure it goes by at night.

Getting back to the 1965 article, Mr. Dougherty describes Lou Nasti's mom, Mrs. Marie Nasti, as of course proud of her son, but also adds that she has a "plump 5-foot frame, unable to hold all her pride." The story is a Valentine.

Mr. Nasti's endeavors also came to the attention of the NYT in 2017 when Helene Stapinski did a colorful piece of Mr. Nasti and his crew as they decorate one of the over-the-top homes in Dyker Heights, the home of a lawyer, Alfred Pollizzoto.

To the credit of the editor of the obit page, a color layout was part of the obituary. Mr. Nasti's life was so full of color, it would have been a shame if his obit wasn't. Color is found in the paper, these days, but not everywhere. 

A good obit is made even better when there is a kicker at the end, a humorous aside that further captures the personality of the deceased.

Mr. Nasti's two daughters worked in his company. Margot Craven said for all her father's decorating of other people's properties, for his own family, "he has a three-foot Christmas tree. He had the ornaments glued on and he had it in a plastic bag, He would unroll the plastic bag, and that was Christmas. He really was the shoemaker with holes in his shoes." Another Valentine.

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