Biography of Robert Goren

							                                Biography of Robert Goren

         Robert Goren was born on February 11, 1931 during the Great Depression. His father, Sam, was a
grocer working long hours in his small shop on Michigan Avenue and 31st Street in Detroit to provide for
his family. Bob received lots of love, not just from his father but also from his Mother, Fanny, and his
sister, Helen, and a large extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He was a star pupil,
graduating from Western High School, and moving on to Wayne State University. As a “frat boy,” he
wrote many songs for his fraternity plays (most of which he cannot play in polite company). A now
famous Jazz guitarist named Kenny Burrell professionally recorded one of his songs, Two Castanets. In
College, he met Judith Wise, the woman who became the life-long beneficiary of his romantic spirit.
They married in 1953, while they were still both students. Bob went on to Law School where he helped
create the Wayne State Law Review and became its first managing editor. He was third in his class.
         In 1955, Bob was drafted into the Army. Despite his efforts to avoid an overseas assignment, the
Army sent him to France for two memorable years. In Verdun, Judith taught second grade, while Bob
worked as an Army dental assistant and attorney. Whenever Bob got leave to travel (and sometimes when
he didn’t), Bob and Judith toured Europe. He later wrote that his time in France was “the most important
event in my life” because it was “the experience that gave me a different view of the world.” They were
beautiful years, but also hard. In 1956, Bob’s mother, Fanny, died after a two-year bout with breast
cancer. In 1958, Bob’s father, Sam, died of a heart attack. In 1959, Judith’s mother died of ovarian
cancer. Meanwhile, Judith and Bob moved to Oak Park and created a family of their own with 3 children,
Gary, Steven and Nancy, born between 1958 and 1961. In 1965, they moved to 21525 W. 13 Mile Road,
their own French chateau in Beverly Hills.
         Living in France gave Bob a life long love for travel, and, with Judith, he began a tour of the
world that has now taken him to 5 of the 7 continents. He became active in the Democratic Party, grew to
love tennis and has always loved reading. Long fascinated with Pre-Columbian civilization, he acquired
an extensive collection of artifacts and books. His law practice blossomed, allowing him to live in a level
of luxury his Goren ancestors could not have dreamed of achieving.
         Bob’s songs, collected here for the first time, are just one of the legacies that will outlive him. He
likes to read of Winston Churchill and other World leaders and then laments his “star is not the bright
one” and his life is “rather simple, rather small.” Perhaps this overly modest self-view is the curse of the
romantic visionary. His family knows better, however. Robert Goren is a star whose warmth has shined
through generations, filling the lives of his wife, children and eight grandchildren with a deep love that is
life’s most precious gift.



                                                                      Steven E. Goren
                                                                      December 31, 2000


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