Jeffrey Shandler

Mayer Kirshenblatt, 93, Merchant Who Became an Artist of Memory

Knowing Mayer Kirshenblatt, who died November 20 at age 93, was a rare privilege. Through him and his family, I learned about his hometown and a way of life — each remarkable in its own right, as was Kirshenblatt himself. For several decades, Kirshenblatt was the unofficial ambassador from Apt — the town in pre-World…