The Larry Lippert Story

Written 1974* 1,529 Words

By Howard Yasgar

In 1972 we started another Company and we called it “Rebuilders Supply of Miami.

(see the Rebuilders Supply Story).

The sales method of “Rebuilders Supply”, was to send out flyers every few months to as many

Automotive electric rebuilding shops that we could locate.

The Rebuilders Supply flyers were unique and I would advertise every type of automotive electrical item that I could lay my hands on.

To keep the flyers fresh, I needed a source of new and interesting items that the rebuilders

could not find from their traditional sources of supply.

One of the main sources that I used were people like BKS in Detroit and a bunch of surplus dealers located in Chicago.

They would find all kinds of odd ball items, and I just loved putting the items in the flyer.

The customers said they loved getting the Rebuilders Supply flyer.

In the quest for finding more interesting electrical items, I started buying government surplus.

One of my main sources of government surplus items was a fellow named Manny Mathews.

Manny would search the Government surplus auctions for big lots of mixed merchandise.

Manny Mathews solved the mixed lot problem.

He would break down the big lots into smaller lots of similar material, then he would send the lists out to people like us that specialized in those items.

We became Manny Mathews largest customer for automotive electrical items.

However, once Manny confided in me that he really couldn't make a living doing the government surplus type business.

As Manny grew older and tired of the Government Surplus business, he put an ad in the newspaper

to sell his Company.

Manny's ad was seen by a fellow named Larry Lippert, who lived in Ashland Ohio.

Larry Lippert was working as a purchasing agent for a large Company, but he wanted to go into a business for himself.

Larry had a genetic affliction which made his hands and fingers curl up like a crab.

But Larry never let this affliction affect his actions.

When shaking hands, he would put out his hand as if nothing was wrong.

Larry bought out Manny Mathews Company and went into the Government Surplus business.

Unfortunately, Larry thought the surplus business was a lot better than it was. Larry thought that Manny Mathews was earning a living off of it, but I knew better.

Anyway, that was how I met Larry Lippert.

Larry had a Midwest twang to his voice, that was unmistakable. He only had to say one word and you knew it was Larry Lippert.

Larry called me one day to tell me he was coming to Miami with one of his customer from California named Pete Smith, and he wanted to know if we could get together.

At the time I was donating my time, opening clams at a Church Fair in Hollywood Florida.

I invited Larry and his friend Pete Smith to come to the festival, and one evening they showed up.

Larry and I hit it off and he wanted to know if we could get together again.

.

I just purchased a 2-bedroom townhouse in Costa De Sol so I invited Larry to come.

When I moved into my new home, I had no furniture, and Larry had to sleep on the floor, which he did with no complaints.

I learned that Larry was a single guy, having lost his first wife to cancer.

His crablike hands were a genetic problem, and some of his kids also had it.

Over the next few years, we continued doing business and Larry came to visit me again in Florida, but this time he came with a new girlfriend.

My wife Katherine and I now also had a new townhouse in Executive Bay Club, down in the Florida Keys, so Larry and his girlfriend stayed with us there.

We all went fishing on a charter boat out of Whale Harbor, and Larry handled a rod and reel perfectly despite his affliction. It was quite a sight watching him use a rod and reel.

One day Larry told me about a building that was available in Ohio.

I told Larry to find out what had been left in the building, as it may be possible for me to sell

some of it.

Even if Larry couldn't afford to buy the building, we might be able to get some surplus material that was left there.

Larry called me back to say that the building had a lot of General Electric surplus items in it.

I asked Larry to find out if a printed inventory was available, and he did.

The inventory turned out to be General Electric Turbine engine parts.

We immediately put the inventory on the ILS, and we started selling the material.

We eventually received an offer of $80,000.00 for all the GE Parts, which we knew was a low offer.

When Larry heard this, he borrowed money and bought the building.

Larry never forgot my helping him and whenever we met for supper he would tell everyone the story of how “Howard from Miami” helped him get started.

One evening in the late 1980's, Katherine and I were sitting at a card table in a Casino in Paradise

Island in the Bahamas.

I happened to look towards my left, and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was Larry Lippert with a nice-looking blond woman, they were just walking into the Casino.

What were the chances of this happening, we couldn't believe it.

We invited them to sit with us at the “21” card table, but both were scared to death of playing a game in a casino, but we eventually coaxed them to sit down next to us and play.

Larry's girlfriend's name was Victoria and she was just as nice as can be, neither Victoria nor Larry had ever gambled in a casino before and they now found the game of “21” fun.

Starting in 1981, Katherine and I started going to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

In 1995 we decided to celebrate Katherine's Birthday, which was Feb 9, by going to New Orleans. It was to be about two weeks before Mardi Gras officially started, which was on Ash Wednesday.

When I suggested that Larry and Victoria join us, Larry said that he thought Mardi Gras was a bit too risqué for Victoria and he didn't want to expose her to it, as she might be offended.

Larry had heard that there was a lot of nudity and wild behavior at Mardi Gras, which would not appeal to Victoria's Midwest prudish upbringing.

I told Larry we would be there two weeks early for Mardi Gras and he shouldn’t be concerned.

So, Larry finally gave in and agreed to join us.

Larry's wife Victoria just loved gold Jewelry, and it just happened that the necklaces being sold for that years Mardi Gras were a gold metallic color, and it looked absolutely like real Gold.

I bought several of the gold necklaces and Victoria just beamed, they looked real and the whole deal only cost me about $10.00

As we walked about the streets in the French Quarter, I was surprised to see marching bands already

coming down the streets with large crowds of people lining up along the avenue to watch them, and

Mardi Gras wasn't supposed to be for another 10 days.

As the parades came down the street, throwing plastic bead necklaces to the crowds that had gathered to watch, and there was Larry’ wife Victoria jumping in the air to catch the beads.

That evening as we walked down Bourbon Street the balconies were loaded with people and they

were all throwing plastic bead necklaces to the crowds on the Street, and this was two weeks before Mardi Gras.

Over the next few years, Katherine and I traveled to a lot of places with Larry and Victoria and they never missed an opportunity to hit a Casino, Larry and Victoria had become addicted to gambling and could play until the early hours of the morning.

Larry was a lousy gambler but had loads of fun doing it. He would eventually, late in the evening, always run out of money and had to borrow from my wife Katherine.

Larry's business grew and he kept on building 100,000 square foot warehouses in Ohio.

He let us represent his items to the Government, which we did for many years.

In 2008 Larry had spinal cancer and I spoke to him about 10 days before he passed away.

To Larry, I was always “Howard from Miami” with that unmistakable Midwestern twang in his voice.

Every time Katherine and I pass through a casino we still look for Larry & Victoria.