My father writes:

Your name, Sander Roscoe, came about because of your Hebrew names which are Shemon Yerachmiel. We tried to get English names which had some resemblance. I had always liked the name Sander, and especially so when I met Sander Vanocher when working at NBC.

The name Roscoe was first heard by me when I was a youngster. There was an actor named Roscoe Kearns. He had a distinctive voice and great acting ability.

I later, as a teen-ager, met Colonel Roscoe Turner at Floyd Bennet field in Brooklyn when my Dad took me there. He was a famous flier and known around the world. He had fallen on hard times and was taking people for flights around the Statue of Liberty for two dollars. My dad negotiated with him. and he took both of us, me sitting in my Dad's lap with the seat belt around both of us. It was a thrill that I will never forget. Keep in mind that this was during the the depression and two dollars was an awful lot of money.

I then used to go to the field on my uncle Aarons hand-me-down bike and do all sorts of jobs for him. I used to wash the cloth covered plane with wet sponges and dry it with chamoix cloths. He had a spare prop which I sanded and then applied numerous coats of some sort of varnish, letting it dry then sanding between each coat. I also used to go to the market for him and bring back groceries.

He was a dashing man with a large mustache and much admired by the ladies. He often wore high leather boots, riding pants, a leather jacket, white scarf, and when flying, a brown leather helmet over which he wore his flying goggles.

In exchange for my efforts I was able to get an occasional free ride in the plane and some instructions on how to take off, fly, and land. He never allowed me to land the plane although I did take off a few times.

Giving you these names was not to honor these men but to provide you with names that were both a bit different and of which you could be proud.