I am so sorry to hear about Eli's passing. I knew Eli as a teammate and classmate in Middle School and High School at MKA. We played baseball and soccer together and were in many English and History classes together. Although we were not close as adults, every couple of years I would get a text message or voicemail from Eli, saying "Hey Saroff, I'm having a party downtown - you should come" and on those occasions when I did, it was terrific to see him and he hadn't changed a bit. I last saw him at our 25th HS Reunion in 2019 and I drove him home and hoped to see him again.
I will miss Eli's wacky sense of humor, his intelligence, and his unique (and welcomed by his peers) challenges to absurd adult authority. He had a terrific spirit.
Sending my deepest condolences to his friends and family. With much love, John.
3
Eli and I took a leave of absence from DiNoto Lee (the NYC ad agency where we worked - and before Eli started excelling at/focusing on squash) for 4+ months in 2001. We wanted to go to places I'd never been (easy) + places Eli had never been (NOT so easy as he'd already traveled to so many places). Our first stop was Turkey. We spent a month there and didn't want to leave. Here's a condensed blog entry from June 2001.
"Eli and I just got off of what they call a 'Blue Voyage' . . . a sailing trip up the Mediterranean Coast on a wooden Turkish sail boat called a gullet. Ours was a 3-day/2-night adventure starting and ending from a place called Fetihye on the Southwest coast. It was amazing. We just cruised around, dropped anchor in secluded bays, swam (you bob like a cork because it is so salty), laid in the sun, played backgammon and slept on the decks under the stars. We are SO TAN, but covered with heat rash and mosquito bites. Quite an attractive combo, I'm sure you'd agree.
Eli got a shave at a Turkish barber. Whoa ... he looks 10 years younger and his face is so smooth as to be plasticene. Part of the straight razor treatment includes BURNING OFF THE WHISKERS WITH A BURNING WOODEN SWAB!!!!! That was fun to watch. I thought Eli was going to have a heart attack!!!
One other thing worth mentioning is that we swear we were visited by spirits in the ancient ruins of Olympos. We walked through the ruins to the beach one night. On the way back (through the ruins) at around 1:00 AM by ourselves, the wind whipped up just as (and only as) we were wading through a sacred pond, something started crunching unseen through the trees while making an indescribable noise and I truly felt a cold "thing" move through my body. It was scary, creepy and surreal. (And, no. We were totally sober.)"
Times with Eli usually made for some one-of-a-kind adventure that I'll never forget.
5
1997, Monterey, Massachusetts, USA
3
1998, Connecticut College
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1997, Monterey, Massachusetts, USA
2
1998, Connecticut College
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Eli was one of my closest friends in college. We bonded over many nights of whiskey, cards and other craziness. I’ll never forget the night I was up writing a paper at 2 am and got a knock on my door. It was Eli, excited about the giant blizzard outside. We ended up staying up all night roaming around in the snow, climbing on the roof of the athletic center, and scaring the heck out of a bunch of up-early good students and athletes in the dining hall with our loud laughter at 6am. We also wrote an independent study together on the state of global affairs which was supposed to have taken us an entire semester. We put it off until three days before it was due, stayed up writing for 72 hours straight, and somehow got what I believe were the only A-pluses of our college careers. Eli’s generosity of spirit, joy in life and love of being who he was inspired me greatly when I knew him, and is something I have always carried with me and tried to emulate. We last saw each other at reunion in June, and he seemed a bit under the weather but was still very much himself. While we were catching up, Eli noticed a trio of college girls walking by. He turned to them and out of the blue asked if they knew how to juggle. Next thing I knew he had confused and charmed them by giving them a juggling lesson.
This is a shock and a sadness. I hope he’s living on somewhere.
6
1997, Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA
3
I was so shocked and saddened to hear about Eli. We were classmates at Conn College and although I didn’t know him very well, he was the kind of person who everyone felt like they knew! Eli would tell a story and the whole room listened, and then we would repeat it for days later. He was charming, funny, and unique.. someone I will always remember. I am thinking of his friends and family during this incredibly difficult time.
2
I knew Eli at Connecticut College, but got to know him more at the reunions that followed over the years. I was so happy to catch up with him on campus this past June. Eli had a real gift for making you feel like a more interesting person when you talked to him. He had the ability to turn any conversation into a more philosophical one. I sometimes left conversations with him envious of his brightness, positivity and spark for life. He was special. I’m so sorry to all of Eli’s family and friends, he will be missed. This page is a beautiful tribute to him.
4
In 2004 I was a student in NY and to me Eli was much more than a squash coach. He was a friend and family. Some years later he spent some summer weeks in Italy at my home and I always loved the reunion with such a talented and funny guy. I'm speechless and devastated for your loss, wish I could have been there.
3
I knew Eli as a little boy when the family lived on Buttonwood in Essex Fells and then later in the big house. These were some of my precious memories of those growing years and adventures they write books about - Judy Bloom, ya got nothing on us. Eli was always that little brother that you found lying against the railing of the staircase outside his sister's bedroom door eavesdropping on our conversations. But he also wanted to be discovered so just at the right moment he would peer in and wait like a cat for the moment our eyes would lock then when alarm set on my face he would burst up laughing triumphantly that he had been there privey to some juicey tidbits of tween angst. Eli was a delightful and mischievous force of nature - raw joy, spontaneous energy, both coursing through an engine of imagination and inventiveness - you could see the wheels turning, smoke wisps from his ears, always with an air swirl marking his trail as he darted in and about the house, always bursting about something - his voice cracking and laughing getting the words out. Then as quickly as he came in he would be gone again- darting off to the next part of his adventure- constant were those bright, shiny eyes twinkling with the idea of the moment - coupled with that 200 watt smile - pure joy and energy! I am heartbroken for my childhood friends who provided me such a home away from home. My heart is yours with constancy of thought, love and prayers. Sending huge hugs. I can close my eyes and see his face, his smiling eyes and that smile, I can hear that laugh talk too!
2
I am so sorry for your loss. This sweet obituary describes an amazing soul who will be missed. Parts of him will live on in all of those who knew him, which I will treasure. I wish you peace.
1
So saddened to hear about the loss of your beautiful son and brother. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all! May his spirit live on in all who he has touched.
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