Avram Dehpour as a little boy was small and fearful.

His father slighted him, while hovering over his sister, Esther.

Desperate to win father’s attention, Avram devoted himself to piano.

He covered over his sensitivity with a carapace of arrogance.

But never entirely: his humility was always a saving grace.

Avram was allowed to be a child, and his piano

playing forever remained an impish frolic and a disciplined exercise.

When sitting down to perform he would first sometimes squirm.

Irritated by an ill-mannered conductor, he might make a face.

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Paraphrases from the biography Robert Kennedy: His Life by Evan Thomas.