Mark Brisman: Give a Little, Get a
Little
Could
they have had less in common?
She was an actress with traveling in her toes, an
adventurous career in her dreams. He was stiff, proper
Dudley Do-right. By age 5, he had mapped out his life:
lawyer, wife in the suburbs, raising their kids. When
Juliette Steuer met Mark Brisman, he was 19 going on
40.
The relationship worked, because sometimes opposites
prod each other in the best ways. He gave her stability;
she loosened him up. He managed to jump in a few
fountains at college, and she married him, moved to
Westchester and stayed home with their two young
children.
Meanwhile, back at the office &emdash; Harris Beach, a
law firm with a branch on the 85th floor of 2 World Trade
Center &emdash; Mr. Brisman, 34, worked exhaustively, for
his family's sake. If he was seen as old-fashioned in his
treatment of women (as delicate flowers who need
protection), he was also regarded as a can-do, meticulous
guy, supersmart and assured. He was awarded his long-
sought partnership posthumously.
He knew himself. "I'm not a babe magnet," he said.
"I'm a baby magnet." Formal with adults, he whooped
freely with small people, especially his own. A snapshot
from Labor Day weekend: Mr. Brisman playing happily with
children, his tall frame folded into a kiddie airplane at
Adventureland.
.
