It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my mother, Harriet Posnak Lesser. She died on May 17, 2025 at the age of 93. Words cannot even begin to express the depth of this loss. My mother was my best friend. I confided in her, I shared the most important and the equally unimportant times of my life with her. I called my mother every day, often multiple times. To date, it’s been almost two weeks since I heard my mother’s voice and even longer since we’ve had a conversation. The gaping hole in my heart is painful and raw. I cannot believe I won’t ever speak with my mother again, let alone see her. My mom’s unconditional support, encouragement, advice, and love were things on which I could always count. I miss her beyond words. She set a great example for me and everyone in my family. I only hope that I can be as wonderful a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother as she was.

Below is her formal obituary. Thank you for reading about this amazing woman. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of reading some of her columns, she used to write for EverBeautiful.com and some of her columns can be found on the pages of this website. Click on her name in the subheading at the top of this page. You are guaranteed to laugh – and that would have made my mom very happy indeed.

Harriet Posnak Lesser, of Massapequa and the Five Towns, beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, has passed away at age 93. 

Ms  Lesser, an award winning journalist, editor, and social and political columnist for the Five Towns newspapers, The South Shore Record and The Nassau Herald, was known for her sharp wit and the way in which she brought humor to the most mundane situations of suburban life. Her weekly column, “A Nice Place to Visit,” was widely read, not only by residents of the Five Towns, but by readers across the country.  Her column, at times, was picked up and published in Newsday, the New York Times and by the Associated Press. Ms Lesser also contributed to several books, including, Gem Chronicles: The Early Years, which was co-written by gemologist John Ramsey and his wife, jewelry designer Laura Ramsey. Ms. Lesser was also a recipient of the New York Press Association Award.  Between editing and writing for local newspapers, Ms Lesser contributed to Playthings Magazine, a trade publication for the toy industry. 

Harriet Lesser was the second in her family to graduate college and to pursue a career at a time when most women were homemakers. She always wanted to be a writer and was an active staff member of her Tilden High School and Brooklyn College student newspapers. 

Ms Lesser began her journalistic career in the early 1970s. Prior to that, while raising her three children, she was an active political volunteer involved in championing local politicians. Not one to seek office herself, she covered the local and national political scene journalistically and satirically in her weekly column. 

Harriet Lesser’s beauty, sense of humor, intelligence, and personality equipped her to tackle and succeed in a myriad of endeavors. Yet, in spite of her busy professional life, Ms Lesser’s proudest achievement was as mother of her three children, whom she loved with all her heart.   

Ms Lesser was born on the Fourth of July and was the embodiment of a proud American, instilling in her children the importance of a democratic government and a free press. 

Harriet Posnak Lesser was preceded in death by her husband, Meyer C. Lesser, and is survived by her children, Melody Lesser, Michael Lesser, and Jonathan Lesser and their respective spouses, Charles Riess, Debra Burleson, and Dawn Lesser. She also leaves behind her grandchildren, respectively Emily Riess and her husband Adam Fudala; Victoria Riess and her husband Dr. Nathan Zapolsky; Kate Burleson-Lesser, Miles Burleson-Lesser, Aggie Lesser and Annabelle Lesser. She is also survived by her great grandchildren Violet Zapolsky, Eli Zapolsky, Gabrielle Fudala and Clara Fudala. 

In memoriam donations may be made to a dementia research charity, a charity that supports journalism, or any charity of your choice.

In my opinion, Donald Trump is a racist. 

I am not a fan of the current president. I am not a fan of the man, presidency aside. I’ve known about Donald Trump and his antics for decades. As a little girl, I remember my parents and their friends discussing Fred Trump, Donald’s father’s restrictive renting policy against blacks, a policy for which the Trumps were sued. They countersued for $100 million and the case was eventually settled in court with the Trumps having to institute fair renting practices. The Trumps considered this a win. Even as a kid, I considered it an admission of guilt.

 Inside the government’s racial bias case against Donald Trump’s company and how he fought it

Years later, in the late 80s, I remember when Donald Trump placed a full page ad calling for the return of the death penalty after five teens, four black, one Latino, were convicted and sentenced to prison for gang-raping and nearly killing a jogger in Central Park. The sentences were later overturned and the teens were paid $41 million to settle their civil rights lawsuit. Trump never recanted his opinion of the teens’ guilt, even after DNA evidence proved their innocence.

Trump Will Not Apologize for Calling for Death Penalty over Central Park Five

In my opinion, Donald Trump is a sexual predator. 

I began my career as a magazine writer in the early 1980s, around the same time that Donald Trump was becoming well-known as a real estate mogul. He wanted to be recognized as a man about town, a playboy of renown, and would call newspapers and magazines, using a pseudonym – John Barron is one. Barron. Sound familiar? – to brag about his latest sexual conquest, in the hopes that the media would print the news and help cement his desired reputation as a macho man. This often resulted in the woman in question refuting the story, calling it fake news.

Last week marked the four-year anniversary of the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, the one on which Trump admitted sexually assaulting women when he said that they would let him grab them by the pussy because he’s a star. At the time the tape was made in 2005, Trump was just your average, run-of-the-mill, full-of-himself and, therefore, full-of-shit, fake billionaire for whom nothing but dominating the media was top of mind. He was wrong, by the way, about women wanting him to touch them. To date, 26 women have publicly accused the president of sexual misconduct. Four years later, women are still accusing Trump of sexual assault. Here’s why that matters.

Writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused the president of rape, is currently fighting to have her day in civil court. In a shady move, Attorney General Bill Barr, who has been acting as the president’s personal attorney, is attempting to use the Department of Justice to take the place of the president in the litigation.  Columnist who has accused Trump of sexual assault seeks to block DOJ intervention in defamation case

The weekend after the Access Hollywood tape was released, New Yorkers took to the streets to protest Trump and to bring attention to his misogyny. It was my first public protest against this president. Not surprisingly, women dominated the scene. The mood of the crowd was optimistic and even jovial. I think we believed, albeit erroneously, that no one could seriously vote for this man for whom grabbing women’s genitals was a source of pride. Oh, how wrong we were.

In my opinion, Donald Trump will do anything to win this election. 

I grew up in a political family. As a little girl, each day from September through Election Day, instead of going home after school, my brothers and I would walk to the campaign headquarters of whichever local candidate my mom supported. It was there that we’d do our homework and drink in the heady atmosphere of volunteers who were completely committed to their cause. Election Day was always exciting. We were celebrating the greatness of our democracy, our freedom to exercise our rights and our voice by voting. Now, with the election looming, Donald Trump and the GOP are cheating. The California GOP has placed more than 50 fake ballot boxes for mail-in ballots in Los Angeles, Fresno, and Orange Counties, an action that state officials said was illegal and could lead to election fraud. Republican governors in the states of Georgia and Texas have closed many, if not most, polling places in blue districts, forcing voters to wait in line for hours to cast their votes. 

Sadly, this type of political game is not new for this administration. Since Trump took office, I have watched in horror as he unraveled too many of the laws, institutions, and way of life that we hold dear and, yes, took for granted in America. With every EO he signed and every Obama regulation he overturned, I sank deeper and deeper into anger and despair. I listened to the lies about marauding bands of immigrants who were storming our southern border, how Mexico is going to pay for the wall. I was disgusted when Trump insulted women, Gold Star families, and John McCain. “There is no bottom with him,” a friend and I say every day. Indeed, we are still having this conversation that began in 2015. I was convinced that there would be a turning point when members of the GOP would see Trump for the horror he is. As yet, this has not happened.

California Republican Party Admits It Placed Misleading Ballot Boxes Around State

In my opinion, cruelty is the point of the Trump administration.

I never liked Donald Trump. I thought he was pompous and foolish before he became president and I think he is incompetent as a president. What I didn’t realize is that Donald Trump is incredibly cruel. His policy of family separation at the southern border (with Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, and perhaps others) put me over the edge. I could hardly believe this was happening in America. I yelled about it on Twitter, an outlet for my incredulity and anger – and the only place I felt free to write and express my horror for this man and his administration. I discussed it with friends, at least one of whom asked for my advice on what to say when people came at her with, “Obama did the same thing.” No. He did not.

“… according to FactCheck.org, ‘previous administrations did not have a blanket policy to prosecute parents and separate them from their children.’ It was after the Trump administration announced its “zero-tolerance” immigration policy in April 2018, in which everyone who illegally entered the U.S. was referred for criminal prosecution, that thousands of migrant children were separated from their parents.”

Trump Falsely Says Obama Started Family Separation

Now here we are, in the midst of a pandemic with, as of this morning, 218,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the United States. Our lives have been upended. Nothing is as it was in the “before times.” Americans are so polarized that even something as simple as a piece of cloth has become a contentious subject.

I believe the doctors, the science. I believe in wearing masks. I do not think that wearing one makes me weak or infringes on my rights. Science has proved that masks prevent the spread of the disease and it infuriates me that Trump disregards the science, putting the lives of millions of Americans at risk. It infuriates me that Trump has not sincerely or often expressed condolences for the people who died from Covid. He’s said few words about their families. Instead, he promises a vaccine before Election Day, which is less than three weeks away; and says Covid is no big deal since he recovered from it quickly. What he neglects to say is that he had the best healthcare in the country and access to drugs inaccessible to everyone else. And, while I’m on this rant, let me remind you that Trump is currently in court trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act without a plan to replace it. Remember too that during his 2016 campaign, Trump said he had a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. We are still waiting. But now, with the presumably inevitable appointment of Trump’s pick to replace the just, heroic, kind, and highly-respected Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with whom some consider to be a right-wing puppet who will do the president’s bidding, the Republican dream of replacing Obamacare might actually come true. In the midst of a pandemic. In the midst of economic disaster. In the midst of voting. 

These are some of the things that keep me up at night. I fear for my children’s and grandchildren’s future. I’m worried about my mom, whom I haven’t seen in months. 

In my opinion, another Trump term means the end of healthcare, Medicare, Roe v Wade, marriage equality, and democracy.  

I am still waiting for my mail-in ballot. I hope it comes soon, although I haven’t fully excluded going to the polls to vote in person next month. I cannot wait to vote. Hell yes, I am going to vote for Joe Biden and for Democrats down the ballot. I am going to use my vote to help oust Donald Trump and the Republicans who have remained silent throughout his presidency out of fear that Trump will primary them or, worse, insult them with a tweet. I have had enough of Trump’s endless presidency. It is time for him to go. It is time to vote him out. And that’s not just my opinion. It is my fervent belief. 

As you know, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has recommended that all of us wear cloth face coverings to slow the spread of COVID-19. The use of face masks is to help prevent those who may be asymptomatic from spreading the disease to others. Wearing a face mask does not mean we should stop practicing social distancing, hand washing, and other safety precautions recommended by the medical community. Some people think wearing a face mask will prevent the wearer from getting sick. That has not conclusively been shown to be true. Here’s an article about the protections face masks offer.

News about this virus changes as quickly as the virus spreads, but since the CDC recommends that everyone wear face masks in public, here’s their article on why and how to wear face masks.

Trying to find a face mask to buy has been almost as difficult as trying to find toilet paper. (If you have any suggestions for that, let me know ASAP!) Many in the fashion industry have stepped up and are producing face masks in quantity to donate to healthcare workers and others. Let’s hear it for Christian Siriano who was one of the first to donate thousands of face masks to healthcare workers and first responders. (If you don’t follow him on Instagram, do.) Nicole Miller has posted directions on her social media platforms to make your own face mask. You can access those directions here. And, don’t worry if you don’t have a sewing machine. Hand stitching works just as well.

If you don’t want to make your own mask, PQ Swim, a swimwear brand, is doing their part by re-purposing their production lines and materials to create what they call a MasQini. 100% of MasQini proceeds will be used to produce MasQinis for charities and pay PQ Swim’s employees. (Bravo!) You can even DM your favorite charity to the PQ team for a chance to have MasQinis donated to the organization of your choice. 

Additionally, 5% of net proceeds on all purchases, including MasQinis, will be donated to Feeding America COVID-19 Fund. 

MasQinis come in adorable patterns because since you have to wear a mask, why not make it fashion? They cost $12 apiece and, as I write this, expected delivery is between 4/17-4/24. There is an $8.00 flat rate shipping fee, but delivery is free on orders of $50.00 or more.

One more thing: From now to July 6th, The New York Times is making digital access available to all US high school students. Please share this link with all the teachers and students you know.

Do your part. Wear a mask. Be safe. Be smart. Be healthy. Love to you all. Melody

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