The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Maurice Langer Joined Marc Hunt Live On “A Life, Unedited” On The I Love CVille Network!

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

Maurice Langer, Attorney, Father, Husband, joined Marc Hunt live on A Life, Unedited! A Life, Unedited airs live Wednesday from 10:15 pm – 11:00 am on The I Love CVille Network. “A Life, Unedited” is presented by Martha Jefferson House.

Good morning. My name is Mark Hunt, and this is a life unedited. In this podcast, I have the privilege of sitting down with remarkable people to talk about their lives, their perspectives, honestly, without the filter of hindsight. Today, I am very honored to have Morris Langer. He is an attorney, a father, and husband. Thank you for being with me, Mr. Langer. How are you today? Good, thank you. Mr. Langer, you were born and raised in New Jersey. That's correct. Can you take me back to what your childhood was like in New Jersey? What kind of home did you grow up in?

Well, I was the third child born of four. So naturally there was a history before I came on the scene. But I was born in 1940 at Christ Hospital in Jersey City. and I recollect living at 43 Broadman Parkway, Jersey City, and sharing a room with my brother Rudy, and my sister Barbara wasn't there at that time. She was born in 45. But my older brother Abe was also there.

I don't know if he was in the same room, but it was a two-family home, And my father owned the home, and he rented out the lower apartment to Mr. McCarron, who was a scout for the Boston Red Sox. Oh, wow. And I remember I always had a cold or something, and I'd be home, and I'd listen to the soapbox operas on the radio and things like that. and then I went to school and that took me through most of my early years. Did you get to go to some Red Sox games?

Did you get to go to some baseball games? Later on I did. But I also played baseball, but that was later on in high school. I went to public school 24 in Jersey City and then I went on to Lincoln High School in Jersey City, both public education. And I thought I got a good education. As I indicated to you,

I still remember the teachers I had and what they taught me, and I respected them. And they put me on the right path, I thought, for the rest of my life. Did your parents promote education? Well, my father was a strange individual. he was Russian. He left Russia, went to Poland. He wasn't welcome there. And then from Poland, he went to Germany and being Jewish, he wasn't welcome there at all. So around 1930, he came to the United States. I don't know too much about him. I never met his father and met his mother

because he got her out of Russia and brought her to live with us. And she was quite a story. very, very domineering woman. My mother, on the other hand, was of the aristocracy in Russia, and her father was a lawyer in Russia. But she eventually came to the United States by a different route, and they met in Brooklyn, and they got married. But in Russia, they wouldn't have been married because she was sort of aristocracy,

and he was from the common people. He was the commoner? Yeah. Wow, that's incredible. So they met in Brooklyn. What do you mean by your grandmother was very domineering? Well, she lived with us, and I'll give you an example of the situation we had. When we were on Broadman Parkway, after 1945 of my sister was born,

My mother was away with my father on a trip, and we had a home nurse taking care of my sister. And suddenly my father's mother appeared on the scene. Didn't like the way the nurse was taking care of my sister, picked up a chair and threw it at the nurse. It went through the window. went next door through their window. The police came, and my parents had to come back from their trip

and straighten the situation out. Come back early? Yeah, she was a piece of word. She wanted us raised a certain way, and if you didn't raise her the way, she would get quite excited about it. Wow. How old were you?

How old were you when she passed? Well, she lived with us quite a while. Eventually, we had a summer home down. around Elberon, New Jersey, and she came to live with us there, too. And she was a piece of work down there, too. She wanted to run things. But, you know, my mother didn't take a liking to her,

but we had to live with it because she was family. Yeah, absolutely. Well, did you ever meet your mom's parents? Yes, they lived all the time in Brooklyn. His name was, Mr. Horowitz and he was a lawyer very tall

very straightforward and they lived a good life they lived too well into their 90s and we'd go and visit them on weekends and very reserved what a lawyer should be

what a lawyer should be did you grow up like traditional Jewish did you deserve all the It's a traditional Jewish holidays. Yeah, we celebrated the various holidays. I am not a religious person. But we follow the traditions.

My father knew all the traditions as my mother and their parents. So we did follow those, and I tried to follow those as best I could under the circumstances. Well, fast forward to elementary school. you were very successful in school. You had two teachers, Mrs. Sutton and Mrs. Sullivan, that taught you English, and you gained a real affinity for English in which you called the beauty of the language. Yeah, they were very important in my life,

especially Mrs. Sullivan. They were a famous family in Jersey City, and in New Jersey. This Sullivan family, been around for many years. And her brother became a chief judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court. And he always took an interest in me because his sister who taught me called his attention to the fact that she thought I might have potential, you know, being that I was very good in English.

and I had command of the language and Judge Sullivan often told me that's important when you're a lawyer because you have to write briefs especially for him. He was on the appellate courts and he had to read briefs and he said

he didn't enjoy reading briefs that were not well written so he always tried to get me to get interested in the law but I wasn't interested and my father was in the trucking business at that time

and after high school I would always run down there and work on the platform and different things and typed the bills and I never thought that I would amount to anything other than a truck driver

or something like that and my father was very pleased with that he wanted me to get an education but he always wanted me to come in the business and later on that became a big conflict with us oh really? Yeah that turned in

to something that it should never have turned in. I wish I could have done it differently, but the way it turned out, I did what I had to do and he did what he had to do. So that's life. Yeah, that's life, exactly. So back to English, when you say the beauty of the language,

at that time, what did that mean to you? What did you escape into your reading? We were reading different types of novels and books, and I forget exactly those books that I enjoyed, because it's a long time ago. I graduated from high school in, let's see, I guess 57, as I started college of 58, so that would be quite. a while ago, but we did read a lot of interesting stuff. And we did have, in those days, we had a publication put out called The Daily Reader. And the students would get that and would cover their information for the kids, what was going on in the world and stuff like that.

I know, Mrs. Sullivan asked me to write some articles for it, and I did. Oh, that's awesome. So she got me interested in it. Ms. Sutton was very good, too. They both were excellent. It speaks for public education. Yeah, absolutely. It speaks for public education.

Absolutely. Just takes one or two teachers, really. So you attended undergrad at Syracuse University, and you were an English major. Yes. was that at the behest of your father? Was he against that or was he just proud of you for being in college? My father didn't know too much about education. He was always a hard worker.

He got his high school equivalency at night. He had been working for the Eagle Grocery. and Mr. Feinberg. And then he started his own trucking business, first working for them, and then he branched out. In 1934, he quit working for the Eagle Grocery, and he went full-time for the trucking business,

and his mother became the office manager. And the business grew over the year. and he was a successful businessman. I don't know as a father, he was so great, but it was a successful businessman, you know. Well, that's impressive, considering it was depression time.

So, I mean, yeah, that's really... Well, he did a lot of things that a lot of people didn't give him credit for. The most important thing that I thought showed his genius was there, you couldn't get, trucks during the war and he had a contract with a brewering company

called Schaefer Brewing in Brooklyn, New York and they came to him and they said to him well we can't get any trucks can you move our beer some other way so the one thing they do in Russia they have horses

and my father was a good horseman and a good ice game or that he was. I'll give him credit for that. So he went out and got teams of horses like the Budweiser today, and he got the contract renewed at the Schaefer Brewering, and he delivered all their material with horses and wagons for many years. And one of the big executives at Schaefer Brewing,

who gave him a contract. My father gave him a job later on in life as a watchman at one of our terminals. and I remember his name Mr. Fleischer and they always talked about the old days that's how I know about it because I was only a kid when that happened in the 40s

so then other things he did he was fluent in Russian Polish German English Hebrew he went over to solicit

business from a company called Amtog Trading Now, Amtog Trading at that time was the U.S. purchasing procurement company for the Russian, the state of Russia at that time, with Stalin. And, of course, my father spoke fluent Russian, as did his mother. And he wangled the contract from them to do. do their trucking from where they purchase material. He'd take it to the piers and the ships would take it on the North Atlantic to Russia to keep

Russia supplied with material to fight the Germans. Wow. So that way, he was a very, he was a small man. It was probably the smartest man of the other than that in my life. Yeah, he sounds like I didn't agree with him on everything, but most things I disagreed. It came back to haunt me later on in life, believing you did. Sounds brilliant. Certainly a brilliant businessman.

I think so. At Syracuse University, you had some other really influential professors. I did. You learned, you enjoyed studying the poetry of Shakespeare and Thomas Gray. I did. You enjoyed reading Falkner and Hemingway. I did.

I enjoyed Hemingway. the most. I thought he was a brilliant. His brilliance is in the short stories, more so than in the long stories, the novels. But he had a, I still remember, his father was a doctor.

And he used to go with his father on home visits. And he wrote about those visits in a group of short stories called Up in Michigan. And I read that. times or I just said the man was a genius. He had control of the English language that very few people have. Well, that's what I was just about to say. They became my idol. Unfortunately,

he committed suicide, so, you know, sometimes it doesn't pay to have idols. Right. Well, all of those writers have a, you know, a very unique mastery of the English language, and most people find them really hard or arduous to read. So the fact that you appreciated their mastery of the language, speaks volumes to your intelligence. But the world, the world did too. He's respected all over the world. Absolutely. Did you ever consider becoming an English professor or English teacher?

I don't really know because when I went to college I was 17 years old and I didn't go like the regular students here at the University of Virginia. come in, what is there, August, September, you get indoctrination. I didn't have that. I graduated in the middle of the year from Lincoln High School. And, of course, my brother Abe had gone to Syracuse. My brother Rudy was at Syracuse. And in those days, you did what your parents told you you had to do. You went when they told you. So naturally, I was going to go to Syracuse.

and I remember they put me on a train in New York City in the middle of the winter. I think it was right after Christmas because I was going to start the January term up there. I was going to do part B first and then do part A and then move on. So it got me on the train. My brother Rudy was waiting in Syracuse and it was snowing.

And he took care of. care of me up there the first couple of years because I was lost. I mean, my grades were all right, but I was kind of young to be going to college. Sometimes I think it's better to wait a few years before you go, you know? Yeah, absolutely. But I got through. My brother was there. He helped me, and I enjoyed the professors. I really did. We had some really good ones. At what point did you start to think about law as a profession? Oh, when I got finished college, I knew I was high on the draft list. So I went to see Colonel Isidua Hornstein, who did some legal work for my fault.

He was a retired colonel in the Army. And he told me, it's better since it was 1962. He said it would be better for me not to wait to be drafted, but to go down and register and get it over with it. because you're going to get nail sooner or later, so get it over with now. So I did. I put my name on the list.

They moved me up, they drafted me, and I spent two years in the military, both at Camp Dix in New Jersey, and then Fort Knox in Kentucky. I didn't go overseas or anything like that. And I was graduate, I left with a specialist for recommendation, clerk typist, although I trained

as an infantryman. I went through basic training and advanced infantry training, which I found interesting. But I didn't see it as a career. To be perfectly honest, I didn't see anything as a career, except my father

wanted me to come back in the business. So I was then 21, 22. I went back in the business. I tried it. I didn't it. And then I went out and took jobs in New York City with Olin Matheson Chemical. Then they moved to Connecticut, so I couldn't leave there. I was living at home. I couldn't move to Connecticut. I didn't see that. And then I worked for West Virginia pulp and paper, and they moved. So I couldn't see a future there.

I got a good job with Hearts Mountain, which I really loved. And then it dawned on me. I could be fired because companies move and personnel change. And someday some would come in and say Langa, maybe you're too old to do this job or do something. So I looked around at what I could do. and I knew that law was competitive at the time because many of the guys were going to law school

to avoid the draft, but I had finished my military. So there was a law school down where I worked at Harts Mountain. I was 50 Cooper Square where I worked. and New York Law School was right around the corner and they had a night division, which I felt I could do, but it would have to be four years instead of three. So I said to myself, well, if I become a lawyer,

I don't have to have a big expense getting X-ray machines and things like that, and I really wasn't trained to be a doctor, I didn't have the science background to be a doctor. So it was either accounting or law. And then I saw the syllabus they gave me with the courses, and there was accounting in law school. So I figured I combined counting with law.

And I signed up for it. It took me four years, but I graduated, and I passed the examination in New York, then New Jersey, and then I practiced for 33 years in New York and New Jersey. I gave up New York because it was a little bit too hard to go back and forth. And for 33 years, I really enjoyed it. And I made a good living. I wasn't a millionaire or anything like that, but I supported my family.

My wife worked. That helped. And I put my daughter through college and through medical school, and she didn't have any debt when she got out of medical school. That's incredible. Which you don't find today. No, absolutely not. She didn't have a single debt.

She had $14,000. I'd been paying off the loan little by little, but then I said that she's working and she's living better than me, so I was $14,000 and pay it off. I was proud of that. I'm proud of her. I'm proud of her and the kids, and I'm proud of her son-in-law.

They're fine. They've been very good to me since I moved up here. Well, they're also incredible people, so you passed on the intelligence and the kindness. So tell me a little bit about your wife. When did you meet her? Well, she was going to New York University on a master's program in mathematics, and she was working as a consultant for the New York City Police Department working on the 9-11 system. and she would finish work and get on the subway below me,

and I would get on the subway at Cooper Square. And I met her on the subway, and I was sitting down and she was standing up, and she had some books in her hand. and the subway car was crowded. It was 5 o'clock, 5.30. So I gave her my seat, and she thanked me. And thereafter, we would probably meet on the same subway, and one day she gave me her phone number in New Jersey.

And I didn't have any spare time. I really didn't have much spare time. But I did one time when it was a holiday, and I didn't have classes at night. I did borrow my mother's car and drove up to Marstown where she lived with her father. And I began seeing her.

And we got married March the 1st, 1974. And I moved into her apartment. She had moved her from her home. She said to be closer to the job, but I think to be closer to me. She moved to West New York, New Jersey on the other side of the river. And we got married. I lived with her then and moved in with her. We were married then.

We had her first child four years later, and then she developed cancer. She's always had a, even on her honeymoon, she had fever, but she wanted to go through with the wedding. We got married in New York City, civil several. at the City Hall, and my sister was the witness, and we stood together for 50 years. And I miss her an awful lot. So it's incredible about your story and your wife's story

is pretty much from the beginning of your marriage, she was diagnosed with cancer. And it was a lifelong battle almost for life. Yeah, I remember, you don't, but I remember Nixon saying that in 1974 that we're going to cure cancer in our generation. And the dawn department, it's just another politician lying because I've lived through cancer for over 50 years.

And it doesn't seem to be going away. I mean, you may live a little longer, but sooner or later it's going to get you. And I don't understand that. Why they can't pin it down and just, They're making progress, but it's awful slow. Yeah. Awful slow.

I'm sure it was really, really slow when you're going through it and living through it. Yeah. Well, you from the get-go were an unwavering support for your wife. Up until I met you most recently, you moved from, you had moved from New York down to Florida so that she could receive better treatment. And you created a life in Florida, and then you both decided to move up here to be closer to your daughter and son-in-law and grandkids, and also so she could get nursing care that she needed 24 hours a day with us at Martha Jefferson House. Well, at what point, at any point, did it ever feel lonely or overwhelming? I try to stay busy, but I want to emphasize this that the move to Florida wasn't for the sun and the sand.

It was one reason I moved to Florida, and that was because in my law practice, I had represented a guy who was injured in a car accident, and he had a neurological problem, very severe, and the only one that would take on. the case was at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. So during the course of that case, I visited the Mayo Clinic. It was small in those days, not like it is now, but I visited there and I was impressed with it. And my wife was told by memorial Kettering Cancer Institute in 2001 that she had five years to live. And that didn't sound promising. So I did some research and I saw that that particular

cancer that my wife had, they were doing a lot of research at Mayo Hospital in Minnesota, but they also were doing some of it down in Jacksonville. So I asked her, would you move to Florida? and she said, okay. And I have to thank them for giving me at least 20 years of time with her. And the beauty about the Mayo Clinic is they don't lie to you. Either they can tell you they can do it or they tell you they can't. Now, the last cancer she had, which is a bladder cancer, they told her there was nothing they could do for her.

So I brought her up here, hoping they could do something up here. but the doctors up here said the same thing and they said they just couldn't do anything for her. So we put her in hospice care. And those were the rough days. She had no pain, so that's the most important thing. She died without pain. And she actually, she didn't expect to live to 83.

I didn't expect to live to 83. I'm 86, I didn't expect to live that long. But here we are. Well, you're still in great health. What is next for you? Boy, I wish I knew. I can't tell you. I'm working on my stamp collection now,

trying to put it in order to give it to my granddaughter. She seems to be interesting in it. And if she doesn't want it, then I'll just keep what I can. And I'm going to join the Charlottesville Stamp Club, which they tell me has quite a few members. And I went out with a couple of the guys, yesterday

and we had a little dinner at the Bonefish Grill kind of expensive our place it cost me $50 for nothing but other than that it was a nice lunch so I'll keep busy

and of course under the law I have to spend six months in Florida anyway so I'll be back and forth I guess I'll tell you, you're going to be going back during the football season? I'm going back. I have an appointment at the Mayo Clinic, June the 30th.

You're in the heat. But they'll be, they'll be practicing. And I'll see what the team looks like. Yes, I'll go to some of the practices. We were good last year. Yeah. Won 13 games. We just ran into the Buffalo Bills, and they beat us by three points. But I don't think we'll be that good this year. because we lost a couple of good players. But that's the name of the game.

They go from one to the other. Yeah. You never know. You never know. Well, two more questions for you. Sure. What would you say you're most proud of? My daughter.

I only had one because the cancers came. But I never expected her to be a doctor. I thought she would be a teacher. Because she always was good in school. She always passed her exams with no problem. and when she got into Johns Hopkins I think her her vision changed

because all of her friends went to medical school and I think that's what caused her to do that or she called us in her junior year and said she was taking the MCATs and I said what was that? She said that's to go to medical school I said well good luck I said, I hope you make it. I said, you'd be the first in our family to be a medical doctor.

And she was accepted at more medical schools than colleges. That's incredible. Johns Hopkins prepares you for that. She's not just a medical doctor. She's a neurologist. I mean, she's, yeah, it's incredible. So last question. One day when your daughter and your grandkids,

think about your life, what do you hope that they understand about who you were? and what's most important in life? That I had a strong mother who stood by me when my father disowned me who then brought me back when she died. She died after my father. She died and put me in her will.

Of course, I was 61 years old when she did that. I was already ready to retire, so I didn't need the money at that time. But I had a strong mother and my daughter had a strong mother and she should be a strong mother too. Then I'm all right.

And I can sleep in peace. That's all I want. That's beautiful. Thank you so much. My name is Mark Hunt. This is a life unedited podcast where I get to sit down with remarkable people like Mr. Langer.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. That's beautiful.