‘A Last Act of Intimate Kindness’

The message I had dreaded for years appeared on my phone: “Looking to find the sister of my patient, Jay Friedman.” My ensuing phone conversation with the doctor brought ominous news. My 65-year-old brother, Jay, had advanced pancreatic cancer. He and I grew up together in Divine Corners, N.Y., a hamlet in the Catskills, raised…

A Stitch in Time, With His Help

Naomi Ariela Mishkin arrived with plaster falling from her hair when she met Graham Henry Lazar for a drink in May 2014 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It didn’t bother him one bit. “I love creative people,” Mr. Lazar said. He first met Ms. Mishkin — an artist-turned-fashion designer nicknamed Nomi — the previous fall when…