Flowing through life on her own terms

"Go with the flow" has always been King William Halikman's philosophy on life and it has paid off for him. A telemetry engineer for RCA at the beginning of his career, he met an 18-year-old Brazilian beauty at a dance in Recife, Brazil. He was 25 and hadn't planned to be there. She was born in Brazil but hadn't planned to be there either (in that country, that is). Her grandparents came to South America in hopes of reaching their dream to come to America from Europe, not realizing there is a North and South America. But here they were, "A Pearl and her King," finding each other.

Could anything be more like a fairy tale? There was even a language barrier between them. When introduced, King pointed to the "K" on his tie and said "King." She said she was Perola and pointed to her pearl earrings (Perola is pearl in Portuguese). King said "Pearl," and she has been Pearl ever since. Such is the *serendipitous life the couple have lived together for going on 63 years.

King's easy-going "go-with-the-flow" lifestyle took him through an exciting adventure with his Pearl, who accepted life as it came then added her own embellishments.

Now both in their 80s, Pearl decided it was time to write a book. Her mother, Augusta Krutman, had always wanted to write a book. "I have secrets," she would tell Pearl. But to Pearl's dismay, her mother never told her secrets.

Having decided to write the book, she wondered how to do it. The year was 2016, and while attending a baby naming at Chabad, there was an empty seat beside her. Pearl noticed a woman looking for a seat. She signaled to her to come sit. As it turned out, that woman was Pam Ruben, who was there to cover the baby naming and take photos for the Heritage Florida Jewish Newspaper. It was serendipity. Pearl told Pam she had once held Chanshy (Dubov) Majesky when her parents, Rabbi Sholom and DevorahLeah Dubov, celebrated Chanshy's baby naming, and now Pearl held Chanshy and Rabbi Yanky Majesky's baby girl. Pam got the photo and story.

Pam offered to send Pearl copies of the photo and article and gave her business card to Pearl, which Pearl promptly put on her refrigerator where it stuck for two years.

When Pearl finally remembered the unwritten book, she called Pam.

"Pearl beckons you into her life," Pam said. It's always been a pleasure to write profiles about older adults. The stories they share are larger than life, touching upon pieces of history, and adding a human perspective."

Pam is an award-winning writer and former marketing director of the Jewish Pavilion. She used to write a column for the Pavilion that was printed in the Heritage and other local media called "Tidbits from the Sandwich Generation." She has a natural talent for writing and relating to older adults.

The two women's lives became enmeshed and writing the book became a sort of family affair.

"My husband Tony, a former editor of the University of Michigan business school paper, was integral with the book development. After learning that King's father was a decorated World War I hero, Tony asked King to join him when a World War I documentary had a limited showing in Orlando. At the end of the movie, a World War I battle hymn was played and King sang along, knowing all the words."

The book was completed over several years. The year 2020 kept the writing team apart because of health (Pearl had a brain tumor that was talked about in the last chapter of the book), loss, and the pandemic.

After Pearl survived the brain tumor, she called Pam. "Let's finish the book!," she said. It was a much-needed salve for both women.

On its release, "A Pearl and her King – An Immigrant Love Story Across Two Americas" was No. 5 in Jewish biography on Amazon.com and No. 1 in the new Jewish biography releases.

It's easy to understand why. Pearl is Lucille Ball, Gracie Allen and Charo all rolled into one vivacious woman. The book follows her from her romantic beginnings with King, to moving to the "right" America where she is pie-eyed over the large grocery stores and blows up her washing machine (a Lucy moment for sure), to family life with two sons - Gregory and Farlen, whose naming has a story of its own - to her first job in retail where she was mistaken as the fashion buyer when applying for the job (which she got).

It seems that every new job prepared her for the next venture, until finally her creativity and eye for design landed her in a hair salon in Cocoa Beach, where she was the hairstylist of astronauts, famous news anchor men, and Barbara Eden of "I Dream of Jeannie" fame. She even came close to becoming the first (and only) "Hairstylist In Space."

Because she loved entertaining her customers and keeping them happy, she would watch Johnny Carson, memorize his jokes and tell them to her clients. This opened the door to being on a TV comedy show with local comedian George Carter. She was a natural. In fact, every new adventure in King and Pearl's life seemed to come about naturally.

This (only 145 pages) biography is a quick read that will bring a tear or an outright burst of laughter to every reader and possibly inspire readers to fearlessly grab every opportunity, and if no opportunity presents itself, to make their own.

It is available on Amazon.com.

*Occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.