Julian J. Frazin spent most of his lengthy life as an admired attorney and judge. But those who knew him outside of law libraries and courtrooms knew a man who was boundlessly creative and wildly entertaining.
Frazin died on May 10 in Chicago of natural causes at the age of 95.
“He was always interested in people, in life,” said Rhona Frazin, his wife of more than 35 years. “Being with him was always a joy and just a great deal of fun.”
That life got off to a rough start, characteristic of many during the Great Depression. Born in Chicago on May 29, 1930, he was the second child of Myron Frazin, a city worker, and Hattie Balasky. His mother died when he was 2, and his father was helped by relatives to raise Julian and an older sister. But most of Julian’s childhood was spent in the care of the Woodlawn Hall Chicago home for Jewish orphans, where he was raised until the age of 12.
After graduating from Hyde Park High School, he attended Roosevelt University and the University of Illinois-Chicago at Navy Pier. A talented visual artist with ambitions for a career in journalism, he worked for a time at the Sun-Times and as an editorial cartoonist at the Hyde Park Herald. But after graduating from Northwestern University College of Law in 1955, he entered private practice.
In 1960, he began to exercise his creative talents when he became part of the team that created “Christmas Spirits,” the annual social/political musical satire show produced by the Chicago Bar Association. Working most closely with fellow attorneys Phillip Citrin and E. Leonard Rubin, Frazin would, over the next decades, make the annual show a sensation, filling local theaters and getting national attention.
As another of the contributors, the late attorney John Corkery, once said, “We wanted to be funny without being mean and nasty.”
Cockery also played matchmaker. “In 1989, when Julian and I were both going through separations from our long-time spouses, John would take us each to the movies (separately) and dinner once a week,” said Rhona Frazin. “Finally, he suggested that the two of us just go to the movies together. That worked, and we’ve been together since.”
They married in 1990, the same year Frazin joined the bench, where he would serve in Traffic Court and the Domestic Relations Division for the Cook County Circuit Court. He retired from the bench in 1998 but never slowed down.
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He and his wife cut a handsome and active pair on the cultural and political scenes. Rhona Frazin held executive positions with many arts organizations and was president and CEO of the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and shared her husband’s passion for live performance. For decades, he served as an entertainment columnist and drama critic for the Law Bulletin. He and his wife often collaborated with jazz pianist and composer Larry Novak on popular songs and wrote two children’s books, “Cuddles the Cattle Dog” and “A Little Dab of Paint.”
His song, “The Voice Above the Crowd,” a stirring tribute to Harry Caray, was recorded and performed live at a White Sox game by Dennis DeYoung, the great former lead singer of Styx.
In 2013, he collaborated with noted musician Alan Barcus on a musical theater production based on a 1943 book, “Lords of the Levee,” written by my father, Herman Kogan, and his newspaperman pal Lloyd Wendt. It focused on the activities and antics of two turn-of-the-20th-century aldermen, “Bathhouse John” Coughlin and Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna. Its weekend performances at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan, were hailed by Andrew S. Hughes, a critic for the South Bend Tribune, who wrote, “Barcus’ music sets Frazin’s lyrics to rags, waltzes and marches, all true to the period, and provides the actors with singable, memorable melodies, while Frazin, a retired judge, has a real gift for descriptive verse.”
In 2019, Frazin worked with writer and producer Bill Marovitz to create “Miracle — the Musical,” a celebration of the 2016 World Series-winning Cubs, with a score by Michael Mahler and a book by Jason Brett.
It packed the house at the Royal George Theatre and as my colleague Chris Jones wrote, “‘Miracle’ fully achieves its simple aim … to be tuneful, nostalgic, family-friendly catnip for big old softie Cubbie fans.”
On opening night, Frazin told me, “Billy and I make a good team, and this has all been a great journey.”
Marovitz, a former state senator and active entrepreneur, agrees. He had a lengthy relationship with Frazin, telling me, “I will always remember that wonderful smile of his exuding warmth and friendship, caring and love. We worked on a number of projects together, and it was such an experience to sit around with him and share wisdom, curiosity and come up with some great ideas and solutions to some of our problems. He was one of the most creative gentlemen I ever met. I miss him.”
We can all agree, I think, that 95 years is a long life. Frazin’s widow tells me she will have “memoires that last forever.” She also said, “As Rodgers and Hart wrote in the musical ‘Pal Joey,’ ‘If they ask me, I could write a book about the way he walks and whispers and looks.’ But instead of a book, I think I’ll let Julie have the final word. I think he’d like that.”
And so, here it is, the last stanza of a song he wrote with Larry Novak.
It’s called “Take the Time.”
“Take the time / To hold somebody’s hand / Build castles in the sand / Why must you wait? / Take the time / It’s your time / Take the time / Before it is too late.”
In addition to his wife, Frazin is survived by his sons from a previous marriage, Glenn of Santa Monica, California, and Howard of Boston; grandchildren James, Kai, Sidney and Steven Chuckas.
A memorial celebration is planned.
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