Pearl’s Love for Life Remembered

When slain journalist Daniel Pearl faced adversity, “a good fairy� always stepped in, his father said. From reuniting with his family after getting lost on a Tel Aviv beach to finding a ring the day before his wedding in Paris, Pearl always managed to escape situations unharmed.

“He knew for sure that no matter how complex the situation ... some good fairy would take care of him, and she did for 38 years,� his father, Judea Pearl, said at a private memorial service Sunday in Los Angeles.

That luck ended Jan. 23, when Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, disappeared in Karachi while working on a story about Islamic radicals in Pakistan. A videotape showing his slaying was delivered to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Feb. 21.

After weeks of private grieving, about 450 friends and family members gathered together to exchange stories about Pearl’s easygoing manner, love of music, clumsiness and desire to surround himself with friends and family. Those in attendance came from as far away as Pakistan, Bombay and England; they included boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who had pleaded for Pearl’s release.

The 21/2-hour service was held at the Skirball Cultural Center, just miles from where Pearl grew up in Encino. A community memorial service is also being planned at Pearl’s alma mater, Birmingham High School in Van Nuys.

Judea Pearl said his son loved to talk to strangers in jazz bars, on soccer fields, in barbershops and train stations.

“People who we believed were the epitome of boredom, he found to be interesting, even intriguing,� he said. “Little did we know that talking to strangers would one day invite this tragedy.�

Speakers combined moments of somber reflection with lighthearted memories.

The service also included a song that Pearl’s band composed during a 1995 jam session to help a pregnant friend deliver her overdue baby. The song was performed by two members of Pearl’s old band, Clamp.

“Come out, come out, the world is not such a bad place,� the song goes. “Come out, come out, there’s someone smiling upon you.�

While some people have called Pearl a hero and a martyr since his death, Daniel Gill said he saw his best friend more as a person who loved life.

“Today, I think we want to focus on Danny Pearl ... the great big kid, the goofball, the king of clutter, the loser of tickets,� Gill said. “This is the Danny we want to remember today. The beautiful friend, the great drinking buddy, the jamming buddy, and of course the very loving brother, son and husband.�

Pearl’s wife, Mariane, who is pregnant with the couple’s first child, flew in from Paris to attend the service. “Living with him was like living in a comic book,� she said. “So many things happened to us all the time.�

Mariane Pearl said she met her husband at a party in Paris and corresponded with him for several months before seeing him again. At that meeting, he showed up at her home in Paris with luggage and a shopping bag full of food.

“He went to the kitchen straight and started cooking an omelet, and really made the biggest mess that I’ve ever seen, and opened his suitcase in the middle of the living room,� she said. “And I looked at him and said, ‘I like this guy.’ That is how our relationship started.�

Friends talked about how Pearl made friends wherever he went, sometimes inviting more people to his home than he could accommodate. Stanford University classmate Karen Edwards said Pearl invited her to his home in western Massachusetts when she felt overwhelmed while attending Harvard Business School. By the end of the evening, the line for the bathroom stretched outside.

“His personality, his style, his heart was as open as his home,� Edwards said.

Wall Street Journal colleague Helene Cooper said she learned long ago that “when you invite Danny to a dinner party, you buy for about 10 people.�

Cooper also drew laughs talking about Pearl’s absent-mindedness. One time, she said, Pearl called her and forgot whose number he had just dialed. “Hey, it’s Danny. Who’s this?� he asked.

Childhood friend Louis Rubenstein recalled how Pearl forgot to pick him up--twice--to see the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.� And another friend joked how Pearl would search far and wide for his keys when they were in the door.

A slide show and video montage showed Pearl’s coming of age--learning how to dive, playing with his sisters, singing songs with his father, and conducting a Passover Seder on a train to China, with rice cakes instead of matzo.

LA Shir, a Los Angeles Hebrew Choir formerly directed by Judea Pearl, sang a Hebrew song called “Take Wing, Nestling.� Daniel Pearl’s lifelong friend Kim O’Reilly Newman played a piano piece composed by Bela Bartok.

Pearl’s father said his son had a “unique biological phenomenon,� which he jokingly called the “lack of malice syndrome.�

“There was no malice in his body. Not one little shred.

“You try to bully him, he didn’t cry, he didn’t bully back. He’d just look at you in the eye and wait for you to realize how silly you would look when it’s all over.�

Several weeks before Pearl’s abduction, his wife asked him what they would do next after they had moved from Paris to Bombay in search of an adventure. Were they finally going to settle down, she asked.

No, he responded. “We’re going to change the world.�

“That was really our agenda in our own way,� she said at the service.

She concluded by quoting a friend, who said, “They may have blown out a candle, but the light is still on.�

Two funds have been established, one for Pearl’s wife and future son and one in support of causes important to Pearl. More information can be found at www.4charity.com/danielpearl.