Hi, all. This is my first post on this forum, but I have been reading it since the close of the 'red pages.' I was urged by SuperVal to contribute a bit to this post, since we had discussed it a bit after reading the thread this morning. I also supplied the info concerning Mark's grandparents. I'm sorry it was hard to figure out - I lost my indents to separate generations when I went to post it. I think you all probably figured it out though.
Anyway, here is some information that may be helpful concerning the Knopfler's Jewishness. When I first started delving into Mark's music, I did quite a bit of internet research on him. (I understand there is an official biography, but so far have not run across it.) What I found in some articles on this side of the pond was that his second wife, Lourdes, was probably Jewish. Her father was Alphonse Salamone, a high up executive in the Hilton Hotel chain, and she grew up in their apartment in, I think, the Plaza Hotel in New York City. An exerpt from a publication on line called eNotes in the mid-80s, I think, says:
Knopfler, Mark
Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Knopf ler is married to Lourdes Salamone, the daughter of a Hilton Hotels executive. They divide their life between two residences, in New York's Greenwich Village and London's West End. On the future of Dire Straits, Knopfler told Tucker he has no definite plans: "I don't know what Dire Straits will do after this. Who knows? We might come back a year from now with a choir and a couple of trombone players, but it'll still be Dire Straits." Whatever the future, Knopfler already has envisioned his last days: "I think it's England. I'd like to die with my boots on. I don't see myself dying in some place where they play dominoes. It'll probably be in a little club. I'll be playing guitar, an old walking stick hung up over me amp."
When I looked up Lourdes' father, I found his obituary, listing Lourdes Knopfler as his daughter, so knew I found the correct father. I also found that then New York Mayor Ed Koch, a prominent Jewish figure, had allowed his speeches to be placed on file with the City of New York University. In a memorandum of Koch, he was going to be participating in an awards ceremony by the American Jewish Committee on April 9, 1986, , with Alphonse Salamone, Hilton Hotel executive being part of the group of presenters. I kind of inferred from that that Salamone was probably high up in the New York Jewish community, and Lourdes was probably raised in that faith.
I know that Mark has said they spent half their time in an apartment in New York, where he got the idea for
Money For Nothing. From some things I since can't now find (I think they have been removed from the net) I think the twins were raised Jewish, also, and that one, I think it was Joseph, is a practicing Jew.
I also suspect that David may be a practicing Jew, as well, based on the lyrics to a lot of his songs.
I hope this is useful to your discussions. I have noticed that apparently the search criteria on the search engines seem to vary depending on where in the world one is, as when I have tried to research something, I seem to come up with different entries than do people in England.
