Dear Alison-
I am so thankful that I had the honor of working with the two of you on The Green Heart. It was a pleasure to sing Rusty's amazing score, and even more of one to get to know you both. I am thinking of you, and of Rusty, and remembering our time together. What a warm, funny man he was, and will always be in our memories. I am fortunate to have known him.
Take care
John

Dear Alison,
My remembrance of Rusty is how hard he was to follow at The Original Improv.He rocked that room. Afterwards, we were at the bar, comparing war stories, and he mentioned that his wife was Alison Fraser. My jaw dropped, and I exclaimed,"I am in LOVE with your wife." He smiled and shrugged, and said, "Yeah, I get that all the time." I would run into Rusty at auditions from time to time, and we e-mailed one another ocasionally. I admired his wit and musicality, but more than that, I admired his decency and humanity. Believe me when I tell you that your loss is shared by the multitude. A darling, funny, gifted man...one who loved his wife and son very deeply.
I feel fortunate to have made his acquaintance.
You are in my thoughts and prayers. May God give you peace.
Sincerely,
Don Stitt

Dear Alison-I'm so sorry...
I remember singing "Elevator Love" ...Our time at Merrimack doing "Tintypes" and... hearing him talk about you with such Love in his eyes. I've been living in LA for a while now-
but my memories of the West Bank and Rusty are the best.
God Bless you always...Love Maisey

Alison & Family,

I offer my most sincere condolences.I was so lucky to know Rusty. He was always kind and friendly to me and to see him perform his songs and comedy was always a thrill.It was always exciting to watch his imagination and creativity at work. I had the pleasure of working with him on a reading and I'll miss seeing his smiling face.

dear alison, we have one more star in the sky. my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
gary herb

Dear Alison and Nat:
Shock, then dismay, then disbelief, but finally - thankfully: memories. We can't think of Rusty without recalling that huge spirit of life and fun: the great Christmas nearly 20 years ago in Shawnee our first year East; the West Bank shows where I can truthfully say I've never laughed so long or hard as when confronted with Rusty's brilliant wit and tremendous artistry; the long, ridiculous rehearsal process for what eventually became "Groucho: A Life in Revue" and the many hilarious moments large and small (rarely involving the show itself) predicated by Rusty... We were all truly fortunate to have known him and I only feel remorse for those who never had the opportunity to come to know this wonderful, loving, hilarious, caring, intensely talented and now sorely-missed man. Our hearts and love are with you ---

Dearest Alison,
Our thoughts and love are with you and Nat. Rusty was such a talented guy, but mostly such a wonderful soul. I remember Mark reporting on meeting Rusty in 1980something, "He's great; she found the perfect man," and knowing it must be so! And a cabaret night you did in Westchester when Rusty hastened to reassure us, that Dov would be fine on the PW board and indeed there IS real life after music/theater at Brown! We wish you and Nat comfort in your memories, and whatever measure of consolation you can take from the thoughts and sympathy of so many of us out here. With much love from the whole Lebowitz family, and Joel, of course --
Wendy

To Alison and Nat,

I don't know you personally, but I wanted to give you an anecdote:

I work for Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, and I met Rusty on two occasions. One was to bring Jerry a sandwich while he was working on some music for his audio version of the autobiography "Married to Laughter". It was a brief introduction to Rusty, who was busy working with Jerry.

The second was at your cabaret, Alison. (West Bank Cafe). I went with Amy Stiller and Nancy Shayne, and we were having a hard time getting in...So I tried the "I work for ...yadayada..and little did I know that Rusty was watching me schmooze and name-drop. He went up to me and said, "You see, all that name dropping and you still didn't get a good seat!

I don't know why this sticks in my head, maybe his humor and charm and directness to going up to someone he didn't know. But I've listened to New York Romance many times, I'm a singer and I called Rusty after that meeting to request the song...(I still didn't get a copy of it), but that's not the reason I wrote this little note.

Rusty seemed to be the type of person that "sticks withyou".. And the very little contact I had with him definitely stuck! I wish you the very best and send condolences..

Jody Eisenstein

Rasta Magee you are truely legendary. Both my life and art are enriched by your presence in them. Great show bro! Really excellent! Thankyou for being Rusty.

Rusty was such a perfect combination of good heart, good humor, talent and fun. I got to know him when I was one of many young writers doing their stuff at the West Bank. He was the perfect friend and collaborator, partly because he seemed to have a philosopher's sense about how to keep everything in perspective. I'll always treasure my recording of him singing the one song we wrote together, "You Owe Me a Dollar." My love and thoughts are with you, Alison and Nat. Love, like I said, MARK