Eddie "The Sheik" Kochak: Amerabic Sounds from Brooklyn's Little Syria
Eddie "The Sheik" Kochak: Amerabic Sounds from Brooklyn's Little Syria Eddie "The Sheik"Kochak, 1 September 1956, The Caravan . Courtesy of Newspaper.com Edward Sibouy Kochakji was born 4 June 1921 in Brooklyn, New York, to Alfred and Mary Kochakji. The family’s first residence was at 184 Atlantic Avenue in the heart of the Arab American community. Alfred, Mary, Pauline, George, Joseph, and Charles Kochakji immigrated to the United States in 1908 from Aleppo, Greater Syria. Alfred worked in a local coffee house and Mary worked at home. The Kochakji home remained a busy and vibrant place. Guests visited frequently and Mary and Pauline sang and danced around the house all the time. Although the Depression hit most Arab American families in Brooklyn and Manhattan fairly hard, Pauline bought Eddie a derbake for his twelfth birthday. The younger children, Victor and Eddie, attended Hamilton High School and Victor, but not Edward, graduated ju