Image by facebook

Cleveland Jewish News columnist Violet Spevack is retiring after nearly 50 years with the weekly newspaper.

Spevack, 98, is believed to have written the longest continuously published weekly column in the country, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.

She announced her retirement on Jan. 30 in her final column.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Spevack began her popular “Cavalcade” column on March 5, 1965, just six months after the newspaper was founded.

She has written some 2,500 columns — most on a manual typewriter — as well as hundreds of feature stories on prominent Cleveland leaders and national celebrities such as Don Rickles, George Burns, Joan Rivers, Milton Berle, Monty Hall and Buddy Hackett.

“I’ve had the time of my life covering our Jewish community through the lens of my society column,” Spevack said in her final column. “I can’t thank you all enough for reading my columns and most of all, for letting me into your homes every week.”

Spevack, who was elected into the Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 2013, has worked for all five editors of the Cleveland Jewish News. The newspaper has a summer internship program that was created in her honor, the Violet Spevack Editorial Internship.

An event to honor her sponsored by the Cleveland Jewish News Foundation and the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company will be held in the spring.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount