Jewish Dad Who Took Out Ad To Find Grown Son a Wife Avoids Media
— The Jewish father who took out a full-page ad in an Idaho newspaper looking for a wife for his son has postponed the interviews he scheduled for this weekend at an Idaho resort.
People Magazine reported Sunday that Arthur Brooks, 78, of Beverly Hills decided to delay his interviews of potential wives for his son, Baron, at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, after the resort “got a little scared about people losing their privacy.”
“I’ve decided now to let a few weeks go by, then we’ll reschedule,” Arthur Brooks told People.
Last week, Arthur Brooks without the permission of knowledge of his son took out a full-page, color advertisement ran in the Coeur d’Alene Press, a newspaper in northern Idaho, titled “Looking for a Wife.”
Baron Brooks, a broker in the health food trade, told the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Washington, he was shocked and infuriated to learn of the ad.
His father reportedly was surprised by the amount of attention his ad generated.
“I thought I might get a couple of women to respond, then I’d quietly set up a few interviews and that would be that,” he told People. “I want my son to be happy and I thought I was doing a good thing. But it took off in an entirely different direction.”
Father and son met at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Saturday evening, where Baron Brooks gave his father a scolding – then wrapped him in a warm hug, according to People.
“I’d hoped to be married by now and have children, but it’s very challenging in Salt Lake City for a Jewish guy,” Baron Brooks told People. “Most of the women I meet are in their 40s and are done having kids. I came close to getting married a couple of times, but it didn’t work out. So I think my dad felt there was an urgency to make something happen.”
The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported Sunday that at least a dozen women, only one local, responded to the ad. The story has been picked up by media outlets throughout the United States and internationally.
Baron Brooks has agreed to be present for the interviews, which will be held in his hometown of Salt Lake City, when they do happen.
“He’s going to do it anyway,” Baron said, according to People, “and I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. So if any of these women are truly willing to meet me and they’re not just crazy people out for a free trip, I want to do the honorable thing. And if it happens to lead to something, well, great.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
