Taking ‘Jewboy’ Nickname to His Grave
Some nicknames are not meant to show up in an obituary.
After John McGee, of Wildwood, New Jersey, passed away on October 5, his unfortunate nickname — “Jewboy” — showed up in his obituaries in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. (Wildwood is part of Cape May County on the Southern tip of New Jersey and very close to Philadelphia.)
Newspaper spokesman Jonathan Tevis told Philadelphia Magazine that the nickname “never should have ran.”
“We are taking action,” he said. “It was an oversight and not good.”
Yesterday morning both newspapers published a new obituary and issued an apology that read:
“We regret that the above death notice, printed Wednesday, October 8, included a nickname that many would find inappropriate and offensive. We apologize for this oversight, and are taking the necessary actions to ensure it does not happen again.”
It was not immediately clear how McGee got the offensive moniker.
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
