A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. When Dov Noy would lecture, often without notes, he would look upwards and seemingly draw his inspiration from the upper spheres. But Noy, who was expert in the folklore of numerous Jewish “tribes,” including Ashkenazim, Sephardim and Middle Eastern Jews, developed his profound knowledge from earthbound…
If you saw Richard Parks’ 2011 documentary short, “Music Man Murray,” then you’ll know that Murray Gershenz was looking for a long time to sell his famous used record business (also called Music Man Murray) and its collection of more than 300,000 records. Gershenz, who opened his landmark store on Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Boulevard…
Music promoter Sid Bernstein, who worked with legends from Judy Garland to Jimi Hendrix and orchestrated the Beatles’ historic concert in New York’s Shea Stadium in 1965, died on Wednesday aged 95. Bernstein, an agent and manager who according to his friend, publicist Merle Frimark, died in New York, worked with some of the biggest…
Gary David Goldberg died June 23 after a long battle with brain cancer. Now the world is short a talented television writer, and also a mensch. I met Goldberg in the fall of 1996, at a rehearsal for his new TV show, “Spin City.” I was a reporter and he was a legend. The deal…
In the outpouring of obituaries and appreciations of actor James Gandolfini, who died yesterday at age 51, there’s been a tendency to confuse the man with his most famous character, Tony Soprano. That’s a pretty obvious mistake — an actor isn’t the same as the role he plays — but it’s also kind of understandable. When Jason…
Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk died after a long battle with cancer yesterday at Ichilov Hospital, Tel Aviv. The renowned writer was 83. Kaniuk was born in Tel Aviv on May 2, 1930. The list of people associated with his early childhood reads like a who’s who of the early days of Tel Aviv’s cultural life…
A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. Translated by Ezra Glinter. On May 18 writer, activist and longtime Forverts columnist Tsirl Steingart died in a car accident in Palm Beach, Florida. She was 97 years old. Steingart was born March 11, 1916 in Bialystok, where she was an active participant in the Bundist…
Frank Lautenberg, the U.S. Senate’s oldest sitting senator and a former longtime Jewish community activist, died Monday morning at 89. Lautenberg represented New Jersey in the Senate from 1982 to 2001, and then again from 2003 until his death. He served in the 1970s as a top lay leader of the United Jewish Appeal, the…
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