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THE SILVER FOX / THE CREEP
Charlie Broeckel was the Silver Fox or The Creep. He went by both names. He was a burglar and hit-man in Collinwood –- a neighborhood in northeast Cleveland. Charlie Broeckel, Plain Dealer drawing by...
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THE SCHVITZ
(A version of this appeared in The Forward online on 3/7/12, minus “Side B” — a one-minute play about The Schvitz. There is a lot of swearing in the play. You’ll like it.) If you’re a Cleveland...
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COOL CLEVELAND
My daughter, Lucy, is a corporate event planner in Chicago. She has done work for the president, Oprah, McDonald’s, Coke and Target. She has worked gigs from Turkey to Australia. Maybe I’m not...
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ALICE’S RESTAURANTS
Pre-kids, my wife, Alice, and I ate out a lot. We mostly went to dives. That was our hobby. Dives as low as Krisplee on East 82nd Street and Euclid Avenue, and Albino’s at West 44th Street and...
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TICKTIN
Harold Ticktin, 85, writes a weekly column for the Cleveland Jewish News on Yiddish. For instance, he writes about what balabuste means, or balegole. (Female boss and wagon-driver.) Harold Ticktin,...
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A LOVE SUPREME
The Jazz Temple was a music club in a former Packard showroom at Mayfield Road and Euclid Avenue. Coltrane played there. Dinah Washington too. Everybody played there. The Jazz Temple was in...
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AFRO-SEMITIC ENCOUNTER
I’m not Orthodox, but I can walk the walk. Walking is a major part of my religion. Last week my wife, Alice, and I walked home from Rosh Hashanah services. We were at Altamont and Compton roads, in a...
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MISSISSIPPI BUBBE AND THE XYLOPHONIST
I look for musical yikhes (lineage/pedigree) wherever I can find it. My grandmother played piano at a white Baptist church in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Not bad. This Mississippi bubbe — Ida Kassoff...
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THE HEYMISH AND THE AMISH
I live near two large Amish settlements — Middlefield, Ohio and Holmes County, Ohio. I know some of the differences between the various Amish sects. Some Amish use battery-powered lights on their...
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SEIGER’S RESTAURANT
The cops at the Sixth District police station in Cleveland considered me a hippie spy from the Heights. But when I told the cops I was a Seiger (“My uncle owned Seiger’s Restaurant on E.118th and...
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I BRAKE FOR ETHNICITY
1. Yiddishe Cup has shared the stage with the Hungarian Scouts, Ukrainian Kashtan dancers, and Csardas, a Hungarian troupe. These groups draw fans to local festivals, and the dancers perform in...
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I HAVEN’T THOUGHT ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL IN DECADES
A friend from high school, Mike, found me on the Web and emailed me questions about real estate. Mike lives in Minnesota. He added a postscript: “I haven’t thought about high school in decades!” He...
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A LOVE SUPREME
The Jazz Temple was a music club in a former Packard showroom at Mayfield Road and Euclid Avenue. Coltrane played there. Dinah Washington too. Everybody played there. The Jazz Temple was in...
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AMERICAN GREETINGS
“Cleveland is a hard town. I came near committing suicide when I lived there.” — Robert Crumb, American Splendor intro, 1986. Crumb worked for American Greetings. My dad, Toby, worked there too. Toby...
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COOL CLEVELAND
My daughter, Lucy, is a corporate event planner in Chicago. She has done work for the president, Oprah, McDonald’s, Coke and Target. She has worked gigs from Turkey to Australia. Maybe I’m not...
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A FUNERAL WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS
The letter is from Milt — a friend of my parents — to his kids. May 15, 1990 Dear Children, In 15 days I’ll be 71. As you know, I’m not religious, but I do like a good party. About my funeral: Use...
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SEIGER’S RESTAURANT
The cops at the Sixth District police station in Cleveland considered me a hippie spy from the Heights. But when I told the cops I was a Seiger (“My uncle owned Seiger’s Restaurant on E.118th and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I HAVEN’T THOUGHT ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL IN DECADES
A friend from high school, Mike, found me on the Web and emailed me questions about real estate. Mike lives in Minnesota. He added a postscript: “I haven’t thought about high school in decades!” He...
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MY SHOW BIZ LUNCH IN CLEVELAND
I had a show biz lunch at Corky & Lenny’s. The lunch was Hollywood-style, not Hollywood. Bert Dragin, the owner of a furniture store chain, was looking for a movie script. (This was in 1980....
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MACHERS ON THE ROOF
Howard Metzenbaum was the big name in my father’s generation. Metzenbaum made millions in parking lots, and eventually became a U.S. senator. My father and Metzenbaum were born the same year, 1917,...
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