SINGLE LIFE
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Warm,
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and co
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DJP, 47 (young),
non
cute,
physiclaly fit, professional,
petite,
likes smoker 120
boating; walks,
dependents,
male
travel, sharing caring. exercise,
Se
tions for
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single Jewish fernale who en
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intirnate dinners,
tinze inovie flicks featuring
the Irish rock the
searching
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band U.2 is of
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single
male between 2-35, who Jewish
likes
to
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the edge and to
the live
fullest,
for
relati
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and
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who is fun loving
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sense of hunzour. dent
with a
SjP,
31,
enjoys
working
out,
Skiing, 1210VieS
and
Seeks SJ14, 29-36 professional
romance.
who
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A singe 3s publication brought together Jeff and Debbie Supowitz.
Meeting Through
The Classifieds
01111
"
Personal ads have helped
some Detroiters find Ms. or Mr. Right.
DEBBIE L. SKLAR
Special to The Jewish News
A
short descriptive
paragraph is an ex-
ample of how thou-
sands of people
around the country
find potential mates.
Whether it's the Jewish
News or USA Today, personal
classified advertisements
have been gracing the pages
of nearly every publication
from coast to coast for years
to help singles spark
connections.
For a few dollars and the
stroke of a pen, advertisers or
those choosing to respond will
sometimes find the person of
their dreams.
Jeff and Debbie Supowitz
met this way in 1984 through
a personal ad placed in the
now extinct "Yenta"
newsletter.
"Basically, after I moved
back to Detroit from Florida.
I was conned into placing the
ad," Debbie admits. "At the
time I was recently divorced,
and didn't really feel like do-
ing anything to meet people."
After a lot of cajoling by
friends, she placed an ad that
ran for two months.
"I received over 20 letters,
but most of them were duds,"
she says. "Then one day I
read my future husband's let-
ter. It sounded really in-
teresting, so I answered it."
After many phone calls, Deb-
bie and Jeff finally met for a
date.
"We went to the Franklin
Racquet Club, played a few
sets, jumped into the hot tub,
and then went out for dinner
followed by dancing," she
recalls. "It really was love at
first sight."
Jeff and Debbie met in
February 1984, were engaged
in April and married in
September. Five years after
that first date, they have two
children and live in Novi.
Looking back now, Debbie
advises singles to "try, try,
and try again. You've got to
be persistent."
Jeff was prompted to
answer Debbie's - letter
because "I wanted to try
something different. I was
meeting people, but not the
right people."
The matchmaker who
helped bring the Supowitzes
together is Sandra Maurer,
founder of the now defunct
"Yenta" and editor of the
singles newsletter at the
Jewish Community Center.
"I started getting people
together in 1983," Maurer
says. Her newsletter that year
took credit foi. seven
marriages.
"Placing or even answering
a classified ad, gives the per-
son more control over their
dating," Maurer says. The
classifieds allow singles to
screen their calls and letters,
in addition to meeting a new
person on your own time in a
public place.
"I met dozens of men when
I answered ads," Maurer says.
"A lot of them were bad news,
but I met a lot of different,
and unique people .. .
"I remember meeting one
guy for coffee. He lookedlike
Bozo the Clown. I pleasantly
told him I had to get back to
my daughter who was by
herself at home, and left after
a short time."
rile longest Maurer ever
dated anybody from a per-
sonal ad was for one year.
"It's something that's fun,
different, and a new way to
meet peple," says Maurer.
Harvey and Dahlia Klein
share that view, having just
celebrated their first wedding
anniversary. The Kleins met
through The Jewish News
People Connectors.
"We both placed ads in The
Jewish News, and wound up
responding to each other's,"
says Dahlia. "I was tired of
dating creeps, and wanted
someone who shared my in-
terests."
Says Harvey, "After I got
divorced, I became really
depressed. I never really had
a large network of friends to
fix me up, so I decided to take
out a personal ad."
The Kleins eventually
caught up with each other,
and made a luncheon date at
a local restaurant. Recalls
Dahlia, "He brought me a red
rose, and I thought that was
really sweet. It wasn't love at
first sight, but we both knew
that there was some type of
chemistry."
"The ads," says Harvey,
"allow you to be much more
selective. After talking on the
phone to some of the women,
I knew I wasn't interested, so
I never met them."
Neither of the Kleins en-
joyed bar-hopping, so using
the ads worked out very well
for them.
Says Dahlia, "I think that
either answering or respond-
ing to a personal ad has
always had a really bad con-
notation. People think that
just because they're a profes-
sional, answering an ad is
like an act of desperation."
Although many marriages
and happy endings have oc-
curred because of the ads,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
79