Charles "Chuck" A. Buerger, the colorful owner of
Jewish newspapers and lifestyle magazines, includ-
ing the Detroit Jewish News and Style magazine, died
Nov. 8 from complications following heart surgery.
While many Detroiters didn't personally know the
Baltimore-based Mr. Buerger, he indelibly placed his
stamp on the community here and elsewhere through
his guidance of the paper's business and editorial poli-
cies.
To those who knew him, his business success, which
changed the world of Jewish journalism, was only
surpassed by his personality.
"He was not cut of the normal cloth — and I mean
that in a positive way," recalled David Sarnat, ex-
ecutive director of the Atlanta Jewish Federation.
"He was optimistic, he loved life and he
loved people. He loved the Jewish world,
and he was committed to quality in Jew-
ish journalism."

tising growth as well as a constant flow of editorial
and design awards.
Mr. Buerger's methods were, by normal business
standards, unconventional. In Baltimore, if the weath-
er was seductive and sunny on a Friday, he'd impul-
sively dismiss the staff at mid-afternoon and almost
demand that they enjoy the remains of the day.
His impromptu happy hours and annual employ-
ee appreciation parties were legend at home and in
whatever city he was visiting. He would continual-
ly tell staff outside of Baltimore that they should
throw more parties and, as he always said, "Have
fun."
Characteristic was Mr. Buerger's publisher's note
to the Baltimore Jewish community during this year's

PARTNER IN PRINT

If Mr. Buerger was the Butch Cassidy of
Jewish journalism, former Detroit Jewish
News and Baltimore Jewish Times editor
Gary Rosenblatt was the Sundance Kid.
Starting with Mr. Rosenblatt's arrival
at the Baltimore paper in 1974, the duo
began to implement their vision that an
independent Jewish weekly could be en-
gaging, filled with news from home and
abroad, without shirking its essential role
of providing prosaic community news.
"We were drawn to his optimism, vital-
ity and enthusiasm, and to his vision of
making grand things possible," Mr. Rosen-
blatt said at the funeral in Baltimore on Sunday. "He
was fascinated with history, but he was most pas-
sionate about the future, for the promise it held."
Over a 19-year span of team-tinkering, the duo es-
tablished what became a weekly institution in Bal-
timore's tight-knit Jewish community. They, joined
by others, would go on to acquire and overhaul ex-
isting Jewish community papers, The Detroit Jewish
News and the Atlanta Jewish Times, in the 1980s.
Mr. Rosenblatt left to become publisher and editor of
New York Jewish Week in 1993.
Mr. Buerger rebuilt the seven-paper newspaper
empire his grandfather, David Alter, amassed earli-
er in the century. Only two of the Alter papers sur-
vived the Depression. In family hands continually
since the post-World War I days, the Baltimore pa-
per came into full flower after Mr. Buerger arrived
in 1972.
He had his editors seek the nation's premier Jew-
ish writers. They dispatched staff to places such as
Argentina, Ethiopia and the Soviet Union to bring
the Jewish news home to local readers. At the same
time, Mr. Buerger insisted on excellence in local re-
porting.
At the heart of it was independent Jewish jour-
nalism, a tricky formula that engaged loving and
promoting the Jewish community while often re-
porting sides of stories that many preferred not be
published.
Along the way, Mr. Buerger employed a simple
business strategy: You have to do things right, so
spend the money to do it. Reinvestment in staff and
resources resulted in steady circulation and adver-

Neil Rubin is editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times.
Michael Davis is editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times.

Atlanta's Susan Bernstein contributed to this article.

What began with a solemn trumpet ballet played
by Mr. Buerger's friend, Langston Fitzgerald of the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, became a bitter-
sweet celebration of a man who rebuilt a mom-and-
pop Jewish newspaper portfolio once wracked by the
Great Depression.
"He was shrewd and tough in his business life, but
he could just as easily be soft and compassionate to
those who worked for him," said Rabbi Mark Loeb in
his eulogy. "He was enigmatic — and thus he was a
real person ... Chuck's publications have been a
true blessing to the community which he served so
well."
Andrew Buerger, publisher of the Vancouver West-
ern Jewish Bulletin, eloquently described his father's
legacy. _
"It wasn't until after I worked with
him and saw him lead and manage that
I discovered the real secret to his suc-
cess," said the younger Mr. Buerger.
"Chuck could hire the talented people
because they fell in love with him dur-
ing the interview ... And while we
worked hard to please our readers and
advertisers, in the back of our minds,
we wanted to please Chuck — our
harshest critic and our biggest fan."
The company will remain in the
hands of the family.

PARTING MOMENT

Rosh Hashanah edition. After dis-
cussing business accomplish-
ments, he wrote, "But, of all that
has transpired in the last year,
I'm most pleased to report that
our staff has prospered. Babies
were born, engagements were an-
nounced, weddings were planned,
anniversaries noted. It was the
stuff of life, what we prayed for
last Rosh Hashanah."
Two years ago, Mr. Buerger
started the Palm Beach Jewish
Times, which was followed this
summer by the nearby Boca I Del-
ray Jewish Times.
In 1995, Mr. Buerger, molded his company into
Waterspout Communications, L.L.C., and took over
management of the Vancouver (B.C.) Western Jew-
ish Bulletin.
He also launched Style, a tony magazine that is
published six times a year in Atlanta, Baltimore and
Detroit.
At the time of his death, Mr. Buerger was planning
a Broward County, Fla., newspaper and a company-
wide presence on the Internet.

BUILDING COMMUNITY

On a cold but sun-soaked Sunday morning this week,
mourners gathered early at Baltimore's Sol Levin-
son & Bros. funeral home. By 11 a.m., an estimated
800 people had filled the main hall and side galleries
of the building. Late-arriving mourners stood next to
the side walls; television crews situated their cam-
eras on the outside sidewalks.

Two weeks before his death, Mr. Buerg-
er arranged for senior staff and some
family members to assemble in Tucson,
Ariz., for a retreat. He later
told friends that a highlight
came when he and his em-
ployees saddled up for a cat-
tle drive.
"Do you guys want to do
this?" a smiling Mr. Buerger
asked his employees when the
normally balmy Arizona tem-
perature dipped into the 40s
as a ceaseless light rain fell
throughout the day.
An hour later, Mr. Buerger
was happily atop a horse amid
family and friends, the last
time many in his manage-
ment team would see him.
The evening ended with
everyone huddled around a barbecue oven, trying to
stay warm while enthusiastically singing songs with
a guitar player.
At the end of the night, after nearly five hours in
the cold, wind and mist, Mr. Buerger charactersti-
cally had this to say, "That was terrific. Wasn't that
fun?"
Mr. Buerger served on numerous boards, includ-
ing The Associated: Jewish Community Federation
of Baltimore, the Baltimore Hebrew University and
the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
He is survived by his wife, the former Ronnie L.
Uslan; three daughters, Jodi A. Buerger of Medfield,
Mass., Danielle A. Bunting of Phoenix, Md., and Lau-
ren A. Buerger of Owings Mills, Md.; and two sons,
Andrew A. Buerger, publisher of the Western Jewish
Bulletin in Vancouver, and Kevin A. Buerger, of Los
Angeles. ❑

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