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HONORING A LEGEND

Cantor from page 13

were cheering and yelling, and I said,
"That's it — seven games ahead on
Labor Day, and nobody else has got a
chance" Of course, we blew it the last
game of the season.
When our daughter Jaime was old
enough, she realized that the way to
my heart was to learn about base-
ball and become a big fan. Last year,
Sherry finally became a baseball fan
and she watched most of the games
with me on TV. She would get so exas-
perated with me because I would start
yelling at the set in the late innings.

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ANSWER THIS QUESTION: How many Tony

awards did the Broadway hit SPRING AWAKENING receive?

HOW
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■

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Attn,: Keith Farber
The Detroit Jewish News
29200 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 110
Southfield, MI 48034
Please include your telephone number
and e-mail with your answer
or e-mail your answer to
kfarber@renmedia.us

Your name will be put into a drawing. From
that drawing 7 winners will be picked!! THE
DRAWING WILL BE APRIL 12. Each winner
will win a pair of tickets to Opening Night of
SPRING AWAKENING (Mature Subject Matter).

Notification of winners will be by phone or
e-mail. Tickets for Opening night on April 20
and cannot be exchanged. Only one entry per
person.

Q: You've seen your share of trag-
edy in your life — your illness and
your daughter Courtney's death.
[Courtney, a University of Michigan
freshman, died in a mysterious
fall from her dormitory window in
1998.]
A: Well, my illness — what can you
say? I'm not a young man anymore.
I've had a great life.
Courtney, she got robbed. She was
three weeks short of her 19th birthday
and just a little ball of fire. She had
everything in front of her, and we still
have no clear idea of what happened.
We have theories. A lot of things we
think happened. It was a horrible
thing, and it made some rather severe
changes in our family.
Jaime, for example, was dating a
very personable, handsome guy. But
as she examined Courtney's fate and
then her own life, she realized life was
short and didn't want to waste any of
hers with someone she really didn't
love. So she broke it off and went to
law school. At Harvard, she met the
guy that she was going to get married
to. Michael Ben is also an attorney. You
couldn't wish for a better son-in-law.
Sherry and I now have two grand-
daughters and a grandson. Caryn is 4,
Mathew is nearly 2 and Hannah was
born last November.
Jaime is a really strong person. She
had a strong Jewish background. We
made sure of that. Both our daughters.
That was issue "A:'
The incredible horror of it all is that
you can't believe this could be hap-
pening to you. You play by the rules
— Courtney was an adorable little
girl who was going to have a lot of fun
in life. Then it was all over. There was
such a sense of futility. We spent 19

years trying to raise this lovely little
girl, and in a moment she's taken away
from us. It's hard, very hard.

Q: Do you still enjoy writing?
A: Oh, yeah. If I know there's going
to be some writing to be done on a
given day, I know I'm going to have a
structured day.

Q: How do you come up with the
topics for your column?
A: That's easy. From conversations.
From articles I see in the Jewish News.
I don't think I've ever sat at the screen
and said "Oh, God, what am I going to
do now?"

Q: Your stories are so well written.
A: I go over them — over and
over and over again. If a word is not
perfect, I get upset ... and I'll sit here
until I make it the right word.

Q: I remember one column
about how fortunate you felt to
have worked in the "Golden Age of
Journalism?'
A: Oh, yeah! I didn't realize it at the
time, but I've worked with some of the
greatest minds in Detroit journalism.
Neal Shine, Frank Angelo, Joel Falls,
Gene Roberts.
Joe Falls had this uncommon knack
of walking into a baseball locker room
and immediately sensing that some-
thing was off. I don't know if it were the
way players would not meet our eyes or
if they were talking too loudly amongst
each other. Falls wasn't shy. He had this
big booming voice, and he was some-
thing to watch in action. He wouldn't
back down; he didn't take a seat.

Q: What was your style?
A: Kind of laid back. I listened very
closely. And if I spotted something
that was slightly off, I homed in and
made sure it was answered. Most of
those guys liked talking about them-
selves, and they'd eventually tell you
things they shouldn't. Hey, it ain't my
fault — I'm strictly doing my job.

Q: You had the opposite approach
from Falls, but both worked.
A: Falls would hit you smack on
the nose right from the start. I'll
sneak up on you. I prefer to get you
by surprise. ❑

George Cantor will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award of the
Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 14, at the San Marino Club,1685 E. Big Beaver Road,
Troy. Tickets are $55. Visit www.spjdetroit.org or call (586) 306-2035.

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