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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
theJEWISHNEWS.com
guest column
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
My Kind Of Town
T
he America I first met was made
up of cities that were made up of
smaller cities, some just blocks in
any direction.
When we lived on
Longfellow near Dexter, I
only had to cross Dexter,
holding my father’s hand,
then walk down a half-
block to Ruskin’s Drugs
where he’d get Life maga-
zine. Then back toward
our house to pick up his
Norman
shirts at the Ming Moy
Prady
Chinese laundry.
When we moved to Tuxedo on the corner
of Lawton, I was 5 and somewhat more
aware of distances and the boundaries of my
city within the city. The eastern end of our
block was at Linwood. Across Linwood was a
campus that I first walked on as a kindergar-
tener at Roosevelt Elementary School, then
Durfee Intermediate and lastly as a graduate
of Central High School.
Before crossing toward the schools,
my world extended north and south on
Linwood. First to the south was the drug-
store, source of comic books, Bromo Seltzer,
and a treat I’ve never seen since: Mello Roll
ice cream on a waffle sugar cone. The roll
F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
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was just that, a tube of
vanilla ice cream with some
kind of coating, wrapped in
paper that was peeled off as
the roll was pressed down
into the cone.
Or I could skip the drugstore and have a
look around next door at Bob’s Bicycle and
Repair. Bob’s was owned by a man named
Lou. Paul worked there although he really
wanted to be a firefighter. Bob’s sold model
airplane kits, balsa wood, basketballs, foot-
balls, hockey sticks and, oh yes, bicycles.
If I didn’t have a Mello Roll at the drug-
store, I could stop at Mason’s Dairy in the
next block, across Webb, and get a chocolate
malt served with two sugar cookies on a
plate along with the mixer’s metal container
that held the rest of the malt that didn’t fit
into the glass.
If I went another block, all the way to
Burlingame, there was Hanney’s, a soda
fountain and candy store where my friend
Howard and I would each get a package of
twin Hostess cupcakes and a Nesbitt’s straw-
berry pop.
If I went north on Linwood, I’d pass the
gas station on the corner of Tuxedo, and
Hirsch’s Grocery on the next corner. Across
Linwood, I’d see the Five and Dime — Ben
Franklin? — and the drugstore
on the corner — Farber’s?
But if I kept walking up Linwood,
I’d have a choice of delicatessens
every few blocks where I could stop
for a dill pickle to munch on while I
headed toward the Avalon theater in the last
block before Davison.
I’d also pass a number of storefront neigh-
borhood synagogues, a C.F. Smith Grocery
Store, a real estate office — Ben Rich or
Joe Rich? — and at least one, maybe two,
Chinese restaurants.
It seemed at least every third block had a
Jewish bakery, a kosher meat market and a
religious school.
My city was one block to the east at
Linwood, two to the west at Dexter, 12 to the
north at Davison, five to the south at Calvert.
It didn’t have freeways, only a few stop lights.
Anything else we might have needed would
have been there.
Rosetta Jacobs lived nine blocks up on
Buena Vista in my city. But she moved away
and became Piper Laurie before I had a
chance to meet her.
*
Norman Prady, 82, is a journalist and author living
in Berkley.
6 February 25 • 2016
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| Detroit Jewish News
Bernie And Me
A
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teen guest column
s a high school senior, I
simply do not vote.
have lots to look forward
The 2016 presidential election
to: spring break, prom,
is well on its way with a gaggle of
graduation and — of course —
candidates seeking their respec-
college! However, what I am most
tive party’s nomination, and
excited about as I come of age is
while many of the candidates are
casting a vote for president.
exciting and eccentric, there is
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
one candidate who is truly worth
Samuel Kole noting: Bernie Sanders.
once said, “Nobody will ever
deprive the American people
Clearly distinguished by his
of the right to vote except the
Brooklyn accent and messy
American people themselves, and the only haircut, his unwillingness to pander to
way they could do this is by not voting.”
the establishment is both charming and
Blessed with this sacred right, it may
refreshing. Sander’s triumphant show-
come as a surprise to some that America
ing in both the Iowa caucus and New
has one of the lowest voter turnouts of
Hampshire primary cemented his cam-
any country in the world. For the past
paign as a force to be reckoned with.
30 years, the American electorate has
His populist platform and exciting
become accustomed to settling for the
promise of a “political revolution” has
lesser of two evils when it comes time to
taken root on college campuses across
cast their ballot.
the nation. Compelled by his message of
Discouraged by the Washington estab-
equal opportunity and social justice, mil-
lishment’s pursuit of mediocrity and
lennials are turning out in droves to sup-
inability to act decisively, Americans have port Sanders.
lost faith in their leaders and, in turn,
While the media continues to scrutinize
| Editorial
Sanders’ ability to attract non-white voters
in states like Nevada and South Carolina,
and Donald Trump’s haircut, what has
gone relatively unnoticed is the fact that
Bernie is Jewish.
The most significant story of this elec-
tion will not be found in Hillary’s emails
but rather in that a once-unknown Jewish
boy from Brooklyn is now a formidable
candidate for the president of the United
States.
Not a century after the Holocaust, a
Jewish candidate has a chance to become
the leader of the free world. Bernie
Sanders’ campaign means a lot of things
to a lot of people. To me, it is a testament
to how far the Jewish community has
come in America since World War II.
As an American Jew, I am confident
that whether or not Bernie ends up win-
ning the Democratic nomination, he has
already won a special place in the history
of the Jewish people.
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*
Samuel Kole, 17, is from West Bloomfield.
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