AUGUST 5 • 2021 | 15

true. Danny led a storied life. But perhaps
we should start at the beginning.

HIS EARLY YEARS
Danny was born the youngest of three
siblings on Jan. 23, 1919, to Louis and
Minnie Raskin at Hastings and Brady
in Detroit. Louis died shortly after
Danny’s birth. Louis was an immigrant
from Belarus who landed in Detroit and
brought over his siblings and parents.
Family lore says he was the first Jewish
fireman in the city. Minnie raised Danny
and his siblings alone. The family soon
moved to Dover Court apartments near
Pingree and 12th Street, right behind the
Cream of Michigan restaurant, where
members of the Purple Gang hung out in
the mid-’30s.
Danny was a teenager when young
members of the gang were in their 20s.
“They were wonderful fellows — with me
they were,
” he once said. “
And they were
very dedicated to defending Jews.
” He
told a story about how he had been eat-
ing banana cream pie with the gang when
they invited him along for a ride and he
witnessed them put the fear of God into
an antisemite by threatening him with an
(unloaded) gun in the mouth. “It was a
scare tactic,
” Danny said.
He went to High School of Commerce
in Detroit, where he learned typing and
wrote columns as a teenager for the
Center News at the old Jewish Center
on Hazelwood. After that, he went to
Detroit Institute of Technology for a year
to study journalism. Then, he worked as
a reporter with the Lansing State Journal
and, later, covered the midnight shift at
the Detroit News, where his first scoop
was blowing the lid off an illegal poultry
operation — someone was trying to sell
plucked pigeons as chickens.
He was 23 when he wrote that first
column for Detroit Jewish News founder
Phil Slomovitz. The paper Danny origi-
nally thought “wouldn’t last” took off in
popularity, and he left the Detroit News to
work for the JN. He has said Phil offered
him a “terrific deal.
” He did all kinds of
writing, sold advertising and helped out
in many other ways.
During World War II, he used to do

a lot of work with the
boys in service. “They
would send me letters,
and I would send letters
to a lot of them,
” he
said at one time. “One
of them, Bobby Shan,
dropped a bomb on
Germany that said, ‘From
Danny Raskin to Hitler.
’
We put the picture in
the paper. I also worked
with the USO. I sang and
danced. And I helped sell
a lot of War Bonds and got
a citation from the War
Department.
”
One of his better efforts
came in the Oct. 23, 1942,
issue of the JN with a poem titled: “When
Hitler’s Goose is Cooked.
”
At first, Danny worked at the paper
while pursuing other interests on the
side. In the 1950s, Danny started a record
company with his friend Al Marks. The
labels were “Seville” and “Lorelei.
” The
company did not sell many records. As
Danny recalled, “We papered the walls
of my rec room with all the unsold
records.
” He also had an advertising
agency and produced TV commercials
for various companies.
He often liked to share the story
about how, while at the Caucus Club in
Downtown Detroit, he once heard an
unknown young singer from New York.
Her name was Barbra Streisand. Danny
did not like her voice at first and said she
would never make it. “Then she went on
the Jack Paar late-night show and the rest
is history,
” Danny said.

FAMILY LIFE
Danny was married three times. His first
marriage, which he never
spoke much about, lasted
only six months. Next, he was
married to Gerrie Katz for
about 10 years. They had a
son, Scott. After the divorce,
it was just the two of them,
Scott said.
“We lived in Oak Park at
the time,
” Scott told the JN.

with a poem titled: “When

side. In the 1950s, Danny started a record

Germany that said, ‘From

with the USO. I sang and
danced. And I helped sell
a lot of War Bonds and got

One of his better efforts

came in the Oct. 23, 1942,

FROM THE TOP:
Performing at a
USO show during
WW II. Danny as a
toddler. Having fun
at a Tigers game at
the former Briggs
Stadium. Dapper
Danny looking cool
on a hot day.

AUGUST 5 • 2021 | 15

FROM THE TOP:
Performing at a
USO show during
WW II. Danny as a
toddler. Having fun
at a Tigers game at
the former Briggs
Stadium. Dapper
Danny looking cool

continued on page 16