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