OUR COMMUNITY

A 

longtime Top-40, rock ’n’ roll DJ, 
my dad once single-handedly halt-
ed an unruly crowd at a Beatles 
concert, warning that the show would not 
go on if they if they couldn’t control the 
uproar. 
On the flip side, he was a member of 
Detroit’s Orthodox Jewish community. 
His radio station contracts specified that 

he did not work on Shabbat. He also 
recited morning prayers in a private cor-
ner of the studio during newsbreaks in his 
radio show.
He was the true epitome of living in two 
worlds, both separately and merged.
Weekdays and some Sundays, he delved 
into the contemporary, secular world of 
modern music and business, spinning 
records as “Specs Howard,
” while the rest 

of his life, “Jerry Liebman” was surrounded 
by the enjoyment and structure of religious 
observance.
I approach this Father’s Day as the 
first since my dad passed away this past 
September. It is the first June I didn’t shop 
for the recurring gift of a no-iron, plaid 
sport shirt, aftershave and a book. The date 
nears instead with thoughts and lessons of 
his physical resilience, positive living, family 
values and emersion in Judaism that keep 
his memory alive for me every day.
During the years he was on-air with 
Harry Martin, his non-Jewish DJ partner, 
the two would rotate schedules so each 
could celebrate their respective holidays.
One Chanukah, the early morning 
Martin and Howard show was broadcast 
live from our Cleveland home and I, at the 
age of 7, shared that my favorite present 
that year was a Little Red Spinning Wheel, a 
hand-cranked knitting machine advertised 
as “the greatest toy a girl can own.
”

My Orthodox Dad 
Was a Rock ’n’ Roll 
Radio Disc Jockey

26 | JUNE 15 • 2023 

ESSAY

A Father’s Day tribute to Specs Howard.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Specs Howard 
and family in 
an early 1960s 
publicity photo

