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Actlv In Jewish causes
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New Year Greetings
To Our Members and
to the Jewish Community
May the sound of the Shofar usher in a year of
peace, and contentment and happiness for all.
AHAVATH ACHIM
CONGREGATION
tv* TOT* -1a
Vice President
Columnist Irv Kupcinet is
proud of Jewish heritage
by Howard Hoffman
It ia just what you would ex
pect. A bookshelf crammed full,
a table covered with magazines,
a desk stacked with notes, with
two telephones.
But the tipoff is the faces
peering down from the walls,
faces of people everybody
knows. It’s Irv Kupcinet’s office
at the Chicago Sun-Times, and
those familiar faces are his
business.
He knows those people, and
probably everybody rise, and six
diys each week Kup lets us
know what some of those people
are up to. He’s been writing
“Kup’s Column” since 1948, and
he holds Chicago’s undisputed
readership championship, prov
ing that people want to know
what he knows, want to be
where he’s been.
Kup is the eyes and ears of the
Chicago community, and while
that distinction has brought him
terrific success, a long-running
television show, and a face as
familiar as those he writes
about, it isn’t an easy job.
Tm on the street every night
working a beat,” Kup said. Tm
a reporter, still digging for
Kup’s day starts at 6:80 a.m.
with the morning papers. He’s
downtown at 8 a.m., taking calls
(100 a day), following leads,
checking information. At 11:80
a.m. he starts writing his
column, and after lunch, he’s
back in the office checking the
galleys. After dinner, it’s out to
the beat; Rush Street, Michigan
Avenue, the dubs, theaters and
hangouts. He said he’s rarely
home before 1 a.m. or asleep
before 2 a.m.
But he loves it A personifica
tion of confidence with his pipe
deep between his teeth, feet on
his desk, Kup has the inquiring
face and strong handshake that
are tools of his trade.
When Kup isn’t working for
the newspaper, or preparing for
“Kup’s Show,” his weekly round
table on TV, he’s working for
causes. That, and theater, are
his hobbies.
He’s affiliated with the Jewish
National Fund, is the Chicago
chairman of the Friends of
Waitsmaa Institute, and
arrmi^es the talent for the Israel
Bonds shows. He’s also iden
tified with the Cerebral Palsy,
Easter 8eals and Muscular
Dystrophy campaigns.
But basically, he is a Jewish
man from the old West Side, ac
tive in Jewish eailses.
Kup, while not highly obser
vant, carries his identity as a
Jew proudly. *
“The Jewishness that’s in
herent in all of us is what I prac
tice,” he said. “I try to set an ex
ample.”
Kup said that while Jews are a
small minority, their culture
and accomplishments go beyond
their numbers.
“It’s incumbent on every Jew
Irv Kupcinet: “When the
crunch it on, the Jews stick
together. ” **
to be proud of his heritage and
pass it on,” he said. “We have to
preserve that tradition.”
And he is optimistic about the
future, amidst all the problems
facing Jewish life.
“When the crunch is on, the
Jews stick together.”
Kup worked his way out of the
West Side on the football field,
first at Northwestern, then at
the University of North Dakota.
A quarterback, he was selected
to play in the 1985 College All-
Star. Game, and was signed by
the Philadelphia Eagles.
A shoulder injury ended all
that, so he became part of the
sports department of the old
Chicago times in 1986. During
that time, he wrote a column
about Jewish athletes.
• His present column began
eight years later. He started do
ing color commentary on the
Bears on the radio In 1948. Throe
years later, he started his TV
show, “At Random.”
“I’m baakally a newspaper
man, but I love TV,” he said. “I
get a big charge out at it”
Through his career he has
achieved fame rarely bestowed
upon a newspaper man. He often
overshadows the people whose
lives he embelishes. He’s the one
signing the autographs.
"Sometimes it’s very trying,”
he said. “But it’s a small price to
pay.”
Kup says he doesn’t let
himself get caught up in his
notoriety.
Tm just too busy putting out
9 column every day.”
The only time off he allows
himself is a yearly visit to Lon
don, where he enjoys the
theater. Primarily, he is doing
what he likes, so he sees no
reason to change. He is 65, but
that isn’t important.
“I have no plans for
retirement,” he said. “Just to
keep going, as long as I have my
health.
“I get the same thrill I did as a
cub reporter,” Kup says, “when I
see the first edition with the
column in it.”
&C QU
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