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STAFF |
Select the links below to view the biographies.
MIRIAM GOLDBERG,
Editor and Publisher. miriam@ijn.com
RABBI HILLEL GOLDBERG, PHD, Executive Editor.
hillel@ijn.com
LARRY HANKIN, Associate Editor.
larry@ijn.com
CHRIS LEPPEK, Assstant Editor.
denvjewnew@aol.com
JUDY WALDREN, Office Manager.
judy@ijn.com
CAROL ENDRES, Receptionist, Subscriptions/Classifieds Mgr.
carol@ijn.com
ANDREA JACOBS, Staff Writer.
andrea@ijn.com
SEIJI NAGATA, Production.
email@ijn.com
LORI ARON, Account Executive.
lori@ijn.com
BERNIE PAPPER, Account Executive.
bernie@ijn.com
DAVE FETSCHER, Bookkeeper.
dave@ijn.com
GERALD MELLMAN, Sports Editor.
email@ijn.com
SHERYL CORDOZO, Boulder Correspondent.
SHERRI BELL, Legal Secretary, Production Assistant.
sherri@ijn.com
SHARI VALENTA, Photographer.
ELAINE GOLDBERG, Columnist.
TEHILLA R. GOLDBERG, Jerusalem Correspondent
Thirty years ago, in the 60th anniversary edition of the Intermountain Jewish News, it was written: “If you don’t know Miriam Goldberg, it’s only because you must have arrived in Denver within the past two weeks.”
How much the more so today. It has been 34 years since Miriam Harris Goldberg stepped in as IJN publisher and editor upon the death of her husband, Max, the most well known media personality in mid-20th-century Denver. She has been working in all departments of the paper for 41 years. Miriam represents the IJN in the community with grace and professionalism. She is a founding member of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, a Colorado Press Woman of Achievement and a National Press Woman runner-up.
Miriam is looked up to as a role model by budding journalists, widows and community activists.
She is a living whirlwind attending virtually every event, always busy but always relaxed, with a warm and friendly smile. And where else does the boss prepare a birthday lunch for every staff member?
Forty years ago, Rabbi Goldberg started his journalistic career with high school buddy Dick Gould. Together, they published their own newspaper. One year later, their magazine, Tempo, was featured in Time.
Since then, Rabbi Goldberg has earned rabbinic ordination in Jerusalem, a doctorate in Jewish intellectual history at Brandeis, and taught at The Hebrew University (Jerusalem) and Emory (Atlanta).
He has written for the IJN for 41 years, 12 years as its Israel correspondent, and now as executive editor. He has won first-place journalism awards in news, feature, arts and editorial writing, in reportage from Israel and in graphic design. Rabbi Goldberg is a recognized expert on the movement and the teachings of Rabbi Israel Salanter, and has published four books on the subject.
Hillel is married to Elaine Silberstein and they are the proud parents of Tehilla, Temima, Mattis, Shana, Riki and Chaim Michael, and the grandparents of Fayga, Maly, Aviva and Eliena Shulman of Eliyahu, Yisroel Chaim and Shneur Goldberg, and Yaakov Aryeh Kushnir.
As associate editor Larry Hankin is involved in almost every aspect of the IJN operation, including news story selection, editing, writing, advertising sales, marketing and production.
Larry is the IJN’s link to the community’s organizations on a weekly basis.
Larry started with the IJN for 31 years ago, when he arrived in Denver after graduating from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He spent three years as the editor of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, before returning to the IJN in 1981.
His interest in Jewish journalism goes back to the eighth grade, when he and three friends put out a newsletter for the Junior Temple Youth Group at Temple B’nai Jehudah in his native Kansas City. From there, he became chapter and council sopher (editor) for AZA. His college internship was at the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.
Larry is married to Gail Ashkanazi-Hankin, a cookbook author and caterer. They have two grown children, Jennifer (Max) Heyman and Michael Hankin, and are the grandparents of Danielle, Matthew, Samuel and Maya.
Chris Leppek, IJN assistant editor, is a master writer. He has won many Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism for his outstanding pieces in spot news, investigative reporting and feature writing.
Chris has a special love for historical inquiry and has uncovered many hitherto unknown aspects and personalities of Denver Jewish history.
Journalism has been Chris’ only career since he received his training in the US Navy. He started with the IJN 29 years ago as a staff writer and now supervises the IJN wire service editing and archives, in addition to writing.
Chris and his wife, Lisa, have two sons, Noah, 22, and Adam, 18. They live in South Denver. In his spare time, Chris enjoys writing horror and mystery stories and novels. His first book, a mystery, The Surrogate Assassin, won the “Best in Category” (Sherlock Holmes mystery) from Amazon.com in 1999.
He wrote Chaosicon with his long-time friend and fellow horror aficionado Emanuel Isler. Further novels are pending and, he hopes, awaiting publication.
The fact that you are reading the IJN is due largely to the organizational talents of Judy Waldren. As office manager, she shepherds the production—and the people—all the way through to the press. Thoughtful and generous, Judy is a workplace dream.
A former elementary school teacher for 16 years in Aurora and Denver, Judy started at the IJN as circulation clerk and secretary 27 years ago. Since then, she’s learned all about computers and every aspect of newspaper production, including, of late, the newest, direct computer-to-press technology.
Judy is the mother of three and the grandmother of eight, four boys and four girls, including twins, in Minnesota, Maine and Texas.
Judy is a superb Park Hill gardener since 1968 (no, don’t call her to do your weeds!). She enjoys cooking, knitting, yoga, theater and reading—not to mention recuperating from the pressure-crunch of deadlines week in and week out.
Carol Endres has mastered the front desk for over a year now; which includes classifieds, subscriptions, all little of this and a little of that, along with the never ending advertising list updates. And her sense of humor is still intact.
Carol is the proud mother of daughter Shae (David) and son Christopher (Barbara) and "Na Na" to granddaughters Eryn and Hanna.
Her passions include: cooking, reading, playing and listening to jazz/blues, creating stories for granddaughters and writing in her journal each day.
Senior Writer Andrea Jacobs, known for her award-winning coverage of difficult topics, became a journalist in 1986. She joined the IJN in 1993, when she served as a correspondent in Colorado Springs.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Andrea graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, with a Major in English, and a minor in Philosophy.
Her connection to Jewish journalism began with Robert A. Cohn, editor-in-chief of the St. Louis Jewish Light, who was her Sunday school teacher.
Since then, Andrea has won first-place awards from the Colorado Press Assn. and several first-place Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism from the American Jewish Press Assn
Her first-place awards are for her coverage of AIDS, women, the Holocaust, Messianic Jews, personality profiles and general news.
Andrea belongs to Temple Sinai where she enjoys singing in the High Holiday choir, Torah study classes—and discussions of the afterlife.
Shari Valenta has been the IJN photographer since 2004. Her ability to capture kaleidescopic emotions during an interview garnered her a 2004 Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. Her consistent talent awes subject and reader alike.
Photography runs in Shari's blood: her parents met while working at Kodak in Rochester, NY. Shari's father bought her a 35mm Minolta X-7A for her 16th birthday. In 1996 she received her BFA in photography from UCD.
Shari is married to Jack, her high school sweetheart. He encouraged her to continue pursuing her photographic talents, which Denver metro area publications quickly recognized.
Like most people in her profession, Shari has a day job working as a research assistant at the CU Health Sciences Center.
Seiji Nagata is the creative artist/IT specialist of the IJN. He has worked many important areas of the IJN since joining the newspaper 19 years ago as part of the IJN student internship program.
Seiji began in office support and moved to bookkeeping, where he became a self-taught computer maven. Seiji has a great laugh, which lightens up the worst deadline pressures.
Seiji’s passion (other than computers) is collecting and restoring automobiles — especially early Detroit Muscle Cars — as well as hockey. He watches the Colorado Avalanche religiously.
Customer service is the trademark of Lori Aron, IJN advertising representative.
Fifteen years ago, Lori came to the IJN’s subscription telemarketing program. Then she moved into advertising sales and hasn’t looked back since.
Lori’s background includes beauty supply sales. She is a licensed cosmetologist.
A native Denverite, Lori attended BMH Hebrew school and is a graduate of George Washington High. Lori is busy with her first love, son Dylan, a student at Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy and a lover of all manner of sports.
If you aren’t related to Bernie Papper, or didn’t go to school with him, you probably are not a Denver native. Part of the huge Heller family, Bernie seems to know everyone in town. And everyone has the same opinion of Bernie: “What a nice guy!”
Bernie has been selling advertising and doing layout for the IJN for 18 years. He brings an extensive sales and marketing background to the IJN.
Bernie and his wife Carol are very proud of their son Jeffrey and his wife Jodi and of their grandchildren Lindsay Morgan and Logan Stanley Papper; and of their son Michael and his wife Michelle in Holden MA and grandson Zachary Alexander Papper.
Details, details — that’s Dave Fetscher’s area of expertise. As the IJN’s bookkeeper and proofreader, Dave makes sure that every decimal point and comma is in the right place.
Dave is a Chicago native who has lived in Denver 28 years. He holds a BS degree in accounting from Western Illinois University.
Prior to joining the IJN staff 10 years ago, Dave worked as a senior financial analyst for StorageTek and in the oil and gas industry.
On sunny afternoons, you are likely to find Dave on the golf course pursuing his favorite pastime. He also loves to bike and read, and has a quick intelligence.
The IJN staff member with the greatest longevity is Gerald Mellman, who served in the late 1940s as the IJN CU correspondent.
He became an attorney and has practiced law in Denver for 50 years.
Years ago, when the IJN was looking to increase its sports coverage in re-sponse to a reader survey, Jerry Mellman serendipitously appeared on the scene, wondering whether there was a place on the paper for his hobby: sports photography. The rest, as they say, is history.
Jerry is at games of the Broncos, the Nuggets, the Rockies and an occasional golf or charity tournament or other special event.
Elaine Goldberg writes the popular “Across America” column, the happenings in Jewish communities all over North America.
“I feel as though I have my finger on the pulse of all of Jewish America,” she says.
Elaine, born in Los Angeles, grew up in Brooklyn, but she’s lived in so many places she’s lost her accent. She has lived in Boston, Jerusalem, Atlanta and Denver. Elaine graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in English and was a social worker before starting her family.
She’s been married to Rabbi Hillel Goldberg for 37 years. They are busy raising Chaim, 12, and looking after older children and grandchildren.
Staffers*Photographers*Legal Advisors*Columnists
We are grateful for the loyalty and expertise of many employees, advisers and friends.
Legal Advisers
Judge Charles Goldberg (Rothgerber Lyons and Johnson, Denver) and Richard Goldberg (Cheifetz & Iannitelli, Phoenix), general legal; Tom Kelley (Faegre and Benson, Denver), First Amendment legal; also Natalie Hanon Lei (Faegre and Benson, Denver), Intermountain Jewish News and L’Chaim registered trademarks.
Photographers
Shari Valenta, Denver; Rabbi Mattis Y. Goldberg, photographer (also a contributor), Israel; also, Joel Orent, Boston.
Columnists
Erica Meyer Rauzin, “Precious Moments”; Dennis Prager, “Plain Truth."
Former Staffers
Paul H. Kolitz, bookkeeper and proofreader, 1979-1996 (officially, but he still proofreads); Jack Goldman, photographer, 1956-1987.
A special thanks to Signature Offset and Grant Edwards, IJN weekly newsstand deliveryman.
Intermittent Staffer
Shana R. Goldberg, computer expert, researcher, proofreader,; initiator of the expanded community directory in L’Chaim and master of the “IJN Book of Intermountain Jewish Lists.”