Chauvinistic regionalism has long advanced the notion that people from Colorado and Texas should not get along.
Loyal Coloradoans though we consider ourselves to be, we must make an exception in the case of one dyed-in-the-wool Texan, Joseph W. Samuels, who passed away recently at the age of 95.
Samuels for nearly four decades the co-owner and co-publisher of Houstons Jewish Herald-Voice was loquacious, down-to-earth, deeply intelligent, folksy, irreverent, sometimes curmudgeonly and occasionally profane.
Also, a very good journalist.
We will gladly give him credit for his able stewardship of the stressful, sometimes mind-boggling, roles of newspaper publisher and editor, but it was his instinctive skills as a reporter that most impressed us.
He knew the right questions to ask, when to ask them and how to ask them. He did not shy away from asking the difficult questions, those most likely to jar the subjects he was interviewing, nor was he ever overawed or intimidated by the apparent power those subjects might have held.
With his mane of white hair, his cowboy boots and blue jeans and his Houston twang, he reminded us of some strange and fearless Western Jewish journalistic lion.
But that description covers only a part of who he was.
Through the years, Samuels made a specialty of reporting on Jews in need, or in dire straits, around the globe. Along with his equally impressive wife Jeanne who shared his responsibilities at the Herald Voice he genuinely cared for those in need and took very seriously his journalistic responsibility to shine the light on their plight.
But there was still more to Joe Samuels his sense of humor, for example.
One of our staffers once accompanied him on a news trip to Israel and observed that as the journalists were being checked in by Israeli customs officials, Samuels was carrying a small booklet stamped Passport of the Republic of Texas.
He calmly handed the official-looking document, impressively emblazoned in gold with the famed Lone Star emblem, to the customs official, who immediately looked confused and dismayed, as if thinking: Why have I never seen such a passport before?
The poor official only got the joke when Samuels began laughing uproariously, and then produced his genuine US passport. Everyone within hearing distance, including the usually poker-faced Israelis, couldnt help but join in the merriment.
We ask you, in all seriousness, how could you not love a guy like that?
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
