Friday, March 29, 2024 -
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Nice to meet you

Over the past four and a half years, I’ve gotten to know some of our readers in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s when they call to renew their subscription. Sometimes it’s people I know socially, and it’s always interesting to see which parts of the paper intrigue different readers.

The most common way is when there’s a delivery issue. The impetus for those conversations may be a complaint, but often we wind up having a chat. Sometimes these are more frequent and a connection is created.

Last month, I had a call from a subscriber who informed me that a good friend of hers — a subscriber who lived in Florida and experienced mail delay — had passed away. It hit hard. Even though I’d only spoken to this subscriber, Ilene Gellerman, a few times, I felt as if I knew her. I felt the loss.

Or Lionel Richman, who also recently passed away. I enjoyed our friendly erev Shabbat chats — even when he was calling about a late delivery. We always talked about other things, too.

Earlier this summer I received a call from David Dym, a longtime subscriber who sussed out my Swiss connection. Turns out that David, who has been in the US since 1951, hails from Zurich. This week, we met up. Him, his wife, Gail, and my husband, a native of Switzerland. It gave him and my husband a chance to speak their native Schwyzertüütsch, and it was a lively trip down multiple memory lanes — Zurich’s Jewish history, and Denver’s, as Gail is part of the famed West Side Heller clan.

Mostly, though, it was simply fun to meet and get to know an IJN reader! So to all of you, thank you for reading the IJN. Your phone calls and emails are always welcome.

Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]

Copyright © 2019 by the Intermountain Jewish News



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IJN Assistant Publisher | [email protected]


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