Sam Rubin, arguably essentially the most revered and beloved leisure journalist within the trade, taught me one thing that modified my life.
A few years in the past, Sam employed me to design his first web site, when he had a slot on Los Angeles’ KLSX-FM. Sam adopted Howard Stern and was within the crosshairs of some forgotten radio man who wished his time slot. His title was Frosty Stillwell, and his churlish on-air jabs at Sam turned a serious annoyance to not solely Sam, however to these of us who have been followers of Sam’s present. However Frosty impressed one thing extra insidious, and as his webmaster I noticed the hordes of trolls who would ship putrid feedback to Sam.
I used to be embarrassed for Sam. I keep in mind asking him, “How do you place up with this? What are we going to do about this?” Sam smiled at me, leaned again in his chair at an extended desk shared by crew, writers and producers at KTLA, and stated “Punch up, not down.”
Wow. Simply freaking wow. That was highly effective. He then cocked his head, motioning to me that our assembly was over, and I walked out perpetually modified.
It was quickly thereafter that The Movement Image Dwelling, a retirement neighborhood that featured a state-of-the-art hospital, managed and assisted care bungalows, a long run care heart for essentially the most aged, and the fabled “Harry’s Haven” – named after Kirk Douglas’ father and a testomony to the Douglas household’s care and concern for Alzheimer’s sufferers — was on the chopping block. The hospital’s ICU was shuttered, and members of the family of long run care sufferers have been notified to search for different digs for our mother and father, wives and husbands who have been within the sterling care of the Movement Image and Tv Fund. We have been informed that there was no cash left to fund long run care. We knew in any other case. So did Sam.
The households rallied and I minimize my tooth as an activist by taking to a brand new leisure information platform referred to as TheWrap to lob verbal bombs on the studio bigwigs who have been taking part in conceal the salami with the reality. I seemed for Sam’s quantity and referred to as him. I gave him the elevator pitch on what was happening. His response was “how can I assist?”
Wow, how he helped. These have been within the days when Michaela Pereira was co-anchor with Carlos Amezcua. KTLA Morning Information was sizzling and had big viewership numbers (because it nonetheless does now). I heard that the ex-CEO of the Movement Image Dwelling did a basic spit take when he watched KTLA reporting our story. Cellphone traces between DreamWorks, Paramount and Sony (the place the deniers of care held forth) heated up. I imply, everybody watched KTLA.
Sam took the aged residents below his wing, so to talk. He was very keen on previous Display screen Actors Guild vp and actress Anne-Marie Johnson. Anne-Marie was a firebrand who commanded a loyal following within the Display screen Actors Guild. The morning that he invited her and actor Scott Bakula to report on the dire state of affairs, there resulted a shift within the public’s notion of what this impending closure of movement image trade long run care meant: If it may occur to them, it may occur to us.
Punch up, not down.
Sam gave these of us preventing for the care of The Movement Image Dwelling residents one thing worthwhile: legitimacy. We quickly attracted the help of SAG-AFTRA below the management of Ken Howard. That will not have occurred had we not gotten main consideration. Whenever you have been on Sam’s information, that was “main consideration.”
Sam helped us save movement image and tv trade long run care. Even once we have been unable to get an A-Lister to inform our story, we had a journalistic A-Lister who didn’t abandon the aged, who defined phrases like “switch trauma” and “elder abuse” to his viewers. Had it not been for Sam, we’d have needed to discover different preparations for our mother and father. Sam gave us a broadcast platform like Sharon Waxman gave us a digital voice that reached each single leisure trade worker. In doing that, lives have been saved – and Sam rejoiced with us once we received this battle. Long run care prospers right now below the management of Movement Image Dwelling CEO Bob Beitcher.
As comfortable an ending as that was, once I heard the information that Sam had handed, I used to be shocked. I knew Sam as greater than an leisure journalist – he was a man “who didn’t endure fools gladly.” He fought towards anti-Semitism and all types of systemic racism and cultural intolerance. His mom was the final little one to be picked up at London’s Victoria Station throughout Kindertransport, a secretive rescue effort that noticed Jewish youngsters transported out of Nazi-controlled territories.
I met Sam for the final time on the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum, together with his sister who was conducting consciousness excursions alongside the Kindertransport route. The final textual content I acquired from him urged me to maintain him within the loop on my non-profit’s combat towards anti-Semitism.
He left us too quickly. I nonetheless want him – as a lot for his affect as his rock-steady focus and empathy for individuals who are additionally needy. All of us must punch up, and never down. Proper Sam?
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