Published: 5 July 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Among the highlights of her time on the “dead beat” were obituaries of Jewish newsmakers, which, like so many of her obits, stand out for the vividness of her prose and the humor she sometimes brought to solemn moments. Here are some standouts.
Rabbi Sol Steinmetz
Steinmetz was a widely respected Jewish Hungarian-American expert in linguistics and lexicography who wrote about both English and Yiddish. The ordained rabbi was the executive editor of Random House’s dictionary division.
Steinmetz likely would have enjoyed his obituary by Fox, with its definitions and derivations of words, dictionary-style. Writing in The New York Times in 2006, William Safire, who knew from language mavens, called Mr. Steinmetz a ‘lexical supermaven’
FULL STORY The seven best Jewish obituaries by New York Times writer Margalit Fox (Times of Israel)
Photo: Margalit Fox (Youtube)
