E-mail received from Dan Ruderman
March 11 – 12:27 am — We learned today from the medical examiner that my father died of a heart attack – quickly and painlessly. We are searching for a suitable place and time for his memorial service and I will post it here at soon as we have it. Thank you for the kind words and remembrances. Dan
Dear Friends,
There will be a memorial service to celebrate the life of Rudy Ruderman (May 30, 1926 – March 9, 2013) at the Larchmont Yacht Club in Larchmont, NY this Sunday afternoon, March 17th from 1:30 – 3:30.
He was a kind, funny and generous man and we will all miss him. Please consider sharing a story about Rudy – anything that reflects his spirit, or would tickle his spirit. If you can come and share in person, please RSVP. If you wish to send a short story about Rudy or your relationship with him, please do and we will try to read the tales or otherwise share with the celebrants.
While we are an informal crowd, the club does have its own dress code for men – please wear a collared shirt, jacket, no jeans.
Please let us know if you can attend by Friday night so we can plan food accordingly.
Email: DanRuderman1@gmail.com, cell at (413) 358-8883
What: Memorial for S.G. “Rudy” Ruderman
When: Sunday, March 17, 2013. 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Where: Larchmont Yacht Club. 1 Woodbine Ave Larchmont, NY 10538
Who: Friends, Family, Colleagues, Admirers
Thank you,
Jim and Dan Ruderman
Links:
http://www.larchmontyc.org for directions and information to Larchmont, or call them at (914) 834-2440
http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/671747/Ruderman-S-G-Rudy.php
https://www.facebook.com/dan.ruderman for information – if you want to ‘friend’ me, I will send an invitation to the memorial from Facebook also.
No one person on the WNEW staff was more influential to my career than Rudy Ruderman. He was my first friend when I had no friends; a ready and willing teacher when there was much for me to learn; a patient mentor who encouraged me to help him compile the statistics for his financial reports; a helpful editor when I moved into the ranks of writers; the assistant news director who moved me into his afternoon-editor shift; and even, incredibly, a vacation replacement for me after he left full-time employment with the station.
He had a prodigious, unfailing, ingenious sense of humor that ensured that working a shift with — or for — him would be an enjoyable experience. It was, notably, not a selfish sense of humor; as befits a master editor, he enjoyed other writers’ clever leads as much as his own. And it was never humor at the expense of precision. The facts were never bent just to get a laugh. He was an expert at mediating the fights that frequently broke out in the newsroom about 4:00 in the afternoon. He was merciful when my work would fall short; management never found out about some of my worst mistakes.
Once, I called him, “Sir,” and he quickly reminded me that he, too, had been an enlisted soldier and wouldn’t put up with that kind of approach. He was a great exponent, without actually talking about it, of the equality that exists, or should exist, among journalists in the really great newsrooms. He never let me forget that he was my friend, and I was his, and we often reminisced about the unforgettable people and events of those long-ago days in the newsroom with the high ceiling and the beeper booth and the clattering teletypes and blasting bulletin bells.
He is gone from among us, and we have suffered a great loss.
When one sits behind that mike and shares their day to day with all who are listening, one never knows how many lives they are changing, enriching and filling with memories.
Rudy was such a person, and we all are better for having “heard” what he was sharing. Signing off, Rudy! Thanks.