The Chapel Hill weekly., 1957-03-22
Nv Choice for the Best Writing Now
Being Doue in North Carolina

North Carolina today is being done by
Harry Golden in hi. paper, the Carolina
Israelite, b.-monthly published in.
Charlotte
His latest printing (the January
February issueJ was 1850 copies This
remarkable achievement il. circulation
is the result Of nothing else but quality;
that is. of~1I0ldeu ability a. d writer,
He hasn't resorted to prizes, premiums,
fraternal memberships, or any other
artificial ytimuauts The subscriptions
hase come flooding in because one pei
son would read the paper and show 1t
70 another person, and that other one
would like il and SHOW it to still another,
and 50 on and on II has been like the
spreading Of ripples in wave There
are subscribers in every state in the
Union and in Canada, England, France,
Israel South Africa, and New Zealand,
even some (besldes those in our En-
bassies) behind the Iron Curtain in
Prague and Moscow.
Golden established his paper only
about fifteen years ago. Considering
the growth Of the circulation to more
than eleven thousand in that short
period, and how it has been snowballing
since it got a good start, will not be
surprised if it rises to many times its
present figure.
When speak Of Mr. Goiden's ability,
Of course ! do not mean only his skill
as d writer, though ! admire his style
for its directness and simplicity. ] mean,
TOO, his subject matter and the pIth and
pungency Of his comments thereon. He
does not confine himself TO special
fields; he writes about anything that
happens to strike his fancy and his
subjects are widely varied
He has the three foundations Of
greatest value to a writer on people and
events: he has read prodlgiously, he has
an extraordinarily retentive memory,
and he has led life Of interesting occu-
pations and interesting contacts He Is
imaginative and humorous and he has
d lively yet not q biting wit.
He was born and brought up on the
East Side Of New York. He was an alb
sorbed observer Of, and sometimes
participant in, the city's politics and en-
tertainment and in his paper is fire.
quently reminiscent Of these fascinating
activities
Does the form in which PERSONS
writing is presented have anything to
do with itsgquality? 1t does for me. ]
can't ENJOY any article, essay story, or
poem set in type that strains my eyes
or arranged on page or succession
Of pages in a way that is disagreeable
to me ] feel sure that the pleasure !
get from the Carolina Israelite, while it
comes mainly from the quality Of Gold
ems writing, is due in part to the fact
that the paper is 80 easy to read.
1t reminds me a good deal Of the
famous f. w. Howe's Monthly of years
ago but instead Of having big spread
out pages it is of tabloid size. The page
width is five standard-size newspaper
columns, but most Of the articles are
set double-column. They are in good
sized type with the lines agreeably
wide apart. All print, no pictures, in
both reading matter and advertising.
Reading matter on the left side Of the
page, advertising on the i1ght side, ex-
cept for the front page on which there
is n6 advertising.
The main thing to be said about the
Carolina Israelite is that at the very
first look you see something that in
terests you and this keeps on being so
right on through the sixteen pages.
Since he founded the paper Golden has
been writing it all except for now and
then a short reprint on which to base
a comment and few letters-to-the-
editor. He is still writing most of it