Longtime Daily Herald columnist, author of 'Life With Cancer' dies

There was a crowd in Skokie that day in June 2006, when Holocaust survivors, fundraisers and local officials came to finally break ground on the long-awaited Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

It was a day of fulfillment for many people, but one young teenager was in tears. Her grandfather, Holocaust survivor Sam Harris, had turned over a ceremonial spade of earth, and then handed her the shovel.

Everyone else was getting back on the buses to leave, but Ruth Gesmer Silverman, covering the event for the Daily Herald, walked over to the girl.

Ruth understood the significance - the survivor passing the torch, telling the younger generation it's their turn now to keep the memory alive.

"I'll pass it along to my own grandchildren," the teenager promised him through her tears, clutching the shovel.

Harris, of Kildeer, was among the local Holocaust survivors who poured their souls into getting the museum off the ground. The next day, reading the story, he teared up at the part about his granddaughter.

"No one else would have noticed that," he said of Ms. Silverman.

Ruth Gesmer Silverman, the author of the twice-monthly "Life with Cancer" column in the Daily Herald, died Wednesday, Dec. 10, at age 68.

Her last column was published Nov. 3, even as she knew her cancer was terminal. Her daughters, Elisa Silverman and Sharon Gjertsen, co-authored a final column on her behalf that ran Monday, Dec. 8.

Ms. Silverman had a nearly 30-year career as a freelancer for the Daily Herald. Editors prized her work ethnic, her sense of humor and her incredible connections - she knew everybody worth knowing, it seemed.

She was among the original Neighbor columnists in the early 1980s, writing weekly about her beloved Buffalo Grove, unearthing out-of-the-way stories about intriguing people and institutions.

Not long after, she debuted "Etc.," a suburban celebrity column for which she mined local theaters, restaurants and clubs for gossip and entertainment news.

"It was ahead of its time," said Ernie Schweit, a longtime Daily Herald editor who oversaw "Etc." and the Neighbor columns.

Ms. Silverman, a ballet dancer in her youth, loved the entertainment beat. She knew how to talk to celebs and make industry contacts, Schweit said.

For years after the column's demise her license plates still read "et cetera."

Ms. Silverman was deeply dedicated to the Jewish community in the Northwest suburbs. She believed that writing about the community, and not just at holiday time, was good for the paper and good for the community.

"She was very passionate," said Sharon Gjertsen, noting she worked at both the Spertus Museum in Chicago and the suburban JCC. "The Daily Herald was a vehicle for her to educate people about the Holocaust and the Jewish community, and later about living with cancer."

Ms. Silverman, whose parents emigrated to the Boston area from Odessa (Russia) before World War II, was particularly moved by stories about Holocaust survivors in the suburbs and the effect of the Holocaust on their children and grandchildren. She kept up personal relationships with many of the people she profiled.

"She was a tireless advocate of teaching the lessons of the Holocaust, and building that bridge from the past to the future," Harris said.

Ms. Silverman started writing "Life with Cancer" in April 2007 after her breast cancer, which had gone into remission after a mastectomy and aggressive radiation and chemo, returned.

Her column in the Health & Fitness section became a twice-monthly conversation with readers about the little ups and downs that come with a cancer diagnosis. She cheerfully recounted doctor visits, tests and the mysterious side effects of chemo.

"A lot of people, whether battling cancer or not, learned from Ruth to see and enjoy small wonders - the leaves turning colors, the antics of her cat, Gadi, conversations with people she met at her treatment centers," said Features Editor Diane Dungey.

"Ruth would have written her column every day, given the chance."

She carried a notebook into her visits with doctors, pelting them with questions. When by necessity her world expanded to include oncologists, chemo givers, reconstructive specialists and others, she made friends of the nurses, schedulers and ambulance drivers.

She coped with endless doctor's visits by visiting the temple and going shopping; exhaustive tests (more shopping) and bad news (shoe shopping).

Ms. Silverman, never shy, was known for being an aggressive reporter who sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.

"She was relentless, but she got the story," said Cindy Kurman, the owner of Kurman Communications Inc. in Chicago, Ms. Silverman's close friend for many years. "She had extremely high standards and values, and was disappointed when people didn't meet them.

"But she was very passionate about the things she loved and the people she loved."

A chapel service in Ms. Silverman's memory will begin at 2:30 p.m. today (Thursday) at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home, 1700 Rand Road, Arlington Heights followed by interment at Shalom Memorial Park.

The family requests that instead of flowers, contributions in her name may be made to the Alzheimer Disease Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601-7633; or to Friends of IDF, 29 E. Madison St., #802, Chicago, IL 60602.