Jack Jersawitz (August 13, 1934 – December 6, 2012) was an American television host, mayoral candidate, and Marxist activist.

Jersawitz was well known for hosting a Public-access TV show called Brainstorms, a current events talk show on People TV, featuring live telephone call segments that were often targeted by prank callers. He is known for getting flustered by such calls and referring to the perpetrators as "clowns" or "cretins". Whenever Jersawitz was confronted by prank callers for being The Penguin from Batman, he conveniently hung up, leading to widespread tongue-in-cheek speculation that he was in fact the Gotham villain.

Personal life

Jack Jersawitz was born on August 13, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He lived on the west coast and in London, England, before settling in Atlanta, Georgia the early 1970s.^[1] Unlike his parents, who were Jewish, Jersawitz identified as an atheist.^[2] He earned his high school equivalency degree in 1997 and briefly studied the origins of jazz and film analysis at Georgia State through a program that offered free classes to senior citizens. He worked as a printer, handyman, and mechanic before he retired.^[3]

Jersawitz was a radical communist as well as an abrasive critic, who frequently expressed his harsh critiques of persons, places, things, and ideas.^[1] His oft-used verbal tactic in public meetings, consisting of slowly building up his aggressiveness from snide comments to full on insults was dubbed a ''Jack Attack''.^[3]

People TV

Jersawitz hosted two Public-access TV shows on People TV;^[4] Brainstorms and Telling it Like it is.^[1] Jersawitz took an extremist left-wing stance on his shows and even claimed to be visited by the United States Secret Service for comments that he made when talking about his belief that the President of the United States should be publicly tried and hanged.^[5] His show Brainstorms offered viewers the opportunity to call in live, which made it a target for prank calls, notably from The Howard Stern Show, that ranged from maniacal laughing to comparing Jersawitz to the fictional Batman character, The Penguin.^[6][7]

Activism

Jersawitz unsuccessfully ran for mayor in Atlanta, Georgia, in both 1997 and 2001. In his first campaign, his most important issue was the creation of a Labor Party for the working class. In his second campaign, he proposed to get rid of Property taxes for city homeowners making less than $100,000; suggested the Police Department be dissolved; and vowed to fire any city official who did not comply with an Open Records Act request.^[3]

Jersawitz stated in 2001 that he picked the side of the poor, the oppressed, the working class and those who never got a chance to be part of the working class. He won several important lawsuits related to civil liberties, such as Jersawitz v. Fortson in 1994, in which he sued over being denied access to a meeting of a special Olympics task force that had been created to carry out the work of the Atlanta Housing Authority Board of Commissioners with respect to the selection of certain proposals.^[1]

Death

Jersawitz died on December 6, 2012, in Atlanta, Georgia after battling several illnesses, including esophageal cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.^[1]

References

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