JONATHAN M. KLARFELD

1937 - 2018

KLARFELD, Jonathan M. Journalism Professor and Mentor Jonathan Michael Klarfeld, a Boston University professor of journalism for more than 40 years, a teacher, mentor, career advisor and friend to generations of writers, died Jan. 8 after a month-long hospitalization. Klarfeld, 80, who was still teaching at the start of the fall semester, was known as a gruff taskmaster whose news-writing class, City Room, was a crucible that became for many the foundation of their skills and their careers. He taught that good reporting was about facts written clearly and economically to create a well-told story. "He had no patience for students and their 'creative' writing," said Ally Jarmanning, a news writer for Morning Edition at WBUR, a Boston NPR affiliate. "He was solely focused on teaching us to write and report in the model of an old-school newspaperman." And he dressed the role: tan cavalry-twill slacks, button-down collared Oxford cloth shirt, tweed or navy jacket and a rep stripe tie. For decades a poster hung on his office wall of a mustachioed man wearing a fedora (and rep stripe tie), cigarette dangling from his lips, press card stuck in his hatband, and speaking, "Hello sweetheart, get me rewrite!" into a candlestick phone. Klarfeld's classroom technique never changed. He'd play the role of a fire official, police chief or funeral director as students peppered him with questions about hypothetical fires, crimes or deaths. Then students had 15 or 20 minutes to write up stories about them, in class, which he'd critique publicly right away. David Rising, one of Klarfeld's former students, now chief correspondent in Germany for the Associated Press, said the first time some classmates were horrified at the prospect. "He quickly ended the mini-revolt with the admonition that we were entering the wrong profession if we didn't want others to read and comment on our work. Fair enough!" Rising said. "Sure, I occasionally got my butt kicked," said another former student, Stan Grossfeld, Pulitzer-winning photographer and an associate editor at the Boston Globe, "but when it happened, I deserved it, and it made me a better journalist." "I like to say he 'scared' good writing into me, and it worked," said Ronni Gordon, also a former student, now a freelance writer. "He was tough, but fair." Relentless digging for facts, he taught, was essential. "Jon was fond of saying all reporting is investigative reporting," said Jeff Barnard, now retired from the Associated Press. "He considered the highest calling of the reporter's art to be the general assignment reporter." Klarfeld's style wasn't an act; it was conviction about upholding standards, according to Diane White, a former Boston Globe columnist who worked with Klarfeld when she first came to the paper. "He could be very sarcastic and cutting, but he took it very seriously," she said. "Getting things right; that was always his thing. I really learned an awful lot from him. Even before he was a teacher, he was a teacher." "In more ways than I can express, Jon was the institutional memory of this college and of the journalism program, to which he gave his full passion," said Tom Fiedler, dean of the College of Communications. "You can be certain that he helped transform the lives of thousands and thousands of students who are now in the communication profession because of his influence. He lives on in their work and their memories." Klarfeld's tough exterior hid a softer side. He was introduced to one graduate journalism class as Boston University's answer to Lou Grant, the crusty news editor with a heart of gold on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" sitcom. Klarfeld helped students get their first jobs out of school and continued advising them throughout their careers. "Jon wrote recommendations and shared contacts," said former student Neil Shea. "When I landed at The Providence Journal, and then moved to National Geographic, Jon always encouraged my work—and offered his opinion on how it came off… and for years his was the editor's voice I heard in my head." Klarfeld invited students to his home, where he introduced the fledgling journalists to successful pros. "It was like a literary salon," said Mike McKenna, founder and managing director of McKenna & Partners, a strategic communications consultancy. "He was friends with the author George V. Higgins; the Globe columnist Diane White was a regular. It was heady stuff, great food, and conversation about writing and journalism." Before joining BU, Klarfeld wrote for the Holyoke Transcript, UPI in Springfield, the Boston Globe and Boston Record-American. He was also a media critic for the Boston Herald and a restaurant columnist for the Boston Phoenix. In the latter role, Klarfeld and his wife, Patricia, and their friends, Dr. Martin Kelly and his wife, Judy, and the Kellys' 5-year-old son would all go out to dinner at a restaurant Klarfeld was reviewing. "It was good cover for a restaurant critic," Kelly said. Beyond journalism, Klarfeld was an avid sportsman. He co-founded the Beacon Hill Rugby Club in Boston, and later an all-star team called The Sorcerers. "He was a ferocious tackler," said McKenna, who played on both teams. He was also an enthusiastic and aggressive squash and tennis player, said Kelly, with whom he played more than 1,000 matches over the course of 25-plus years. "He was in there to win," Kelly said. Jeffrey Hutchins, his tennis partner for many years, said: "In doubles tennis, two things are most important: camaraderie and tennis ability. In my view, Jon excelled completely on the camaraderie, and his tennis was not bad either." Klarfeld was born Dec. 11, 1937, in Springfield, Mass., first child of Gloria (Belsky) Klarfeld and David N. Klarfeld, and grew up in Holyoke. He attended local Holyoke schools until transferring to Suffield Academy in Suffield, Conn. He graduated from Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in English. He played goalie on the Colgate hockey team. Jon is survived by his wife, Patricia, of Newton; his daughter, Victoria, and son-in-law, John B. Capehart, of Kensington, Md.; his son, Alexander, of Newton; his brother and sister-in-law, Peter and Mary Klarfeld, of Falls Church, Va., and their two children, Eliza and Louis. A private family gathering has been held.

View the online memorial for Jonathan M. KLARFELD