Academy award winning film director, William Friedkin, in accepting the Communicator of the Year Award at a Jewish United Fund-Israel Emergency Fund dinner, electrified an audience of 300 Chicago communicators and amusements executives by announcing a gift to the 1974 JUF-IEF campaign of $50,000. Friedkin, who directed “Boys in the Band,” “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist,” is a native Chicagoan who subsequently moved to Hollywood. He indicated, in making his announcement, that growing up within the Chicago Jewish community, had “taught me to care about other people and to make every human contact meaningful.” The gift was made in honor of his mother.
The award is given annually by television producer, Walter Schwimmer. Schwimmer’s stepson, Rafi Bar-Am, is director of public relations for the UJA in Israel. Guest speaker at the annual event was Moshe Arad, Minister-Counselor, in charge of information at the Embassy of Israel in Washington. Gifts totalling $1,098,000 were announced at the meeting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
