Harold Ribalow Dead at 63

A funeral service was held today for Harold Ribalow, noted writer, editor and anthologist of American Jewish fiction, who died of cancer last Friday in his home in New York City. He was 63 years old.

Ribalow, who was a former sports columnist for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was the author of some 15 books which shared in common aspect of Jewish interest but which covered a wide range of subjects. His anthologies of short stories included “This Land, These People,” “These Your Children,” “The Chosen,” and “My Name Aloud.” His work entitled “Mid-Century” was an anthology of Jewish life and culture, a subject also explored in “Autobiographies of American Jews” and “The Great Jewish Books.”

Ribalow’s book, “Arnold Wesker,” was the first critical work published about the distinguished British playwright. Other books included “Fighting Heroes of Israel,” which dealt with military history; “The History of Israel’s Postage Stamps,” and “What’s Your Jewish I.Q.”

In addition, Ribalow, a journalist and sports-writer earlier in his career, also wrote several books on sports, notably. “The Jew in American Sports;” “The World’s Greatest Boxing Stories;” and “Daniel Mendoza, Fighter from Whitechapel.” His most recent book, “The Tie That Binds,” was a series of interviews with a number of contemporary writers of American-Jewish fiction.

INVOLVED IN LITERATURE AND ZIONISM

Born in Russia, Ribalow emigrated to America as a small child. His father, Menachem Ribalow, was an author himself and the founder and editor of Hadoar, for many years the only Hebrew weekly in the world outside the borders of Israel. As a youngster in the New York Jewish literary world, Ribalow became deeply involved both in literature and in Zionism.

While continuing to write his numerous books, Ribalow also served as editor of the Independent Jewish Press Service, the managing editor of Congress Weekly, then of New Palestine and American. Zionist. He was also a sports columnist for the National Jewish Post.

In addition, Ribalow worked for 30 years in the New York and national publicity offices of the Israel Bond Organization.

A recognized authority in the field of Anglo-Jewish American fiction, Ribalow was a judge of several book awards, including the Edward Wallant Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award. He was also a member of the Jewish Academy of Arts and Sciences.