He was elected in 1977 as Philadelphia’s youngest district attorney, winning a second term in 1981. He campaigned unsuccessfully for mayor of Philadelphia in 1987, but subsequently won in 1991 and 1995. He was elected as Pennsylvania’s governor in 2002 and 2006. [SDJW staff report]
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Scaling the left field wall on April 15, 2015 to rob the Tampa Bay Rays of a homerun was voted as the play of the year by Pillar’s Toronto Blue Jays fans. Less than two months later, Pillar hit two home runs in the same game off Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals. [SDJW staff report]
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Jewish History, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA
One routine involved adding a number to any word containing the sound of a number, so, for example, “wonderful” became “twoderful” and “anyone for tennis?” became “any two for elevennis?” Another shtick was reading books aloud, making special sound effects to indicate punctuation. [SDJW staff report]
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The family immigrated to the United States in 1923 and owned candy stores, where, as youngsters, Isaac, his sister Manya, and brother, Stanley, all worked. The stores stocked science fiction magazines and newspapers, perhaps accounting for Isaac becoming a science fiction writer and Stanley a vice president of Long Island Newsday. [SD Jewish World staff]
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The Catcher in the Rye, featuring the adventures of the cynical Holden Caulfield, was greeted enthusiastically by literary reviewers and by high school teachers, but in other parts of the country, it was denounced as smut because of Salinger’s frequent use of such words as “goddamn,” bastard,” “Chrissakes.”[SDJW Staff report]
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