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Check
Still In The Mail
By
TIM BOXER
ELMER
GERTZ,
who died at 93 in Chicago, was one of the country’s leading civil rights
lawyers. He defended both black and whites in various landmark cases. He
got the courts to overturn Jack Ruby’s conviction of
assassinating Lee Harvey Oswald, but Ruby died in jail awaiting a
new trial. His other famous triumphs involved getting thrill killer Nathan
Leopold released from prison and successfully defending Henry
Miller against obscenity charges for “Tropic of Cancer.”
Gertz
was a nationally renowned champion of civil rights, fighting for black
lawyers’ right to join bar associations, and helping to write a bill of
rights in Illinois.
That
did not stop him from defending the rights of a white person experiencing
injustice from a black person.
That’s
why he represented me in a lawsuit against Dick Gregory.
As
a young reporter in the Windy City in the early ‘60s, I discovered Greg
playing in a coffee house. I thought he was the most brilliant standup of
the new breed of cerebral comics.
With
a handshake deal, I became his publicist. In short order, the press began
to take notice of this fresh new humorist with his unique outlook on hate
and prejudice.
He
appeared in the newspapers every single day for three months straight,
until NBC’s Jack Paar Show booked, which brought him to the big
time in New York.
Greg
promised me $25,000 for making him a star overnight. When I mentioned
Greg’s unfulfilled promise to Gertz, the fearless civil rights fighter
saw the injustice inflicted on me and did not hesitate to bring it to the
attention of the court.
After a jury trial that lasted less than a week, Greg
agreed to settle. But wouldn’t you know, after three decades, the check
is still in the mail.
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