Atlantic City Weekly

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While cleaning out a closet in my house, I found a newspaper story that was written in 1972 entitled, “The Man in the Corner,” and a story with that same title in a South Jersey TV magazine written 10 years earlier. I thought you might enjoy reading what was written 37 and 47 years ago, and I combined the two stories in this column. The first is from 1972:

“Corners are generally the places where you will find a conglomeration of everything. Women use the corner to put their vacuum cleaners, brooms and cleaning utensils; men to store their golf clubs, tennis rackets and galoshes; children use it for their toys, trash and dirty clothes; teachers put their troublesome children in the corner — but the people of South Jersey use it to hear informative and provocative conversation.

“Every night at 9pm, many area folks turn off their TV sets, turn on their radios and spend three hours with a man who’s been sitting in the corner. They hear a discussion on just about every subject; they hear the political scene dissected from every angle; they hear complaints about everything from dogs, garbage and too much sex to the weather, cultural activities and too little sex. They become aroused and get angry. They are entertained and laugh. They are enticed to think about the problems of the day. Night after night, Monday to Friday, they listen and participate in the medium called two-way talk radio.

“Pinky Kravitz is the man who has been in the corner well over 3,500 nights. He has served as a community catalyst in accomplishing many needed projects. He has provided aid and comfort to victims of various tragedies; he has helped to raise thousands of dollars for worthwhile charities and organizations; he has provided a forum for public discussion on just about any subject the listeners want to comment on.

“Kravitz was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on July 11, 1927. He moved to Atlantic City at the age of seven and has been a local resident ever since. He is a graduate of Atlantic City High School and New York University. He has been affiliated with the Atlantic City Board of Education for the past 22 years as a teacher of various subjects and he is currently their public information specialist.

“Pinky’s talk show, which began on radio station WLDB, was broadcast from the veranda of the then Chelsea Hotel. It was for one hour, from 11pm to midnight. The show moved in September to the Riptide Room in the Pen Atlantic Hotel, where it was located in a cozy corner. Hence, the name of Pinky’s Corner was a natural. In the following summer, he became affiliated with WOND and has been there ever since.

“He had moved his show to Maisel’s Restaurant on the Boardwalk, across from the Steel Pier. From there the show moved to Luigi’s Gondola Room and then, for a short while, to the radio studio and then to Zaberer’s Restaurant. Charlie Zaberer had a 6-foot 4-inch, life-sized picture of Pinky made to put in the entrance to his facility, where he has been for the past year. Although the show has emanated from many different locations, it has always been in a corner.”

The magazine story written 10 years earlier stated the following:

“Currently Pinky wears several hats, the first from 8:30am-3:30pm in the public school system where he is a teacher. His teaching career was interrupted for a stint in the Merchant Marines, after which he served in the U.S. Army during WWII. He returned to the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean conflict. The hat Pinky wears all of the time is that of a civic leader — the role [that] earned him the Atlantic City Jaycees Distinguished Service Award in 1960, the Optimist Club’s Man of the Year Award in 1961, and the Jewish War Veterans Brotherhood Award in 1962. In 1963 he was elected President of the Atlantic City Jaycees Chapter, and during that year the club’s membership nearly doubled. Also during that year, the club carried out a daily physical fitness program on the A.C. beach, led by Mac Seelig. Another accomplishment of his Jaycees administration was an interfaith program involving churches of all denominations.

“Another hat was of the cool straw variety, for he dons that in the summer in Luigi’s Gondola Room, a nightclub. He has managed the club for the past two summers and he books some of the most renowned acts in the country to perform there. The radio show has worked its share of minor miracles in its history — from raising $250 for the Citizen Scholarship Fund for which he once was chairman, to collecting more than 1,700 gifts for the Salvation Army. He followed the suggestion of a listener to ask his audience to drop presents off at the city’s park and a center-city location, and they did so.

“One of the most rewarding programs he founded and co-chaired with Boo Pergament was the Atlantic City-Puerto Rico Annual Reciprocal Visitation Program, where young basketball players spent time in Puerto Rico and youngsters from that country visited Atlantic City yearly. His radio guests over the years have included Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Joan Fontaine, Sammy Davis Jr., Vice President Hubert Humphrey, columnist Drew Pearson, jazz great Louis Armstrong, and just about every major-name performer and elected official that visited A.C.

“Pinky’s Corner serves a worthwhile service to the South Jersey area. Pinky Kravitz has an understanding and compassion for people that makes it easy to understand why he has been one of the top-rated radioman of the area for so long. He has been cited by many organizations for his constant endeavors to better our community. We hope he will continue to sit in his corner for many years to come.”

I hope you enjoyed reading these two stories which, in a few instances, were combined to give you an insight into “The Man in the Corner.” Thank you for sharing this Corner with me.

Pinky’s Corner airs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm on News Talk WOND-AM 1400. His TV show, WMGM Presents Pinky, airs Saturday at 7:30pm on TV40. Pinky’s e-mail address is: pinky@acweekly.com.