Gerald "Slightly Kloss-eyed" Kloss
Gerald Kloss was The Milwaukee Journal's Green Sheet "Bard of Goerkes Corners." Many newspapers have humor columnists, but few columnists could write poetically. Jerry, as he was known among Journalites, was the latter.
He made two generations of Green Sheet readers, young and old, smile and laugh at his "Slightly Kloss-eyed" prose-and-verse columns from 1960 to 1989. Some of you also remember he wrote "Your letter from home," a weekly compilation of local news for temporary and permanent Milwaukee ex-pats, and occasional feature stories ("The Miracles of Dunkirk" is one I remember).
When he retired, some of his memorable columns were republished. The one that stuck in my mind was about the demise of the often location-oriented telephone exchange names that first ran in 1964. Our relatives' old phone number was HIlltop2-89XX. When we needed the weather forecast or exact time to reset our clocks twice a year or after a power outage, we dialed WEather6-1212 and TIme4-1414, respectively.
When the Green Sheet returned in 2015 after a 21-year absence, the "rule of three" meant Kloss' column was brought back for another encore. You can enjoy rereading, or if he's new to you, reading his columns in the anthology, Green Sheet & Then Some: the best of Gerald Kloss.
The Milwaukee Public Library invited former Green Sheet editor Dan Chabot and Kloss to share their memories of the Green Sheet, a Milwaukee institution since the Roaring Twenties. Unfortunately, the Bard of Goerkes Corners wasn't able to join Chabot, but sent his regrets, "The saddest words from this recliner are these, I must be a decliner." You can relive your memories of the Green Sheet by requesting a reference DVD loan of Remember When... Everyone Read the Green Sheet? or watch it on YouTube.
Chabot shared his memories of Kloss and read an excerpt from one of his columns at 25:56. The audience responded to Dan's shout-out for Jerry with a warm round of applause at 29:35. Let's give Gerald "Slightly Kloss-eyed" Kloss another round of applause.
Mr. Tweedy @ Central
(Dan, Local History Librarian)