Croton on Hudson, NY Dec. 18
(The following obit was received by Jay’s widow upon our soliciting a contribution from him for the Year’s End Wrap).
Jay Blickstein, a former Associate Editor, Special Sections. for weekly Variety passed away in April 2024, age 70, due to complications from Type 2 diabetes. He was on the paper for five years in the late 80’s to early 90’s.
Jay always said “Variety was the most fun job I ever had.”
Jay’s most vivid memories of Variety were working on the show dailies and special sections for Cannes, MIP, upfronts, and writing the occasional review of a jazz, cabaret or other performance not covered by “Kezi”’. He reminisced about working for and with Mark Silverman, the late Frank Meyer, Peter Bart, and with the rest of the team, editors, writers, artists, whether located in NY, LA, or elsewhere around the globe.
After the sheets were done at Balan (thank you Janice!), Frank Meyer, Jay, John Dempsey, Bob Knight, and later on, Charlie Paikert, would commiserate about the NY sports teams.
After leaving Variety, Jay worked as a managing editor for technology and business publications (Baseline, Information Week, Broadcast and Cable News) and was most proud of his team’s Grand Neal publishing award while at Baseline. His last job was freelance editing for Scientific American.
Jay is survived by his wife of 44 years, Shelley Kluger, along with a large circle of friends. He was a resident of Croton on Hudson, NY, and enjoyed his retirement, volunteering at local schools as a reading buddy and college essay editor. He and Shelley had an active social and cultural life, and travelled the world; he was always aware of the NY Mets’ standings.
As Shakespeare wrote “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’er wrought heart and bids it break.” Please give your sorrow words, and send your memories to Shelley, jeb914@earthlink.net, The words will be part of a celebration of Jay’s life in Spring 2025 (details to follow).