It was once said that if Jack Jersawitz was at a public meeting in the metro Atlanta area, you heard him before you saw him.
In a 1993 Atlanta Journal-Constitution profile of the political activist, his oft-used verbal tactic in public meetings was dubbed a “Jack Attack.”
“He may start with a hiss and work up to a snide chuckle — but before it’s over, he’s on his feet hurling insults like so many poison darts,” the article said. Jersawitz vehemently disagreed with any idea or policy that he thought was not in the best interest of, or concealed information from, the public. And when he heard of, or experienced such, his reaction was not subtle, friends and family said.
“I pick the side of the poor, the oppressed, the working class and those who never got a chance to be part of the working class,” he said in a July 2001 AJC article.
Jersawitz, of Atlanta, died Dec. 6 from complications of a number of illnesses, including esophageal cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 78. His body was cremated, and a memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Sunday at Fischer Funeral Care, which was also in charge of arrangements.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Jersawitz earned his high school equivalency degree in 1997, the same year he made his first bid for mayor. He also briefly studied the origins of jazz and film analysis at Georgia State through a program that offered free classes to senior citizens. He worked as a printer, handyman and a mechanic, before he retired.
During his 1997 mayoral campaign, his most important issue was the creation of a Labor Party populated by the working class. In 2001, Jersawitz ran again and proposed to get rid of property taxes for city homeowners making less than $100,000; suggested the Police Department be done away with; and vowed to fire any city official who did not comply with an Open Records Act request.
Jersawitz, who hosted and participated in various shows on public access for several years, took his fight for open records to the highest court in the land in the ’80s, when the Supreme Court heard his appeal of a Cobb County case that involved media access to prison inmates. Though the court decided against him, he continued to fight similar issues.
“Jack purported to be the last true Communist in North America,” said friend Kendric Smith, an attorney in DeKalb County. “He really believed that certain people, the capitalist bosses, were manipulating everything, including the government, to their advantage, and that as a result, the workers were left out in the cold.”
That was classic Jack Jersawitz philosophy, said his brother Charlie Jersawitz of Snellville.
“The irony of all of Jack’s battles over the years is that, his views and belief structure place him pretty squarely in the mainstream of present-day American political thinking,” his brother said. “People thought that he was radical in the old days, but he pretty much ended up being squarely in keeping with what, I believe, most Americans today think and feel.”
In addition to his brother, Jersawitz is also survived by another brother, Frank Jersawitz of New York; and a sister, Olga Roos of Marietta.
About the Author
