Everyone was at Elmer Gertz’s 85th birthday party at the Cliff Dwellers Club–it was given by the Blind Service Association, of which Gertz is president. Everyone. Every big Chicago name was laid out on the name-tag table in alphabetical order–from the media, from the arts, from business, politics, and law. The mayor sent a proclamation delivered by Alderman Mary Ann Smith; court of appeals judge William Bauer gave a testimonial and compared Gertz to Clarence Darrow. Dawn Clark Netsch said a few words. So did Kup.
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Elmer Gertz has the singular distinction of having been characterized decisively by the United States Supreme Court as a private figure. Gertz “has long been active in community affairs,” wrote Justice Lewis Powell in 1974. “He has served as an officer of local civic groups and of various professional organizations, and he has published several books and articles….Although [he is] well known in some circles, he [has] achieved no general fame or notoriety in the community….Absent clear evidence of general fame or notoriety in the community and pervasive involvement in the affairs of society, an individual should not be deemed a public personality….It is plain [Gertz is] not a public figure.”
Said Gertz, as the Chicago elite fluttered about him eating cheese puffs and drinking white wine in his honor, “Since then I’ve been called the most famous private person.”
Gertz sued for defamation in federal district court, where the jury decided in his favor and awarded him $50,000. But the district court judge threw out the verdict and the circuit court of appeals went along. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case–and they ended up defining for the first time the difference between public and private figures in matters of defamation.
about the Supreme Court’s characterization of his accomplishments. “It’s almost impossible to name a lawyer outside of Clarence Darrow–even Mel Belli–who is well-known in ‘the fullest sense,’” he said. “Or any doctors other than Mayo, let’s say, who have universal fame or are household names.
