Paul Block (November 2, 1875 – June 22, 1941) was president of Paul Block and Associates (later

Block Communications Block Communications Inc. (also known as Blade Communications) is an American privately held holding company of various assets, mainly in the print and broadcast media, based in Toledo, Ohio. The company was founded in 1900 in New York City when ...

) and publisher of the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' and ''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue o ...

''.Jewish Journal: "Services Held for Paul Block, Famous Publisher"
June 24, 1941

Biography

Block was born on November 2, 1875 to a poor

Lithuanian Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent area ...

family in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. In 1885, his parents immigrated to

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...

, where his father worked as a ragpicker.Toledo Blade: "Paul Block: Story of success" BY JACK LESSENBERRY
January 9, 2013 Block attended Elmira public schools and at the age of 10, he worked as a part-time newsboy and office messenger with Harry Brooks, the founder of the Elmira Telegram, where he learned the newspaper business. In 1900, he left the Elmira Telegram and formed his own advertising rep firm which sold national advertising for client newspapers,

,Block Communications Website
retrieved December 1, 2014 and is credited with pioneering the concept of national news advertising. He developed a close friendship and business relationship with

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

frequently serving as a frontman for Hearst's newspaper acquisitions (Block's mistress

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

would become Hearst's mistress and Block would later serve as Hearst's executor) as well as purchasing several papers outright beginning with the '' Newark Star-Eagle'' and the ''

Detroit Journal The ''Detroit Journal'' was a newspaper published in Detroit, Michigan from September 1, 1883 through March 23, 1922. The ''Detroit Evening Journal'', established by Lloyd Brezee, started as a two-cent daily with Brezee in the position of editor ...

''. In 1926, he acquired the ''Toledo Blade'' and in 1927, he created the ''

''.American Journalism Review: "Blocked Out - The Block family shutters its newspapers’ Washington bureau" by Jodi Enda
April / May 2006 He went on to own 14 papers. Block was a close friend of New York City mayor

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...

(often letting Walker use his apartment for liaisons with his mistress

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...

dancer

Betty Compton Betty Compton (born Violet Halling Compton; May 13, 1904 – July 12, 1944), was an English actress and singer, who married New York City mayor Jimmy Walker in 1933. Compton was born Violet Halling Compton in Sandown, Isle of Wight. She move ...

) and president

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

. Block also played a key role in advancing the career of future president

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

by supporting his 1928 campaign for governor.

Philanthropy

Block was active in Jewish philanthropy and headed the 1931 campaign of the New York Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies.

Personal life

He was married to Dina Wallach;Pittsburgh Post Gazette: "Obituary: William Block / Longtime publisher of Post-Gazette dies - Unassuming leader of 60 years with wide interests in arts, community" by Michael McGough and James O'Toole
June 21, 2005
June 14, 1981 they had two sons: William Block and Paul Block Jr. Block died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 1941; funeral services were held at Temple Emanu-El in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

References

External links

image of Paul Block
{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Paul 1875 births 1941 deaths American newspaper publishers (people) American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Jewish American philanthropists