Living 'on the give'
LENI REISS
Senior Contributing Editor
A philanthropist with a nose for news, Milton Gralla says the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture's journalism project, which he helps to fund, has special resonance for him.
A native New Yorker and the child of immigrants who came to America to escape the repression of Eastern Europe, Gralla aspired to a career in journalism. As far back as sixth grade, he recalls, he was a reporter, "and pretty damn good at it" for the Williamsburg News, a local paper.
Tradition of tzedakah
Although he wasn't brought up in a religiously observant household, Gralla says he was raised "with a marvelous sense of my heritage and a tradition of tzedakah."
A stocky 5 feet 7 inches, Gralla, now in his 70s, laughs when he acknowledges he "didn't have a shot at playing professional basketball." He went on to study journalism at City College of New York.
Post-graduation, he and his younger brother, also a journalism major, got jobs at trade magazines and Gralla's life took a different, though related, career turn. "A great majority of the companies producing these magazines weren't run by journalists," he says, "so we went out on our own in our mid-20s and started Gralla Publications. We figured we had an edge and credibility because of our backgrounds."
The New York-based company eventually became the largest of its kind, incorporating 20 magazines covering industries including jewelry, travel and sporting goods; employing several hundred employees and supporting offices in Chicago, Detroit, Dallas and Los Angeles.
The brothers sold the business in 1983 "for a very obscene fortune," explains Gralla.
He is continuing to do what he loves, which now translates to philanthropic endeavors. These directly relate, he says, "to the gifts of my heritage and my values."
When Gralla Publications first sold, Gralla says that within six months he had to take his name out of the telephone book. "Everybody was calling (on behalf of charities and organizations). And people still find me on vacation, in the lobby of the King David in Jerusalem, all over."
How good guys grow rich
The title of a book he wrote, "Nice Guys Finish First," is a different take on the famous Leo Durocher quote about nice guys finishing last. Gralla maintains that "many people live on the give, not on the take," and the book shows "how good guys grow rich."
"That's my life story," he says.
"I found out what I'm good at and I'm doing it," Gralla says of his philanthropies. He estimates that he and his wife Shirley annually give away $1 million to favorite causes.
They have been married for 51 years. The couple has homes in New Jersey and Florida. "We're entitled," Gralla says.
He says with pride that their three children "all married within the faith and we have six Jewish grandchildren."
Because he and his wife "don't agree on everything," Gralla says, "each of us can give up to a certain amount (to favorite causes), but once we get into the big numbers," he says, "we have to agree."
Sharing expertise
Teaching always has been an area where Gralla excels and he still shares his expertise in both business and journalism.
In fact, the bulk of Gralla funding is education-oriented. Jewish schools in Odessa, Kiev and other cities throughout the FSU are beneficiaries, and the couple additionally underwrites the costs of a computer literacy program at Boys Town in Jerusalem and funds scholarships at Yeshiva University in New York for children of immigrants.
"Schools hold the answer to the survival of the Jewish people," Gralla says.
Gralla, who serves on the board of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, calls the Memorial Foundation's Russian journalism program "a natural" for him. "Newspapers are critical to the heart of the community," he says, "and I want to help, encourage and revitalize the Russian Jewish community."
Reiss participated in the four-day conference for Jewish journalists in Russia.
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