I think Ina Jaffe would want me to remember today that the first time I saw her she was on stage and was broken. It was in the 1970s, and she was in a science fiction production at an organic theater in Chicago called “Warp! My Battlefield My Body.” Ina was an early member of the company along with her husband, Lenny Kleinfeld.
When I saw Jaffe a few years later, she was dressed wisely and had a portfolio under her arm as the artist carried. It was full of local crude weekly clips with theatres, local politics, and of course local politics that could become Chicago theatres, as well as heart-stopping crimes and colorful characters. The more I read the Jaffe clips, the more I thought. Of course, they are in the artists’ portfolio. She had a fine look at the artist’s eyes, and had performer’s ears for human speech rings and rhymes.
Jaffe became part of the group that started NPR’s Chicago Bureau and planted a forward post base in Mid America when the network was not yet mainstream. We all saw each other through a long election night, trials, love, loss, cubs games, and a complete embrace of all the complexities in a wonderful city.
February 1983, the night of the Mayor of Chicago’s primary election. I hurried off to meet Jaffe at Harold Washington’s Campaign HQ. The crash was so great that she couldn’t get over the crowd and lift the microphone. Harold Washington supporters lifted her up and handed her over her head, reaching the stage in time to record moments in history.
“Now, that’s the entrance,” she said.
They both came to Washington. Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition. In many ways, the program was born from our Chicago Bureau and we tried to practice there. “Laughter, cry, come back more and come back more,” Jaffe told us. I hope you’ll hear that through this show to this day.
Jaffe went on to our Culver City Studios where she created her own beat to cover the challenges and complexities growing in America. She created people who were easily overlooked and put together as vibrant, unique and charming “seniors.” Jaffe used her skills and stagecraft to bring a story to play in our minds.
This week, Jaffe passed away at the age of 75. Thinking about her today makes us laugh, we cry, we hope she comes back more.
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