I’ve used the title “Slightly Hoffbeat” for newspaper columns I’ve written since 1990. As of this post, there are 285 such columns … not a lot for 18 years. But the past 10 years or so, the columns have come at a slightly lower rate. It’s one of the reasons I started this blog.
When I was first asked (commanded) to start writing a column every other week by the sports editor at the chain of weekly newspapers I worked at in the Chicago area, I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what the title of my column could be. “Inside the Lines,” “Outside the Lines,” “View from the Press Box,” all of these were so hum-drum, so boring, so already used. I needed something unique, something that fit my sometimes unique way of looking at things.
All of a sudden, I came up with “Slightly Hoffbeat,” which uses a portion of my last name. But it is also a memorial of sorts to a rather unique columnist I read as a kid growing up in the Milwaukee area.
The name “Slightly Hoffbeat” has its origins in the old Milwaukee Journal newspaper that we had delivered to our house every afternoon before dinner. During the week, the Journal’s comics, crossword puzzle and other entertainment-type information was published in a section called “The Green Sheet.” This section was printed on green paper, which I thought was so cool.
In the Green Sheet back in those days was a columnist named Gerald Kloss. I don’t remember too many things Gerald wrote. There was this one column he did about some un-hip dude griping about rock musicians, alleging the whole lot of them were basically losers making a loud racket. I actually can’t recall what Gerald had to say about this letter. But the letter was hilarious.
It seems odd that I’d find Gerald Kloss an inspiration for the title of my column without recalling much of anything he wrote. But I do recall the column stet (the photo/drawing that went along with the columns). He had this huge pair of glasses on his face, which went along with the title of his column: “Slightly Kloss-eyed.” Pure genius.
I saw myself as offbeat, to a degree. But not nearly so offbeat as to be totally so. Therefore, I did not name my column “Totally Hoffbeat,” which I did consider. I also wanted to lend an air of respectability and knowledge. After all, at least some of the time, I was supposed to know what I was talking about. “Slightly” was the perfect adverb to employ as it states that there is just a hint of offbeatness to be had here.
So, the inspiration for “Slightly Hoffbeat” came from the newspaper that ended up being my competition when I got a job at the Milwaukee Sentinel, forcing my father to get subscriptions to both papers.
(I wonder if I should write about the German-ation of Slightly Hoffbeat. Hmmm).
