“’The Gospel According to Jerry’ has informed, inspired and enlightened me to a rich history of this place from a perspective not often shared.”

“’The Gospel According to Jerry’ has informed, inspired and enlightened me to a rich history of this place from a perspective not often shared.”
“He always wanted what was best for the community, but like me, he felt that local government often overstepped its bounds, and he didn’t mind letting you know how he felt.”
“As the piece noted, Jerry’s ‘healthy dose of humor’ came shining through, as well as his decades of wide experience.”
“Very few people contribute as much to our community, especially for people in need, as long and as much as Asheville native Jerry Sternberg did.”
Reflections on the life of Asheville native and longtime Xpress columnist Jerry Sternberg.
“It also seems fitting to remember — in his own words — the man who started writing ‘The Gospel According to Jerry’ for this newspaper three decades ago.”
“Another watershed moment in the evolution of Jewish social acceptance came in 1992, when the Biltmore Forest Country Club accepted its first Jewish member.”
“I knew he was a member of the Asheville Country Club. So, seizing the moment while we were waiting in the car, I raised the delicate issue of the club’s deliberate exclusion of Jews.”
“For the next 24 hours, we had armed agents guarding the gate and the driveway, and lookouts toting automatic weapons were posted on the roof.”
“Meanwhile, despite the new respect that worldwide Jewry received after the war, antisemitism continued to rear its ugly head in Asheville, as demonstrated by two stories that community members shared with me.”
“Non-Jewish friends and even people I hardly knew were saying things like ‘I didn’t know Jews would fight’ and ‘You guys really kicked those guys’ ass.’”
“In addition to emotional pain and suffering, selective membership based on race, color or religion can result in egregious restraint of trade.”
“I rushed to the window in time to see one of my classmates from school throw a trash can through our front door, shouting ‘Jew! Jew! Jew!’”
“She rode into town on her white steed. And immediately found this silver serpent slithering slowly through the valley, passing the city and sorely in need.”
“To be honest, it was those very acts of civil disobedience — the lunch counter sit-ins by dignified young Black people, the reasoned speeches of Martin Luther King and the angry voice of Malcolm X — that gradually opened my eyes.”
“I remember when the old passenger rail depot, now a restaurant, had a segregated waiting room.”
“When governing ourselves, listen to both sides of the argument and take your stand, but remember, efficient government is like walking in a culvert. There is plenty of room on both sides, but the water flows the smoothest in the center.”
“You cannot practice racism and bigotry and still call yourself a ‘patriot.'”
“Climate change is one of the most ridiculous rallying cries of the left lunatics. This doomsday scenario has been pushed on us for 50 years.”
“I grew up in the depths of the Great Depression, when money seemed to be the driving factor for almost everyone around me, because nobody had any.”
“As soon as outraged neighbors show up at municipal meetings screaming and shouting about traffic, quality of life and property values, our elected officials quietly slide down in their chairs and hide their faces behind their computer screens, concealing their shame about discouraging developers, both public and private, from increasing our woefully inadequate housing inventory.”