It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

That’s how Benjamin Hochman describes his decision to leave a sports columnist position at the Denver Post to assume a similar one at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He will replace Bernie Miklasz, whose last column for the newspaper was Sunday, after 26 years at the P-D. Hochman will begin his new gig Aug. 31.

“I can’t tell you how fired up I am. A lot of people grew up reading Bernie Miklasz, but I grew up wanting to be Bernie Miklasz,” said Hochman, 35, who graduated from Clayton High School in 1998 and University of Missouri in 2002. “The fact that this is happening and he is the one I am replacing, it’s surreal. I keep saying it’s surreal and it is.  It’s surreal to think I’m going to get the opportunity to write for my favorite city.”

Hochman celebrated his bar mitzvah at Congregation Shaare Emeth, though now his family is affiliated with Central Reform Congregation. He is the son of Jere and Josette Hochman, both longtime educators in the St. Louis area. Jere Hochman was the superintendent of the Parkway School District from 1996-2003 and currently is the superintendent for the Bedford (New York) Central School District. Josette, a former middle school teacher, is retired and now volunteers at a women’s prison as well as teaches English to immigrants and helps them adjust to life in America. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Hochman’s sister Emily, an English teacher in Chicago, also writes for the Second City, the infamous improv troupe. His grandmothers, Bettye Rose Pankewer and Joanie Hochman, still live in St. Louis, as do numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and high school buddies, including his best friend growing up.

During a half-hour conversation Monday, Hochman, who is unmarried but in a long-distance relationship, came across as kind, fair and accommodating, with an easy manner and sense of humor. He claims to be the 16^th funniest guy in Colorado, and is up for the challenge of strutting his comedic chops once he resettles here.

What else makes Hochman tick? Being a good sport, he agreed to answer the following questions so we could get to know him better:

Who is your all-time favorite Jewish professional athlete? 

Sandy Koufax, obviously

Who is your current favorite Jewish professional athlete? 

Joc Pederson of the L.A. Dodgers

What is your favorite Jewish holiday and why?

I want to respect all the Jewish holidays, but I guess Hanukkah. You basically play a game and get presents. And I’m a very, very good dreidel spinner.

Favorite sports book? 

“Baseball Anecdotes” by Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf

Favorite sports movie?

“Hoosiers”and “Bull Durham”

Favorite way to relax? 

Watching “Seinfeld” reruns 

Favorite St. Louis food? 

The four standards are Imo’s Pizza, toasted ravioli, Ted Drewes concrete and gooey butter cake, right? Gooey butter cake is the sweetest so I would have to say that. 

Favorite St. Louis restaurant?

Carl’s Drive-in for burgers and Almond’s in Clayton. I love their pan-fried chicken.

Favorite Cardinals player growing up?

Jack Clark. I was always enamored by his brawn and strength. And the way Jim Edmonds played the game was very cool to me — he was a winner, obviously, and he did it with some swagger.

Favorite Cardinals player all-time?

Growing up in St. Louis, I’m embarrassed to admit I took Stan Musial for granted. I knew he was really, really good, but it wasn’t until he died that I started reading so much about him. It really hit me just how amazing a player he was. And then there are all the stories as to the fact he was an even better person. He is the standard for ballplayers and he is the standard for humans.

Anything else?

I wasn’t looking to leave Denver. I have an amazing job here. But the symmetry of coming home, replacing my idol Bernie Miklasz and then, of course, being able to write about sports and society for the people I grew up with . . . People who read my stuff know there is this authentic connection I have with this city.

And while Hochman’s affection for St. Louis clearly runs deep, don’t expect him to be a pushover when it comes to opining about the sports scene here. 

“While I grew up loving the Cardinals, I’m not coming to St. Louis to be a fan with a laptop,” he said. “I’m coming to follow in Bernie’s footsteps and hold the team, and all teams, accountable. If they do something embarrassing, I will grill them about that.  There are no kid gloves because I grew up in Clayton.”

You’re never too old . . .

To rock and roll, or enter contests. That’s the lesson gleaned from native St. Louisan Dr. David Feldman, who at the age of 96 won first place in a Father’s Day contest sponsored by the Malibu (California) Sunset News. Entrants were asked to honor their father any way they chose, be it an essay, a picture or a poem.

“I did this on a whim,” said Feldman, a former cardiologist from Creve Coeur and B’nai El congregant who had practiced medicine in St. Louis well into his seventies. “I thought this contest was directed at children, and that some kid with a cute story or picture would win. So when I got the phone call, I was really surprised.”

Feldman explained that he moved to Malibu a couple of years ago to live with one of his two daughters and her husband. When he first got there he didn’t have much to do, so he started writing his memoir. He now has more than 100 pages.

“My grandson is an aspiring author and actor. I showed him some of my stuff and he said, “It’s interesting but you didn’t do a good job of writing.” So he gave me a couple of books as a present, and I read them from cover to cover a couple of times, studied them and tried to put them in effect. I guess I was successful because I won the contest.”

First prize was an assortment of gift certificates, said Feldman, though just having won gives him the most satisfaction.

For the essay, Feldman recalled a time, more than 90 years ago, when his father, who was Orthodox and owned a butcher shop in St. Louis, took six-year-old David, the youngest of his 10 children, with him to buy a new scale. It’s a sweet story that you can read in its entirety at stljewishlight.com/feldmanessay.  

Coop and Cohen

Those interested in seeing buddies Anderson Cooper and Clayton native, Andy Cohen, on tour together at the Fox Theater Feb. 20 can purchase tickets starting Oct. 16 at the Fox box office or ticketmaster.com. The event is billed as “an intimate evening of deep talk and shallow stories.”