Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Joe Pollack died at his Clayton home early this morning. He was 81.
Joe had spent part of the evening at his keyboard, according to his wife of 17 years, Ann Lemons Pollack, turning out movie reviews for five films opening today. The reviews were published in the Pollacks' blog, St. Louis Eats and Drinks with Joe and Ann Pollack, within minutes of each other early this morning.
I can’t say that I knew Joe well, but when I was a restaurant manager and owner early in my career, I certainly knew of him. Everyone knew the dining critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He had the power to open—and close—a restaurant’s doors. At that time, there was no more revered and respected food writer in St. Louis, and no one more knowledgeable. I daresay that statement is still true today.
I got to know Joe a lot better during the past year and a half, when he and Ann contributed restaurant reviews and commentary for St. Louis Magazine and our dining blog, Relish. A few years ago, I remember attending a dinner—an “underground restaurant” dinner—with he and Ann and a dozen others. Joe was sitting at one end of the table, and I was at the other. While I felt my stories were interesting enough, his were riveting. Joe told a story from 1959 in such detail that you’d have thought it happened yesterday. I wish I would have taken a picture of the other guests, all literally on the edges of their seats, mesmerized. He entertained the group for hours with stories about sports figures, Hollywood celebrities, and the escapades of local restaurant owners. No one wanted to leave.
Pollack had been writing in St. Louis since 1955, when he was hired by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat as a sports writer. In 1961, he became PR director for the St. Louis Cardinals football team and was hired by the Post Dispatch in 1972. where he spent 23 years as theater, film, and restaurant critic. Pollack contributed articles on food, wine, and culture to a variety of publications, including the St. Louis Journalism Review, and published three books on the local dining scene: Beyond Toasted Ravioli: A Tour of St. Louis Restaurants, Beyond Gooey Butter Cake: Further Adventures in St. Louis Dining, and Joe Pollack’s Guide to St. Louis Restaurants. He also was a theater and film critic for KWMU (90.7 FM) and, until last month, he and Ann served as local editors for the Zagat Guide.
Until his passing, Joe was the only active member in both the American Theatre Critics Association and the Pro Football Writers Association. He also was a member of the Missouri Print Hall of Fame.
In 1992, during my first stint as dining editor at St. Louis Magazine, I would joke that I wanted his job. Joe would only smile—the kind of smile I read as half pride and half “no, you don’t.” When Joe retired from the Post-Dispatch in 1995, a group of us were conceiving a new restaurant that would become Harvest in Richmond Heights. To this day, I wonder what Joe would have written about it.
I’m sorry that I never asked him.
