Stuart D. Levitan

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Stuart D. Levitan (born November 29, 1953) is an American journalist, lawyer, politician, historian, and author.

Contents

Early life

Levitan grew up in Long Island, New York, the son of David M. Levitan [1] and Judith Morley Levitan. [2] Levitan graduated from New College of Florida [3]

Career

Levitan was hired by the Capital Times as a part-time Washington correspondent in 1975, [4] after a visit to Madison while following presidential candidate Fred Harris. In 1976, Levitan joined the Capital Times fulltime in Madison. [5] In 1977, Levitan left the Capital Times due to the strike by the Printer's Union (which would last for 5 years [6] ) and joined the Madison Press Connection, a paper formed by striking workers. Levitan later left the paper and enrolled in law school, afterwards joining the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission as a staff attorney, where he served until retiring in early 2015. [7]

Civic Involvement

Levitan was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 1982 from the Fourth District, serving five years.

Beginning in 1983, Levitan served on a number of boards, committees, and commissions in local government, including the Civic Center Commission, the Madison Zoning Board of Appeals, the State Street Oversight Committee, the Madison Plan Commission, and the Community Development Authority.

Levtian was appointed to the Madison Landmarks Commission in 2007, and served until 2019, much of it as Chair of the commission. [8] While Levitan served on the commission, major issues that came before the commission included the Edgewater Hotel Redevelopment [9] and the removal of the cenotaph at the Confederate Rest section of Forest Hill Cemetery. [10]

Levitan ran for Secretary of State in 1990, and for State Senate against incumbent Fred Risser in 1996. [11]

Levitan hosted ”Books And Beats” on The Mic 92.1 which was described as a show of "‘long form’ interviews with performers and especially authors.". [12] Since 2006, he has hosted “Access: City Hall”, a television show on the Madison City Channel that interviews local officials and newsmakers in Madison. [13] Levitan is the Vice President of the Board of Directors of WORT-FM, a community radio station in Madison. [14]

Levitan Lane, on Madison's far east side, is named for him.

Books

Levitan is the author of Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1: 1856-1931 (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006, ISBN   9780299216740, OCLC   70775651

Levitan is also the author of Madison in the Sixties (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2018) ISBN   9780870208836, OCLC   1035821343. In developing the book, Levitan read every published issue of the Wisconsin State Journal, the Capital Times, and The Daily Cardinal during the 1960s.

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References

  1. ↑ "DAVID LEVITAN Obituary - New York, NY | New York Times". Legacy.com .
  2. ↑ "LEVITAN, JUDITH MORLEY (NEE RENEE GREENFIELD)". New York Times. 2004-03-31.
  3. ↑ Moe, Doug. 'Madison in the Sixties': The book Stu Levitan knew he'd write. Madison Magazine, 19 November 2018 https://www.channel3000.com/madison-magazine/opinion/-madison-in-the-sixties-the-book-stu-levitan-knew-hed-write/869339549
  4. ↑ Doug Moe: Stu Levitan, feeling lucky at 60
  5. ↑ Plain Talk: Levitan's book artfully captures Madison in the '60s
  6. ↑ Newspaper Strike of 1977 Brought Solidarity but Left Wounds
  7. ↑ Craver, Jack. Stu Levitan A Casualty of Act 10. The Capital Times, 29 March 2013 https://madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/jack_craver/stu-levitan-a-casualty-of-act/article_2a453ffe-97b3-11e2-916d-0019bb2963f4.html
  8. ↑ Adams, Barry. Stuart Levitan's 36-year run on city committees and commissions coming to an end. Wisconsin State Journal. 29 July 2019 https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/stuart-levitan-s--year-run-on-city-committees-and/article_a7c0838c-87fa-5eaf-aacc-26450d952eba.html
  9. ↑ Briggs, Carolyn. Commission denies Edgewater. The Badger Herald. 1 December 2009. https://badgerherald.com/news/2009/12/01/commission-denies-ed/
  10. ↑ Petrovic, Phoebe. Madison City Council Overrules Landmarks Commission, Votes To Remove Confederate Monument. Wisconsin Public Radio. 3 October 2018. https://www.wpr.org/madison-city-council-overrules-landmarks-commission-votes-remove-confederate-monument
  11. ↑ Conklin, Melanie, Stuart Levitan: The Player. Isthmus. 24 May 1996. https://isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/stuart-levitan-the-player/
  12. ↑ Rath, Jay. Stu Levitan interviews the greats on "Books and Beats". Isthmus. 23 December 2010. https://isthmus.com/arts/arts-beat/stu-levitan-interviews-the-greats-on-books-and-beats/
  13. ↑ "Shows | Madison City Channel, City of Madison, Wisconsin". www.cityofmadison.com.
  14. ↑ "Board of Directors".
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