Greer Fay Cashman, pillar of the ‘Post,’ staunch as the State of Israel

The outspoken veteran newswoman from Australia, Greer Fay Cashman, got to sit on the other side of the camera for a change.

With over 40 years of experience, Greer’s name reverberates throughout the streets of Jerusalem. She started as a writer for The Jerusalem Post (when it was the Palestine Post and we were all ‘Palestinians’) and editor of In Jerusalem, and she is now famous for her “Grapevine” columns commenting on the comings and goings of Israel’s finest.

Over her long and distinguished career, she’s covered major historical events, including the Yom Kippur War for the American Jewish Press Association and the Sydney Jewish News. Greer would have joined with the army to cover the Six Day War, but the Zionist Federation of Australia wouldn’t let her leave the country.

We chose Greer as the sole staff member to represent the Post because of her many decades at the paper, surviving many wars and editors – staunch as the state – and continuing to stand tall and regal, expressing herself with singular style and grace.

Fashion maven

Greer recalls the days when men dressed in suits and women wore stylish dresses, hats, and high-heeled shoes. Now, she said people only dress up at certain synagogues that attract American, British, and French immigrants.

When covering diplomatic events, even when business attire is requested, she sees less uniformity. “These days, people do whatever they feel like.”

Fashion repeats. Greer has seen this firsthand and notes that not much has changed over the decades. “Everything that you see today, I wrote about it 30 years ago.”

What she said does change, though, is shoulder width of tops, hemlines, and hairstyles, which are far more natural than the hair-sprayed looks of her generation. One thing that she stresses has definitely changed is women wearing pants in synagogues.

Greer has some of her own fashion advice to offer: “Be honest about your own body. You can like something, but if it doesn’t like you, be honest and say ‘I can’t wear it.’” A trend she can’t stand is mixing different patterns. “It makes me want to puke.”

Candid columnist

Greer is unabashed as a writer. In her work, she is unafraid to tell it like it is and to voice her hot-yet-nuanced takes on things. With that comes occasional backlash, which she takes in stride. “I don’t get upset about it. And sometimes the points they make are very valid,” she admitted. “I’m also very happy when people point out that I made a mistake – because then I know I’m being read.”

The veteran journalist knew from an early age that she enjoyed writing – and also knew she had what she calls a “blind spot” in math and science. She got help from tutors but still never finished high school because of these subjects.

Despite this – and not going to college, either – Greer found her way. She first worked as a kindergarten teacher for Chabad, then as a switchboard operator for the Australian Jewish News before finally getting to put her name on the page.

“Find out what your strong points are, and then use them as your selling points,” she said.

Greer rejects being flattered because of her lengthy career, saying she was simply doing her job. Advice she has for young writers? “Listen.”

“The interviewer or the editor of the interview wants it to go in a certain direction, but it might be the wrong direction because the interviewee has a lot of more interesting things and [other] things to say.

“So at least give them that opportunity before you go in with what you want to know,” Greer advised. “I respect the person that I’m writing about.”