Reading Burt Cohen’s obituary — which he wrote himself, before he died May 10, aged 94 and a half — gives you a pretty good sense of the guy.
“He was given plenty of advance notice of his imminent death, but his lifelong habit of procrastination meant he didn’t write this obituary until pretty much the last minute, thereby sacrificing fact checking, proofreading and style,” he wrote. “Readers please note.”
Burt Cohen, at far left, stands with wife Rusty and children Michael, Susan and Jeffery at Burt and Rusty’s 65th wedding anniversary on Sept. 7, 2019. (Courtesy of Jeff Cohen)
This, said his son Jeff Cohen, is indeed what Burt Cohen was like when he wasn’t behind the typewriter, too. (Because, yes, he wrote nearly everything on a typewriter including, famously, his Twitter posts.)
“He was able to have serious, reflective conversations, but always maintained a wry sense of humor,” Jeff Cohen said. “When he was engaged with you, he was really there.”
Cohen was the founding publisher of Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine as it exists today, having taken over a fledgling publication in 1978 and quickly working to build its reputation and make it profitable and sustainable. Later, he also helped launch Twin Cities Business as its founding publisher. And even after retiring, he continued writing a monthly column (print only, of course) in Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine that was, like his obituary, both kind-hearted and witty.
Besides these columns, he also wrote a lot of thank-you notes, Jeff Cohen said. Whether you were a receptionist or the leader of a company, Burt Cohen recognized your personhood and appreciated what you brought to the table, Jeff Cohen said.
“He was big in terms of writing hand-written thank-you notes,” Jeff Cohen said. “Just that spirit of appreciation, whether it was (for) a little thing or not. And in that moment of appreciation, there’s a relationship, however brief, that’s established, and a sense of connection. There’s a pleasure in knowing the people in your community who you interact with.”
(And, to be clear, Burt Cohen also appreciated what you brought to the table in a literal sense: He loved food and eating with people, Jeff Cohen said; Burt Cohen and his wife, Rusty, threw a great dinner party, and for just the family, Burt Cohen would make favorites like fried salami sandwiches.)
Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine founding publisher Burt Cohen, second from right, sits with son Michael Cohen (right), son Jeffery Cohen (standing) and former MSP Communications president Gary Johnson (left) during a lunch at the Minneapolis Club on Nov. 17, 2023. (Courtesy of Jeff Cohen)
In his self-penned obituary, Cohen notes that he “died not of flabbiness, as had been widely predicted, but of advanced aortic stenosis, after choosing to reject the surgical procedure that would have corrected the problem,” which he compared to putting new tires on an old car.
“Almost every other body part or function was deteriorating at an accelerating rate and wouldn’t have supported new tires for very long,” Cohen quotes himself as saying, in a self-aware, almost satirical style. “The two exceptions were my appendix and my hair follicles, which were still performing well, and I feel bad they had to go with the rest.”
This, too, was classic Burt Cohen, Jeff Cohen said.
“He was really good at dealing with reality, and accepting what is,” Jeff Cohen said. “That’s another legacy I take from him — rather than what we wish would be, accepting what is.”
Burt Cohen was born Nov. 13, 1930, in Minneapolis. He was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, known as Rusty, who died in 2023. He is survived by three children, Michael, Jeffery and Susan; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and, per Burt Cohen’s own reckoning, “despite his off-putting personality, by so many, so many, so many precious friends.”
Memorial services are at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 15, at Temple Israel (2323 Fremont Ave. S., Minneapolis), with shiva at 7 p.m.
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