Professor Michael Krasny Got Jokes

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- Krasny, who’s also an English professor at San Francisco State University and an author (“Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life,” “Sound Ideas,” and “Spiritual Envy”), has published “Let There Be Laughter: A Treasury of Great Jewish Humor and What It All Means” (published by William Morrow). OK, let me just say this: I’ve never thought of Krasny as funny. Maybe that’s because of his on-air decorum. Or maybe it’s because he’s maintained a distance from me since I gave him a less-than-gushing review of “Off Mike.” So when we run into each other, there is courtesy, but no bro hugs or jokes. But Krasny, 71, has been collecting and telling Jewish jokes for decades, since his high school days in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. And he — or his publisher — is funny. Look at the cover. There’s a promise of “More than 100 of the funniest Jewish jokes of all time.”