"[4] Born in Chicago to Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Latvia, Scher earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Illinois, the latter in 1931.

Established in 1935[7] by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the New Deal, the Writers' Project generated a variety of jobs and publications.

[9] As a member of the WPA's Illinois Writers' Project, Scher was on a roster that included Saul Bellow, Studs Terkel, Margaret Walker and Richard Wright.

[12] In addition to serving as Chicago correspondent for the New York Post, Scher did stints at California's Oakland Tribune and the Nashville Tennessean.

[17] Scher also hosted the public affairs radio and TV program Frankly Speaking on the CBS outlet WBBM in Chicago.

"[18] As counsel for the American Society of News Editors, he represented the organization in lawsuits involving constitutional guarantees of freedom of press and speech.