Chuck Ayers in my refrigerator

Inside my refrigerator is a restaurant take-home box with a drawing of “Crankshaft” and the autograph of former Beacon Journal political cartoonist Chuck Ayers.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever done this on a Styrofoam box,” Chuck said, as his pen created the comic strip character. Paula and I encountered Chuck at Monday’s Ray’s Place reunion of Kent State communications graduates.

Others at Ray’s Place included John Filo, whose photo of a screaming Mary Vecchio over a dead Jeffrey Miller won a Pulitzer Prize; Bob Springer, former BJ Editorial Board member who is an advisor for Kent State students; Bob Carpenter, former news director of WKSU and WKNT; and Saul Daniels, former Kent Stater editor and veteran newspaperman.

“Crankshaft” is a 1987 spinoff of the school bus driver in “Funky Winkerbean.” Medina's Tom Batiuk writes both comic strips. Chuck does the drawings for “Crankshaft.”

Chuck was on this year's Cleveland Press Club panel of journalists who were there during the May 4, 1970 shootings of KSU students by the Ohio National Guard. Four students were killed and nine others wounded.

This is the 40th anniversary of the event that shocked the nation.

Click on the headline to see Ayers’ autograph and drawing of “Crankshaft,” who looks a LOT like Chuck.

To see Chuck’s May 1-4, 1970 photos in the Kent State collection, go to


http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/4may70/box189/189.html