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Friday, August 31, 2012

Bill Winter turns to book writing



Bill Winter has turned from foundation work to trying to write books, he tells us. “My first one -- a co-authored work about Jack Grout, the man who taught Jack Nicklaus how to play golf and was his lone instructor for 39 years.’

The book is due out November 1.


For those interested in the early days of professional golf the story of Jack Grout and golf begins in 1915 and then takes them all the way forward to the 1980s and the making of today's modern golf tour.

Along the way readers will be delighted with stories of Jack's relationships with golfing legends like Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Raymond Floyd, Jack Nicklaus and many others. They get an inside look at Jack's life as a caddy, touring pro and teaching professional and as a man who played and taught the game as a true pro.

Winter is also  working on a book called "Letters to Gracie," his  (deceased) cat's lessons on living a good life.

Bill’s updated contact info

Bill Winter
1065 Borghese Lane, #1501
Naples, FL 34114

email: bwinter@roadrunner.com

Monday, August 27, 2012

Larry Froelich's brother dies


Former BJ reporter Larry Froelich posted this sad news on his Facebook page: 

 My brother Steve passed away yesterday at age 66 in a Findlay OH hospice unit of complications from liver failure. 

He was a gentle, private man who met the love of his life on the stage of their local little theatre (both pictured here). 

He'd taught high school English and journalism for 35 years in Findlay and performed in the local theatre, both on stage and behind the scenes. 

He wrote everything from romantic comedies to a play wherein the Ohio-born U.S. presidents defend themselves against history's dim view of their administrations. 

He died well before his time, but sadly he had refused to meet his health problems head-on. 

Rest in peace, little brother.

Stephen Froelich obituary in the Findlay (Ohio) Courier

Stephen Froelich

Popular Findlay teacher, actor and playwright Stephen Froelich passed "to the other side of the mountain" on August 24, 2012 at Bridge Hospice in Findlay.

He was born in Dover, Ohio on October 16, 1945 to the late Francis and Arline (Stilgenbauer) Froelich. He is survived and sadly missed by his loving wife Bonnie, brother Larry (Suzanne) Froelich of Lexington, Kentucky, step-daughter Jennifer (Jason) Schatzel of Cincinnati, Ohio, step-grandchildren, CJ, Zoey Rose and Theresa Isabel, and numerous nieces and nephews.

After graduating from Ohio University, Steve taught English and Journalism at Findlay High School from 1969-1999, along with advising the yearbook and newspaper staffs, serving as drama coach for the fall and spring plays, narrating the symphony concerts, and annually writing and directing the year-end comedy shows for the FHS faculty. 

For his efforts, he was presented the Outstanding Language Arts award sponsored by The Courier. 

His favorite author was Shakespeare, and one of the yearly highlights for his classes was his dramatic readings of the plays.

Mr. Froelich was active at the Fort Findlay Playhouse, Black Swamp Players, and Pemberville Opera House, who commissioned him to write a play for the Bicentennial. 

He wrote two: "Momma's Boys" about the 6 Ohio presidents and "Ladies First" about their wives. 

He was the recipient of many acting awards, both locally and regionally, including "The Best Man," "The Man who Came to Dinner" and "Harvey."

A Memorial Celebration will be held at a later date. Memorial gifts in Steve's name may be made to The Fort Findlay Playhouse, Teddy's Rescue in Findlay, or Bridge Hospice.

Arrangements are entrusted to the LEHTOMAA FUNERAL HOME, 201 Osborn Ave. Findlay, Ohio 45840, 419-424-0777.

Online condolences may be made to the Froelich family by visiting www.lehtomaafh.com.

Poll: Raise taxes, retirement age, not cut Social Security benefits



Fifty-three percent in the Associated Press-GfK poll prefer increased taxes and a higher retirement age to cutting Social Security benefits.

Social Security trustees say the massive retirement and disability program will run out of money by 2033 unless changes are made.

Forty-seven percent said they trust President Obama to do a better job on Social Security; 44% prefer presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Taking margin of error into account, that’s a tie.

GfK is a Roper poll. 



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Pros and cons of Obamacare


Since Obamacare – officially, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – is front and center for this year’s presidential election, you might want to take a look at the pros and cons. Reddit.com does, in great detail.

Already in effect

Insurers can no longer discriminate against past domestic abuse victims.

10% tax on tanning booths.

Percentage limit on how much insurers can profit.

In 2013

Taxes rise 0.9% for those who make more than $200,000 a year, or just under a penny on the dollar.

In 2014

Even those who don’t get insurance will be charged for it.

Small businesses will get tax credits for two years, generally those with 25 or fewer employees.

Congress and its staffs get the same coverage as the rest of us. A separate Federal Insurance is gone.

New taxes on pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

Other requirements phase in through 2020. If you want to read the entire explanation, click on http://www.reddit.com/tb/vbkfm

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Michael Ayers mural spotlighted


Former Beacon Journal artist Michael Ayers’ finished mural of jazz greats on the outside wall of the Akron Civic Theatre at Lock 3 was “unveiled” tonight by putting a spotlight on it.

Michael, in the BJ community relations and marketing department till he was downsized out the door in 2007, spoke briefly, identifying the jazz stars in his mural.

The mural “unveiling” came during intermission of the Peggy Coyle Trio jazz concert.

Lock 4 is adjacent to Lock 3 in downtown Akron, in a smaller outdoor venue.

Michael and Patricia Ayers have a daughter, Allison Michelle Ayers.

Michael’s brother, former Beacon Journal editorial cartoonist Chuck Ayers, watched his brother’s moment in the spotlight. Chuck drawns “Funky Winkerbean” and “Crankshaft” cartoons written by another Kent State graduate, Medina’s Tom Batiuk.

There would have been a photo of Michael and Chuck Ayers with the mural in the background, but it turns out I’m not that with-it in using a cellphone camera. I took the photo, but forgot to save it for posterity. I did remember to save a photo of the mural, though. Michael named all the jazz greats in his mural, but I only identified those that I remembered, with help from Paula. 

Monday, August 20, 2012

BJ reunion amid the raw fish



Paula’s family, gathered in Akron for their annual celebration of multiple August birthdays, wanted to dine at a sushi restaurant. So they picked Sushi Katsu, 1446 North Portage Path, voted “Best Sushi in Ohio” by Northern Ohio Live magazine.

Amid the raw fish, there was a BJ Features Department reunion involving Jane Snow, twice voted the national James Beard award for food writers during her BJ days, and John Olesky, retired BJ Television Editor. 

Sushi Katsu owner/chef Tony Gawaguchi, Jane's husband,  was a chef for Sushi Katsu in Tokyo, Japan, and in Hawaii, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles for Hatsu Hana before opening his Merriman Valley restaurant in 1990.

Since her 2006 retirement from the Beacon, Jane has written for magazines and E-zines and writes a weekly Internet newsletter, See Jane Cook (www.janesnowtoday.com). 

Her cookbook, “Jane Snow Cooks,” was published in 2009 by the University of Akron Press.

Jane and Tony live in Copley. 


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Kathy Fraze on her retirement


Yes, John, it's true. Sept. 28 will be my last day, and on Sept. 29, I'll wake up as an official Beacon Journal retiree.

Plans are indefinite right now. I've been working non-stop since I was 16, so the idea of spending a little time "doing nothing" is quite appealing.

Mike and I are taking a two-week trip to Scotland and Ireland (fourth trip over; Ireland is our favorite place) and then I'm just going to slowly explore what's out there. 

(Book No. 7 is in production, so that will keep me busy, too.)

I've been at the BJ for more than 39 years and it's been a damn good ride. But it's time to get off this bus and catch another.

fraze

= = = = = = = = = = =

Mike is Mike Needs, former BJ assistant managing editor.




Copy Desk chief Kathy Fraze retiring

Kathy Fraze, Beacon Journal copy desk chief who has been at the BJ for almost four decades, is retiring.  She has no immediate plans.

Kathy was born with printer’s ink in her blood.  Her
grandmother, Ruth Kane, was a long-timeMassillon Independent City Hall and police reporter. Grandma got Kathy her first job, at 16, as an Indy reporter.

Kathy is the daughter of a steelworker and a maternity ward nurse who was born and grew up in Massillon, known more for its Washington High Tigers football teams than anything else.

Kathy’s BJ career began on July 23, 1973 which means she has been at the newspaper for 39 years–and she is still only 61.The Bowling Green journalism graduate was on the State Desk run by the late, Pat Englehart and is in the famous
  photo of the State Desk wake with Cathy Strong, who has a reputation for journalism excellence in Asia and the Arab world; Kathy Goforth, who left for New York City with Charles Buffum decades ago; Pam McCarthy, a 33-year North Canton Hoover High journalism teacher legend; the late Jan Clark; and John Olesky, then assistant State Desk editor.
 

Kathy Fraze once was married to fellow Bowling Green graduate and Canton native Bruce Larrick, a BJ reporter who died in 2007 after 20 years on the Philadelphia Inquirer national desk. They have a son, Bryan, who lives in New York City and illustrated Kathy’s books about police detective Jo Ferris which have “Final” in all their titles.

Kathy’s other books are based on “letters” from her dog to “Pops” -- Mike Needs, a former BJ assistant managing editor Mike Needs. Needs is out West with the U.S. Forestry Service.




 

Friday, August 17, 2012

Chuck Ayers part of Kent State Homecoming events


Former Beacon Journal editorial page cartoonist Chuck Ayers, Kent State Class of 1971, will join Medina’s Tom Batiuk, Class of 1969, in hosting the art auction and reception that will be part of Kent State’s Oct. 20 Homecoming events.

Chuck (see photo) and Tom co-created the “Crankshaft” comic strip, a 1987 spinoff of the school bus driver in “Funky Winkerbean.” Batiuk writes both comic strips. Chuck illustrates them.

Characters from both comic strips adorn the Kent State student lounge.

The Kent State-Western Michigan football game at 3:30 p.m. is among the other Homecoming events on the schedule.

Chuck and newsroom retiree Russ Musarra partnered for the Walks Around Akron series that appeared in the Beacon Journal and, since 2000, in Akron City magazine and that became a book in 2007.

Chuck’s brother, Michael Ayers, was in the BJ community relations and marketing department till being downsized in 2007.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Did you get your BJ healthcare settlement paperwork?


BJ Alums is trying to keep track of what’s happening with the BJ healthcare settlement lawsuit.

If you have received your settlement notice paperwork, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and tell us whether you got yellow, blue or green paperwork. 

And let us know when the BJ confirms that you are among those eligible for Plan N and the $2 (Guild) or $5 (printers) co-pay.

We’ll use the BJ Alums blog to inform everyone of the situation, and the problems encountered.

If you have NOT received the settlement notice paperwork and think that you qualify, call Retiree Settlement at (877) 409-0357. A recorded message will ask you to give your name, phone number and current address for a callback.

Let us know your experience after you call Retiree Settlement.

By sharing our experiences, we’ll be helping each other.

The deadline for filing the settlement paperwork is Sept. 21. If you miss that deadline, you’ll be left out of the return to your retirement-day, improved benefits.

For BJ Alums blog stories on the BJ healthcare settlement for retired printers and Guild retirees, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=BJ+healthcare+settlement

Charles Montague: Remembering Jim Naughton

Former BJ reporter Charles Montague met Jim Naughton literally weeks into his journalism career.  “it was a really big deal for me, something I have never forgotten,” he writes..  “When I saw Monday morning that he had died, I wrote it up and called Thom Fladung, PD ME and, of course, ex-BJ ME. They liked it and it's online today, with a blurb refer to it in the print edition. There's stuff about BJ in there that I think makes it something BJ alums might be interested in reading."

Read all about it       

Monday, August 13, 2012

Helen Gurley Brown dies


Helen Gurley Brown, 90, former editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and the author of "Sex and the Single Girl," died today.

To read the story, click on





Are you eligible for BJ healthcare settlement as a Guild retiree?


How do you know if you are eligible for the Beacon Journal healthcare settlement if you are a Guild retiree?

1.  If your retirement letter reads: “Your pension benefits are vested and not subject to change.”

2.  If your retirement letter did NOT read: “However, all other benefits are subject to possible change in the future.”

If you have NOT received the settlement notice paperwork and think that you qualify, call Retiree Settlement at (877) 409-0357. Be prepared to provide your retirement date, union status (Guild or CWA/printers), current address and Social Security number.

John Olesky, who retired July 1, 1996, filed the healthcare lawsuit on behalf of Guild retirees. The settlement notices began arriving last week for Guild retirees and retired printers.  

The restored healthcare benefits, Plan N, will begin Jan. 1, 2013 and will include the $2 co-pay.

Don’t underestimate the value of the $2 co-pay. In my case, it would have saved me more than $2,000 a year in out-of-pocket expenses.

To see the previous BJ Alums article on the BJ healthcare settlement, click on




Sunday, August 12, 2012

James M. Naughton dies at 73

James M. Naughton ran the Poynter Institute for Media Studies; he was the pranksterish executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer; he reported from Washington for the New York Times. But before all of that, he was The Plain Dealer's uniquely well-liked chief political writer.Naughton died

Naughton, 73, died Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla., after a battle with cancer.
See his obituary on the PD Alumni page.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Printer, Guild retirees notified about BJ healthcare settlement terms


Eligible Guild and printer retirees received notification today of the terms of the settlement in the healthcare lawsuit against the Beacon Journal, owned by Black Press of Canada. The first suit was filed in 2009. 

Forms were included to file reimbursement claims and to enroll in Plan N, which will restore benefits to retirement-day levels, and to restore $2 (Guild retirees) or $5 (retired printers) co-pays for prescription drugs.

The forms must be returned by Sept. 21 to qualify for reimbursements and Plan N enrollment, which would be effective Jan. 1, 2013.

Guild members who retired by 1997 and Communication Workers of America members who took the early-retirement buyout and retired between 1983 and 2002 and were guaranteed lifetime benefits in their retirement letters are eligible. 

If you got the letter and the yellow, green and/or blue forms, then the BJ thinks you’re eligible. If you didn’t and you retired within the applicable dates, contact BJ Human Resources Retiree Settlement at (877) 409-0357.

Plaintiffs in the suit are David White, et al, for the printers and John Olesky, et al, for Guild retirees, who are eligible only because Olesky was the sole newsroom retiree willing to risk his own money to file on behalf of Guild retirees.

Dave and Gina White got the ball rolling by putting up $2,500 of their money to file the initial lawsuit. The Whites live in Venice, Florida, and filed written objections to the healthcare changes as far back as 2004 when they were Sarasota residents.

In addition to the Whites, the named plaintiffs are retired printers Hugh and Sharon Downing, Ruth and Tom West, Bob Abbott, Bob Walker, Larnie and Stephanie Greene, Ora and Shirley Thombs, Ray and Amy Wolfe and Norm and Naomi Mattern.

Judge David D. Dowd of Federal District Court in Akron will hold a hearing on the proposed settlement at 9 a.m. Oct. 4. 

If Judge Dowd approves the settlement, the BJ Human Resources Retiree Settlement department agreed to issue the reimbursement checks within five weeks of the judge’s ruling.

The BJ has set aside $83,489 for medical and prescription reimbursements going back to Jan. 1, 2005. The company already reimbursed $16,511 for retired printers named in their lawsuit after an earlier decision by Judge Dowd. 

If the latest reimbursement claims exceed $83,489, they will be pro-rated.

If you got a yellow form, you can file for excess medical and prescription reimbursements on the blue form. If you got a green form, you can file only for excess prescription drug costs.

Eligible retirees will be enrolled with UnitedHealthcare  for AARP Medicare Supplement Plan N and Medical Mutual of Ohio for the $2 and $5 prescription co-pays.

The Beacon Journal will pay all the premiums for medical and prescription coverage. Retirees will pay a $140 annual deductible for medical care. 

For medical emergencies outside the United States, Plan N will pay 80% of all costs that would have been covered by Medicare if they happened inside the USA.

The settlement terms will apply as long as the retiree is alive, even if the Beacon is sold.

The BJ also is offering a one-time payment of $2,500 for those willing to forfeit Plan N or prescription co-pay eligibility, and $5,000 for those willing to forfeit both.

The Beacon is paying the $772,500 bill of the attorneys for the Guild and printer retirees. Guild and printer plaintiffs will pay nothing.

The process began in 2005 when Dave White and Siesta Key, Florida Island House Condominium owner Lou Smith, who had become friends, discussed the BJ reneging on healthcare coverage. 

Smith referred White to Allen G. Anderson of his Smith & Johnson law firm in Traverse City, Michigan. Anderson got Chandra Law Firm of Cleveland involved because the plaintiffs needed Ohio representation.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs are the Chandra Law Firm under Subodh Chandra with lawsuit point-man Don Screen, and Anderson and Kenneth M. Petterson of Smith & Johnson in Traverse City.

Subodh Chandra issued this statement:

"We are glad that Beacon Journal retirees who had their healthcare and/or prescription-drug benefits cut off are one step closer to having them restored. Those who have received notices should not delay at all. They should review the materials and respond as instructed."

Beacon management also was asked to submit a statement  about the settlement to the BJ Alums blog. Nothing so far but, if it does, the BJ response will be published verbatim.






Thursday, August 09, 2012

Pat Englehart video from two decades ago


BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore provided a copy of the video he made two decades ago while visiting the late State Desk Editor Pat Englehart at his Ocala, Florida home. Pat coordinated the Beacon’s coverage of the 1970 killing of four Kent State students and the wounding of nine others by the Ohio National Guard. That brought the Beacon a Pulitzer Prize.

Pat’s widow, Marge, continued to live in their Ocala, Florida home for seven years after Pat died Oct. 29, 1995. Marge moved into the 200-acre Elks National Home in Bedford, Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains on U.S. 460 between Roanoke and Lynchburg.

Pat began his career at his hometown paper, the Zanesville Signal, in 1947. After his graduation from Northwestern University School of Journalism in 1952 he worked in Fairmont, West Virginia, and Evansville, Indiana, before joining the BJ wire desk in 1954 under future executive editor and publisher Ben Maidenburg.

Patrick Theodore Englehart was born August 25, 1925 and grew up in Zanesville. He lived in Mogadore for decades where he was Mogadore Lions Club president and Village Charter Commission chairman.

Pat and Marge, a former teacher, had four children -- Peter, Phillip, Mary Pat and Andrew.

Pat was a Navy veteran of World War II. His ashes are in the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, which is about 20 miles south of Ocala.

Because of YouTube time limitations, click on the top URL line below for the first part of the video and then click on the bottom URL line below for the second part.



Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Steve Mace drives in from Las Vegas


Former Beacon Journal printer Steve Mace drove 36 hours and 20 minutes non-stop from his Las Vegas home to Akron for the monthly BJ retirees lunch today at Papa Joe’s restaurant on Akron/Peninsula Road at Portage Trail Extension.

Well, Steve had help. There were seven family members in his van and five were drivers. Steve and his wife and adult children decided to drive from Vegas to visit old friends. They have four children and five grandchildren. 

Steve has lived in Vegas since 1978, after 16 years in the BJ Composing Room. He worked in construction – roads and streets, mostly – in and around Vegas. He left the never-ending casino construction to others.

Steve and newsroom retiree Tom Moore discussed Pacemakers. Both got their heart-assist equipment in 2006.

Steve played football for Springfield High School and the University of Akron and “softball forever,” as he put it. The University of Akron is where Steve met Marylouise Carroll, a St. Vincent High graduate in training to be a nurse. She married Steve instead and was a teacher at Immaculate Heart of Mary Elementary in Cuyahoga Falls for a while.

Steve worked at the BJ with the late printer Gene McClellan, whose daughter, Tracy, also was at the lunch, still sorting out things since her Dad passed before she returns to New Mexico to rejoin her husband. 

On previous trips to Ohio, Steve had reunions with Gene McClellan and retired printer Mike Jewell and accounting retiree Mickey Dimeff at the Hiberian Club. 

Steve also talked on the phone with retired printer Sid Sprague, who moved to Loveland, Colorado after residing on Pawleys Island, South Carolina till Sid’s wife died and Sid remarried.

Steve’s brother, Jim, a Lakemore resident and General Tire retiree, passed in 2010.

Others at Papa Joe’s were retired printers Carl Nelson and Al Hunsicker and newsroom retiree John Olesky.

Steve said he checks the BJ Alums blog every day to keep up on his former co-workers. Some of the conversation today revolved around which BJ retirees were no longer among us. 

Too many, unfortunately.

BJ deaths in 2012 include Gene McClellan, March 19; retired printer Cal DeShong, July 25; Newsroom retiree Art Cullison, July 26; long-ago BJ reporter Dave Allbaugh, July 3; production equipment electrician Howard Wood, June 16; mailroom retiree Ron Edwards, May 8; and Adrienne Bosworth Chafetz, BJ Columbus bureau, March 6.

If you want to contact Steve or Marylouise, their email address is Microjo80@msn.com Their phone number is (702) 873-5071.
 
Their U.S. mail address is

Stephen H. Mace
6204 Obannon Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89146




Monday, August 06, 2012

Early BJ retirees lunch on Wednesday


The monthly lunch of Beacon Journal retirees will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Papa Joe’s Restaurant on Akron-Peninsula Road at Portage Trail Extension. Since the lunches are on the second Wednesday of the month, the 8th is the earliest date it can fall on.

With the passing of regulars like Gene McClellan and Cal Deshong, the lunch is in danger of moving into a phone booth unless we can entice more BJ folks to show up. Give it a try. It’s mostly laughter and recalling BJ days.

Cal died July 25. Gene died March 19. They were the most faithful attendees for the monthly lunches. The biggest crowd in the past two years, if you count only BJ folks and not their family members, has been seven.

Art Cullison attended often before he moved to Erlanger, Kentucky to be near his son. Art died July 26.

Art and Cal probably will be the main topics of conversation on Wednesday.

Windhorst, LeBron joined at hip


Brian Windhorst’s symbionic relationship with NBA superstar LeBron James gets a lot of attention in the spring 2012 Kent State Jargon magazine article about Brian, who was a speaker during KSU’s ethics workshop.

Brian covered LeBron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball career in Akron as a BJ sportswriter, after years as a sports clerk at the Beacon; then LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers tenure, as the BJ and later Plain Dealer beat writer for the Cavs; and then jumped to ESPN.com to concentrate on LeBron’s new team when King James made The Decision to switch his talents to the Miami Heat in his quest for an NBA championship ring, which LeBron finally got this year.

Before Brian was trained by the BJ Sports Department, he was “trained” by his mother, who coached several successful high school softball teams. Brian was the scorekeeper, statistician and media contact for Mom.

Here’s the Kent State Jargon article on Brian:

Saturday, August 04, 2012

RIP, Art Cullison


At least 10 of his former Beacon Journal co-workers bid farewell to retired BJ editor/reporter Ardent “Art” Cullison today at calling hours and funeral services in Billows Funeral Home Fairlawn chapel.

Art, 92, died July 26 in Erlanger, Ky.

BJ alumni at Billows included photographer Bill Hunter, the newsroom’s Carol Camp, Carl Dangel, Harry Liggett, Ann Sheldon Mezger and husband Roger Mezger, Tom Moore, John Olesky, Lloyd Stoyer and artist Chuck Ayers.

Stoyer is a former BJ managing editor. Roger retired from the Plain Dealer in January after long stints at the BJ and the PD.  Ann is writing and submitting novels.

Davidson College graduate Carol, deeply involved in the VFW, fires his weapon in about 100 military funerals a year. He sat alongside Art and the late Hal Fry on the BJ copy desk. Carol retired in 1993.

Dangel also has handled PR for Goodyear and General Tire.

Stoyer’s wife, Faye Ann Good Stoyer, passed Feb. 11, 2012. He has two children, two grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

For previous BJ Alums articles on Art Cullison, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=Art+Cullison%2C+92


Scott Bosley on WVU Visiting Committee


Scott Bosley, Beacon Journal managing editor in the 1970s, is among 28 members of the West Virginia University Visiting Committee who return to Morgantown to give current students advice about today’s world of communications.

Scott, a WVU Journalism School and Keyser (WV) High School grad, retired a year or so ago as executive director of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Scott and wife Carol lived in Bethesda, Maryland during his decade with ASNE, whose offices are across the river in Reston, Virginia.

Scott spent more than 30 years with Knight-Ridder newspapers, including the BJ; Detroit Free Press; Knight Ridder Tribune Information Services; Journal of Commerce, as editor; and  Gary, Indiana, Post-Tribune, as publisher. 

Scott and Carol retired to Kalamazoo, Michigan, near daughter Julie, who does promotional work at Kellogg's in Battle Creek. 

Scott and Carol’s two grandchildren and son Jeff are in the San Francisco Bay Area where Jeff is a labor and employment lawyer for Chicago-based Winston & Strawn.

Scott and another BJ newsroom retiree, one-time BJ sports columnist Tom Melody, also a WVU Journalism graduate, are in the Keyser High School Hall of Fame. Tom and his wife still live in Norton.

There have been tons of posts about Scott on the BJ Alums blog. Click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=scott+bosley to see them.



Friday, August 03, 2012

BJ interview of Carla Davis


For the Beacon Journal interview of Beacon Journal alum Carla Davis and her singing of the National Anthem at the Obama event, click on http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/residents-get-a-chance-to-meet-the-president-1.324122?localLinksEnabled=false

Carla Davis sings National Anthem for Obama visit

Beacon JourNal alum Carla Davis, now Marketing Communications Director at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, sang the national anthem at the president’s visit to Akron. Carla was a Promotion Coordinator in Research/Promotion in the 1990s.

Art Cullison obituary in Beacon




Art Cullison died in Erlanger, Ky., July 26th at the age of 92.

He was the drama, movie, radio, television critic for the Akron Beacon Journal during the 1950s. He graduated from The University of Akron in 1942 in absentia; he was already serving in the Air Force.

Cullison transferred to the Beacon's state desk in 1959 where he remained until his retirement in 1985. He and his colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Kent State shootings.

He met Helen Louise Hagen while both were working on the Akron U newspaper. They wed in 1942, just before he shipped out to Central Africa where he spent most of World War II. They shared a nursing home room the last year of his life.

Cullison survived his parents, Ernest and Emma; his brother, Karl; and a sister, Elizabeth. He leaves his wife of 70 years, Helen Louise; his brother, Donald of Akron; two sons, Richard of Fort Mitchell, Ky., and Robert of Hopkins, Minn.; grandchildren, Robert Jr. of Copley, Ohio, Steve and Jeff of Minneapolis, Andrew of Fredonia, N.Y., and Rachael of Fort Mitchell, Ky. He also leaves four great-grandsons.

Memorial service will be Saturday, August 4 at 2 p.m. at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. Friends will be received one hour prior to the service. Memorial contributions may be given to Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, 104 E. 7th St., Covington, KY 41011, or to United Way of Summit County, 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, OH 44304-1273.

(Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)


To view and sign guest book for Art, click on

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Cathy Strong cracks ribs while snowboarding


1970s Beacon Journal State Desk reporter Cathy Strong has been a snowboarding instructor for years when she wasn’t teaching journalism. But she cracked her ribs recently while snowboarding in New Zealand's mountains.

Quips Cathy: “Darn.   I've had a fairly good, and long, snowboard career with very few injuries.   This annoys me (as well as pains me).“

It’s not the first time Cathy has dealt with fractures. She slipped on a stairwell in 2009 and broke her foot during her three years teaching journalism in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. UAE is a federation of seven independent states in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

Cathy recently went from communication and media sciences professor at Zayed University in Dubai to the faculty of the Wellington Journalism School within Massey University. She is developing a masters program in journalism.

The journalism campus is in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Cathy lives about an hour away on the Kapiti Coast’s Te Horo Beach.   

Cathy is teaching converged journalism at Wellington.  She wrote, “I’m  teaching them to use cameras, videos, mics, pad and pencils to gather news to put on all the platforms.   Last week we were doing news audio package podcasts, this week is video podcasts.   Next week I'll make them into mojos (mobile journalists) using their mobile devices to collect and upload news stories.”

Cathy has been a lecturer at Massey University, New Zealand's oldest journalism school, and lectured or trained journalists at four New Zealand tertiary journalism schools; Radio New Zealand; TVNZ, Te Karere and BCNZ, Kiwi stations; Solomon Island Broadcasting Corporation, and Japan as far back as 1970.

Cathy has three daughters: Rebecca, Penelope and Amanda.