Catching up with 
       . . . Russ Musarra

Paula Tucker, Bev & Russ Musarra, John Olesky

Retiree Russ Musarra is 75 pounds lighter than in his BJ newsroom days. He walks around Sunny Lake in Aurora during good weather and inside a Lowe's store near their Streetsboro residence when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate.

Bev and Russ have four children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, all living in the area, so they see them frequently.

Russ and Bev will celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary April 4. They moved to Streetsboro in 2003 after living 15 years in Northfield Center and 22 in Macedonia. 

China's Beijing is among their travels, although their favorite trip is packing as many family members as possible into a beach house in Sandbridge, Virginia. 

Russ' family came from Sicily. John's family came from northern Italy, in Mione and Pellizzano.

Since Russ, John and Paula go back to the 1970s State Desk days, they joined Bev in a toast to the late Harry Liggett, BJ Alums founder and BJ newsroom retiree, at Babushka's Kitchen, a Polish restaurant in Independence.

Russ was a BJ City Desk reporter and succeeded the late Polly Paffilas as the BJ's About Town columnist. The great Greek passed away in 2005.

Russ and BJ artist Chuck Ayers in 2007 got their "Walks Around Akron," a long-running BJ series, into a book published by the University of Akron that was printed in China. After the Beacon Journal dropped the "Walks" essays, they were published by Akron City magazine and later Akron Life and Leisure magazine.

They also collaborated on two other books -- "Greetings From Akron" (subtitled "Celebrating Akron’s History in Picture Postcards"), published in 2000 by the Summit County Historical Society, and "Joe’s Place: Conversations on the Cuyahoga Valley," published in 1999 by the Cuyahoga Valley Association. 

Russ also wrote "Sleep With the Angels," with former Cleveland detective Robert L. Bolton, that was published in 1985. 

Since his February 2000 retirement, Russ has written a general interest column for Focus, a monthly tabloid aimed at readers 50 and older; the Town Crier column for Akron City magazine;  covered Hudson as a Beacon Journal news correspondent; and was on the board of Actors Summit Theater in Hudson.

If you want to touch base with Russ:

Current address: 8916 Falcon Drive, Streetsboro 44241
Home phone: 330-626-4188
Cellular phone: 330-322-8890
E-mail: rmusarra@neo.rr.com