BJ trip with Jane

Down memory lane

Jane Snow, the best food writer in BJ history, emailed me this photo of the BJ Features Department.

There are a LOT of memories in that photo!

Denny Gordon in his Mickey Mouse shirt probably is the best bicycle rider in BJ history. When he wasn’t being a photographer he would ride his bike to Columbus and back on the same day (using country roads, of course, not I-71)! He also ran in the Road Runner Akron Marathon.

I ran into Denny and his wife, Bonnie, when they displayed their work at Hudson’s annual Art on the Green. Bonnie does sculptures.

Denny was in the Photo Department with chief photographer Bill Hunter, Paul Tople, Ott Gangl, Ron Kuner, Marcia Nighswander, Don Roese, Lew Stamp, Bill Wade and Ted Walls.

The late Craig Wilson, chief librarian before becoming the wizard of Action Line during his 40 years at Ol’ Blue Walls, trained so many people who later became excellent BJ reporters.

Craig was eccentric and drove some people a little wild, but efficient. He could find a needle in a haystack for a reader.

Craig’s daughter, CPA Dawn Wilson, worked for Portage Newspaper Supply from 1977 to 1982 and Fort Wayne Newspapers in 1982- 1987.  In Fort Wayne Dawn accidentally met Lou Albert’s daughter, Jen Albert Dillon, and they became friends.

Lou left the BJ in 1984 to become display advertising manager for Fort Wayne Newspapers. He came to the Beacon Journal in 1973.

Another daughter is Andrea Wilson Korow of Cedaredge, Colorado.

Craig married Ella Leonard Wilson, who passed away in 1992, and Elizabeth Bendall Wilson. Craig and Elizabeth Wilson were named Outstanding Citizens by the Barberton Community Foundation in 2004.

 

Craig was in the Navy during World War II and a University of Michigan School of Journalism graduate. He worked his way through college as a Yellow Cab driver.

 

A Cleveland Indians fan, Craig named his dog Omar Vizquel Wilson for the legendary Indians shortstop. The canine was listed as one of his survivors in Craig's 2007 obituary.

Jewell Cardwell was a columnist. Jewell’s uncle and aunt once lived in Cinderella, West Virginia, a Sycamore company coal camp where I met my late wife, Monnie Elizabeth Turkette Olesky.

Jewell’s BJ farewell came with the 2014 buyout binge, when Kim Hone-McMahan succeeded her. Kim retired from the BJ herself in 2016. Jim Carney, Dave Scott, Olga Reswow, Laura Ofobike and Bill Lilley walked out the door the same time as Jewell.

Jewell subbed for the legendary columnist Fran Murphey while Fran was on an 8-week journey in a variety of countries. On her final day as a stand-in for Fran, Jewell showed up in Jewell’s version of Fran’s traditional bib overalls.

Betsy Lammerding was a home furnishings expert who went to North Carolina a lot for the dog and pony shows companies put on there.

Betsy is one of five children of Mary Frances Buysse Lammerding and Edwin F. Lammerding, Sr. Betsy’s brothers were Edwin F. Lammerding, Jr., William, Paul and David.

The late Joan Rice was my best friend in the Features Department, someone to vent to when management did stupid things.

Joan and her husband, former Summit County Sheriff’s Deputy Capt. Larry Momchilov, passed away 12 days apart in 2016. They were married 36 years.

Joan’s identical twin, Marie, was a media person, too, in television. Their other siblings were John Rice, Jr. and Nancy Rice Crouch. All four had property on the family’s 150-acre farm in Rootstown.

Joan worked at the Beacon from 1966 to 2001, when she took a buyout to care for her mother who had heart problems. Her mom, Nancy, passed away in 2004; her father, John, in 1979.

Jane Snow, of course, was such a great food writer that my daughter, LaQuita, cooks from Jane’s recipes to this day.

Glenna Snow was a legendary BJ food writer who retired in 1944. Years later, readers still were confusing Glenna with Jane.

 

“Glenna Snow’s son called me once from his home in Biloxi, Mississippi,” Jane once said. “He wanted to know why the BJ was still using his mother’s name.

“In my younger days, readers often called to tell me they remembered my ‘grandmother.’ By the time I retired, they were remembering my ‘mother.’ “

Jane still has a janesnowtoday.com web site about cooking that former BJ Advertising whiz Mitchell Allen publishes and sells advertising for it. Her book, “Jane Snow Cooks,” has had at least five printings by University of Akron Press.

Jane is married to superb sushi chef Tony Kawaguchi, a native of Japan. He worked at five-star restaurants in Hawaii and New York City before coming to Akron at the request of Hibachi Japan, whose customers (Japanese executives from Bridgestone/Firestone) were looking for high-quality sushi.

Jane was born in Liverpool, Ohio and came to Akron to work for the Beacon Journal. Her research for a sushi story brought her to Tony’s restaurant.

 

Coincidentally, Tony’s dad owned an American restaurant in Japan right outside the gate of the Air Force Base where Jane’s dad was stationed in World War II.

Jane was the food writer for 25 of her 28 years at Ol’ Blue Walls and earned national awards, usually with James Beard’s name on it (that’s the Oscar of food writing). Jane and 362 years of BJ experience left on the same day in 2006, including Debby Stock Kiefer, Diane Paparone Evans, Mike Needs, Sarah Vradenburg, Gloria Irwin, Mary Ethridge, Dave Hertz and Tim Good.

The late Michelle LeComte was in charge of the Features Department at this time. In my 16 years in Features, my department heads were Mike Needs, Doug Oplinger, Stuart Warner, Jim Nolan (the guy who never used a vowel in his memos) and Bob Jodon.

Michelle passed away in 2010 at the age of 58 after being at Ol’ Blue Walls in the 1990s and at Maryland newspapers for decades.

When Michelle took a vacation cruise we had photographer Ott Gangl take a photo of her Features staff in “vacation” mode (beach clothing, etc.). In the when-the-boss-is-away-the-mice-will-play photo were pop culture critic Mark Dawidziak, reporter Andrea Louie, who saw the 9/11 Twin Towers come down from her Brooklyn apartment, Betty Lammerding, Joan Rice, Jewell Cardwell, Bob Dyer, Connie Bloom, Elaine Guregian, Jane Snow, columnist Bob Dyer and me, John Olesky.

Bob Dyer came from the Wooster Daily Record in 1984 to brighten Ol’ Blue Walls. He won’t leave despite massive departures by others.

Dyer has more than 50 regional and national writing awards. In 2008, he was voted Best Columnist in the Nation and in 2013 he was voted Best Humor Columnist in the nation by the National Society of Professional Journalists. He’s been Best Columnist in Ohio for about a decade.

Bob’s mother was no slouch either. Jane Schellentrager was a figure skater who competed at the national level. She was still dazzling on the ice in the Mid-Western senior pairs with Riki Bliss on a day when Hayes Alan Jenkins was winning the 1947 junior men’s title. Jane and Riki won a silver medal.

Bob and I spent nearly two decades eating Blue Room food. I’m 86 so I guess it didn’t kill me.