When Paula and I visited New Zealand in 2013 we climbed Baldwin Street in Dunedin, then billed as the steepest residential street in the world.

I was 80 years old at the time. And the oldest person on the SmarTours bus to make the climb.

I got a standing ovation upon my return to the bus.

Bob Dyer, my lunch partner for more than two decades, did a followup column to his article about steep Cadillac Hill in Akron.

The last person mentioned among the responses is me.

Bob describes me as “the youngest old person I know.”

Nothing ventured, nothing climbed.

By the way, by 2018 a street in Wales surpassed Baldwin as the steepest street in the world. So I’ve been demoted to #2 steepest street.

Ruth Ellen Smith passes away

Ruth Ellen Smith

BJ Advertising Department retiree Ruth Ellen Smith, 90, passed away Thursday, July 18.

Ruth’s obituary:

Ruth Ellen Smith, 90, passed away July 18, 2019.

She retired from the Akron Beacon Journal in the advertising department and was a member of the First Congregational Church of Akron. Ruth Ellen enjoyed playing the piano, attending symphonic concerts and traveling.

Preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Robert M. Smith; she is survived by several cousins and other relatives and friends.

The family would like to thank the staff at Brookdale Montrose at Heatherwood Hall and Brookdale Hospice.

There are no services or calling hours. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Humane Society. 


Services in care of The Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory 85 N. Miller Road  Akron, OH  44333

BJ photographer Mike Cardew’s father, Richard Cardew, passed away Saturday, July 20.

Mike’s post:

“It's with a heavy heart that I say My Dad Richard Cardew passed away today in his sleep.

“Anyone who knew my Dad knows he had a wicked sense of humor and loved a good adventure.

“His family, grandchildren Emily Cardew and Melissa Cardew; his sister, my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousins Carole Forster, Glenn Forster Deb Goodlaski Dee Baehr Price and Jeff Forster will miss him dearly.”

Mike won many Ohio awards for his BJ photography. The Ohio University graduate began at Ol’ Blue Walls in 1993. He wandered into Ohio after spending his earlier life in Michigan.

Fred Griffith passes away

Fred Griffith

Fred Griffith, a West Virginia native who was a Cleveland radio and TV personality for more than a half-century, beginning in 1959 till his 2012 retirement, passed away Friday, July 19 at the age of 90.

Fred was born in Charleston, where I was a sportswriter for the Daily Mail before I left for Ohio and most of my 43-year newspaper career, including the Dayton Daily News and the BJ.

Fred joined WEWS-Channel 5’s “Morning Exchange” in 1972. And became a legend in Northeast Ohio TV.

Fred won several Emmys and was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Hall of Fame.

Go to https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/legendary-cleveland-television-personality-fred-griffith-dies-at-90/95-79c6e868-2809-4beb-8a40-f4289c8a9eee?fbclid=IwAR0h1Y2fIyPAq_eF64_MzIx8a0LSNBO2ienDU__Xum7MaMwBBypBsT-9Mgw for the WKYC article.

GateHouse near swallowing Gannett

GateHouse Media, which owns the BJ, is in negotiations to absorb Gannett.

GateHouse Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Reed would have the same title in the combined company.

GateHouse’s parent company is New Media Investment Group. New Media’s market capitalization is $550 million compared to Gannett’s $900 million, but it has deep-pocketed backers.

Gannett and GateHouse are the nation’s two largest newspaper groups by circulation.

Gannett publishes USA Today.

Read the article at https://www.wsj.com/articles/gannett-is-in-advanced-talks-to-combine-with-gatehouse-media-11563480166?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1&fbclid=IwAR21L49sqVybP1wxYj3BeLClcCdNpqfdHd_uEfdZL7vfrOjbfGRK4LE63rY

100+ sign up for October 6 BJ Newsroom reunion . . . so far

104 have signed up so far for the BJ newsroom reunion at 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, October 6 at Wingfoot Lake State Park, 993 Goodyear Park Boulevard in Suffield. The gathering will be in the Pine Tree Shelter Lodge.

Signed up:

Susan Gippin/Bob Gippin

Jane Snow/Toru "Tony" Kawaguchi

 

Mitch McKenney

Ron Kuner/Rosemarie Kuner

Bill Hunter/Lucy Hunter

Bil Hershey/Marcia Hershey

Phil Canuto/Deb Canuto

George Davis/Merleen Davis

Ann Mezger/Roger Mezger

Marilynn Mastroianni/Ernie Mastroianni

Charlene Nevada/Art Krummel

Kathy Fraze/Mike Needs

Russ Musarra/Bev Musarra

Jocelyn Williams

Mary Beth Breckenridge/Tom Breckenridge

Betty Lin-Fisher/Paul Fisher

Melanie Payne/Rodney Williams

Lindsay Ripple

Don Roese/Mary Roese

Elaine Guregian

Glenn Guzzo

Kimberly Drezdon

Nancy Peacock

Peggy Rader

David Bianculli

Bob Downing/Pat Downing

Ed Suba Jr.

Kim McMahan/Chris McMahan

Dana Vandenberg Murphy

Cathy Benyei

Keith McKnight/driver

Mary Kay Quinn/Karen Thewlis

Mary Ann Taray

Tim Smith/Jane Smith

David Hertz/Beth Hertz

Steve Hoffman/Mary Jo Hoffman

Bob Fernandez/Mae Fernandez

Don Winbush/Georgia Winbush

Michael Good

Gloria Irwin/Bob Evans

James Benton

Kimberly Barth

John Funk/Gloria Millner

Phil Trexler/Nancy Trexler

Carol Levandoski

Mark Price/Susan Price

Susan Reynolds/Roger Reynolds

Dennis Gordon/Bonnie Gordon

Bill O’Connor

Susan Kirkman Zake/Bruce Zake

Mary Vanac

Laura Haferd Montgomery/Bill Montgomery

David Knox/Kathleen Knox

Jim Arnold

Thom Fladung

Athena Forrest Gerber

Karen Chuparkoff Lefton/Doug Lefton

Sharon Shreve Lorentzen/Paul Lorentzen

Jim Carney/Katie Byard

Jolene Limbacher/guest

David Adams

Glenn Proctor/Terri Proctor

Margaret Newkirk

Ron Kirksey/Susan Kirksey

 

When newspapers die it costs taxpayers more money

Everyone who has worked on a newspaper knows that, when papers wither or die, politicians and crooked businesses run amok because there’s no one to watch the fox in the henhouse.

Economists put a price on it, beyond even the horror of a damage democracy. Government bond costs go up substantially when newspapers go belly-up. That’s money out of YOUR pocket.

To read the article, go to https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/05/study-when-local-newspaper-close-city-bond-finances-suffer/561422/?fbclid=IwAR1183tFQpWmsNDFpAFZYn1KNBjd5AV3iNvGGJ_VPzu9kXZNoljmxxZt3js

New Hershey book

Bill Hershey, former BJ Washington correspondent, has a book, “Quick & Quotable,” based on weekly columns he wrote from D.C. from 1984 to 1997.

Bill explains:

“I treated the columns like letters from a foreign country with strange and self-important ways and usually tried to give them an Akron and/or Ohio connection. One of the pre-publication blurbers called them ‘time capsules’ about politics and politicians which is pretty accurate.”

 

There's a 30% discount if you order by using "QUICK30"

 

A link that describes the book is at https://blogs.uakron.edu/uapress/product/quick-quotable/a

First they ripped out my heart by discarding so many of my friends as useless relics as the BJ newsroom went from 250 to 34 people.

Now they are stomping on my heart by moving the BJ to a rubber shop by September to November, depending on how long it takes to prepare it for a daily newspaper office on the seventh floor.

The BJ is moving to the AES Building, named for the Advanced Elastomer Systems company that fled from Akron in 2015.

The structure at 388 South Main Street began in 1925 as Goodrich Building 41.

Charles S. Montague aka Chasm capsulized all our feelings best with this email to me:

“Well, it seems a tradition I started at BJ is ending.

“On the copy desk, Kathy Fraze would say
Where are we (meaning copy flow — making deadline).

“Smartypants me would reply, ‘44 East Exchange Street.’

“Somehow, 388 South Main Street or whatever the new address is doesn’t sound the same.”

The move also means I no longer can refer to the BJ location as Ol’ Blue Walls, the color of the paint that some genius decided to roll onto the walls and hallways of every floor of the 44 E. Exchange Street building decades ago.

Except in nostalgic remembrances.

Canada-based Black Press Ltd., the Beacon Journal’s previous owner, is asking $3 million for the Exchange Street building, which was built in 1929 and occupied in 1930 by the Akron Times-Press until it was sold in 1938 to the Beacon Journal.

The BJ’s news, advertising and administrative operations will move into the AES building and share the 7^th floor as a satellite office for Beacon Journal news partner News 5 Cleveland.

Circulation/subscriber services have relocated to offices in another GateHouse property, the Record-Courier in Kent.

John S. Knight, the best owner I worked for during my 43-year newspaper career, built his father’s debt-ridden newspaper into the finest media group in America. From Akron to Miami and elsewhere, Knight became a symbol for newspaper quality.

But the Internet came along and decimated Knight-Ridder, along with the rest of America’s newspapers. Democracy is poorer for it because there are so few watchdogs left to keep politicians and corrupt businesses from raiding the henhouse.

Tom Moore, 63, son of BJ Newsroom retiree Tom Moore and Dot Moore, passed away Wednesday, July 3.

A celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at Chapparells Hall, 2418 S. Arlington Road in Akron. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m.

Tom, Jr.’s widow is Sabrina Naylor Moore. Their daughter is Amanda Moore. Their residence is on Arlington Road not far from Chapparells Hall.

Tom, Jr.’s siblings are Amy Moore; Caroline Jean Moore Krack, who lives in Minnesota and retired as a teacher's aide; and Katherine Ann Moore, who lives in Cuyahoga Falls, retiring from the Environmental Protection Agency after 34 years. All three are former BJ copygirls.

Tom and Minnesotan Dot were married 69 years ago in the naval communications chapel in Washington, D.C. Tom was in the Air Force at Bolling Air Force Base in D.C. and editor of the base newspaper.

Doris Day once sang to Tom, Sr. and his Air Force buddies.

Tom, Sr's 41-year newspaper career was on the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Zanesville News (now defunct), Lorain Journal, Columbus Citizen-Columbus Citizen Journal (both defunct) and the BJ. Plus four years part-time in the Ohio State Patrol headquarters in Columbus, editing the patrol's magazine,The Flying Wheel.

Tom, Sr. also works with former BJ sports editor Tom Giffen’s Roy Hobbs baseball tournament for seniors in Florida and is a conductor on the Cuyahoga Valley National Park scenic railway.

OLESKY NOTE:
I was only at the event a short while because I had a medical appointment later, but had time to talk to Tom and his daughter. Gloria Irvin and Mary Beth Northridge arrived shortly after Paula and I did so we exchanged BJ memories, too.