Friday, July 27, 2018



Ken Krause, former BJ sports editor who lives on Mystic Street in Medford, Massachussetts, sent me photos of the late Carol Camp, a BJ whiz on the copy desk.

So this stirred more memories of Carol.

Ken, a 1971 St. Vincent-St. Mary graduate, wrote:

“It was apropos to learn of Carol’s passing while the British Open was under way. That tournament always made me think of him and the ‘links-style’ golf he played. Typically he'd land his approach shots short of the green and let them bound up toward the hole, where they usually settled within birdie range."

Bob Springer, who went from the BJ to Kent State faculty, wrote:

“When you saw the electronic signature "c c" on a story, you knew its facts were correct and it had been thoroughly vetted by Carol. He was as solid as granite as a copy editor.”

Carol wrote the Biography in Brief for the BJ's Sunday News and Views section. In 1972 Carol profiled Akron Public Schools administrator George C. Miller. Later, George’s daughter, Marilyn Miller, became a BJ reporter. She left during the 2017 buyout exodus.

Sharon Lorentzen, who saw Carol at Rockynol for years, wrote:

“He was always such a dear man, and when he got to Rockynol, he was still a favorite.”

In the photo montage above, that’s Carol when the BJ bought its first VDT (Visual Display Terminal) in 1976. I was newsroom electronics coordinator and trained the first person in the newsroom to use a computer terminal.

Carol is with editor Bill Slight and Mary Grace Poidomani Dobreznecki.

Showing off their trophies at the 1970 BJ golf league banquet are Carol (front left), Mickey Porter (trophy in one hand, beverage in the other), Bob Dudley and Leo Gallagher. Back row, left to right, are Paul McKelvy, Steve Mace, Ray Sappenfield, Chick Davison and John Gavin.

In the lower right photo with Carol is the late Don Hawk, who passed away at a bowling alley within a week after his retirement.

Carol was part of an incredible corps of copy editors, something the decimated newspapers around the nation miss today.

There was Hal Fry, who was an etymologist without peer (you don't have to look it up; Hal knew the history and meaning of every word).

Art Cullison, married to English teacher Helen Louise Hagen Cullison, applied the same knowledge to reporters’ copy to make it correct in every way.

Cullison interviewed Gable and the King’s 5th wife, Kay, when Gable was in Cleveland to promote his movie, “The Teacher’s Pet.”

Carol showed up at Art’s calling honors at the Billows funeral home.

Tim Hayes was no slouch either. With Donn Gaynor and Dick McLinden, the desk alternated between laughs and grumbles.

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