Guess who's coming for dinner at the Kovatch house?

Ol’ Blue Walls retirees are gator magnets

Former BJ vice president/finance and administration John Kovatch had interesting “company” show up on his propety.

Let John explain:

“The neighborhood gator was sunning himself today and sharing the shoreline with a couple of birds. I decided to swim in the pool, rather than the lake.”




Carolyn and John Kovatch without the gator visitor

At least John’s alligator isn’t as bold as the one who spent the night in the garage of retired BJ printer Dick Latshaw. It seems Dick didn’t close his garage door sufficiently so the gator took that as an invitation to look around the Latshaws’ Pawleys Island, South Carolina home.

Wife Pat’s understandable admonition to Dick: “Always close the %$$# garage door.”

The Kovatches own homes in The Villages, Florida and in Green. John and Carolyn bought a home in The Village of Charlotte. Paula's house is in The Village of Silver Lake.

John’s career included University of Akron associated vice president/controller, Knight-Ridder vice president finance and administration, Ernest & Young CPA, and currently JEK Accounting Service before his Kent State and Euclid High days.

He’s from Massillon, Ohio.

The alligators live wherever they want.

David Giffels with the 4-track recorder he purchased from a teenage Patrick Carney

The Patrick & David show is a wowser!

Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, the kid from Firestone High who has been high on music nearly his entire life, and David Giffels, whose motto is, If I build it, I’ll write a book about it, wowed them at the Akron Roundtable’s 40^th anniversary celebration, where everyone there thinned out their wallets significantly to get into the affair.

Some of the highlights:

Giffels, a former BJ columnist, purchased a 4-track recorder from a teenaged Carney, who is a son of retired BJ reporter and sometimes radio talk show sub Jim Carney and stepson of BJ reporter Katie Byard.

Giffels loves Devo, and wrote a book about the Akron music group. Carney lived in a Highland Square apartment once occupied by Devo.

Carney said that mein papa enlisted him to appear at the Roundtable anniversary shindig.

To read Malcolm X. Abraham’s excellent article on the Roundtable fun, click on

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/homegrown-stars-patrick-carney-of-black-keys-author-david-giffels-help-akron-roundtable-celebrate-40th-anniversary-1.716573#.V_PKhpn4_uI.facebook

That kid from Firestone High who collects Grammys like M&Ms at music awards and the guy who builds things and then writes books about them will be the spotlight duet for the Akron Roundtable’s 40^th anniversary celebration dinner.

The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, whose father’s main claim to fame was gashing his head into a sign while hurrying across a downtown Akron street, and author David Giffels, who believes that if I build it there’s a book in it, are the featured conversationalists.

The patron party will begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday, October 3 at the John S. Knight Center, 77 East Mill Street, Akron. Cocktail party starts at 6 p.m. (giving patrons a head start on the drinking).

The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. At 7:45 p.m., Patrick and David are on the stage for their scintillating conversation, after “mixing and mingling” (PR release’s words) with the guests from 6 p.m. on.

Want to show up? It’s only $1,500 for a table of 10 for corporate tables. For the peons, it’s $75 just to get in the door.

Carney, with fellow former Firestone High grad Dan Auerbach, produced albums like “The Big Come Up” (2002), “Thickfreakness” (2003), “Rubber Factory” (2004), a tribute to their Akron roots, “Magic Potion” (2006), “Attack & Release” (2008), “Brothers” (2010), “El Camino” (2011) and “Turn Blue” (2014).

Carney and Auerbach record with Nonesuch Records. They have played before sellout crowds from Australia to Europe and throughout America.

Proudly watching this skyrocketing to fame has been Carney’s father, retired BJ reporter and all-round nice guy Jim Carney, and stepmom Katie Byard, still a reporter at Ol’ Blue Walls.

In 2009, Patrick also formed the band Drummer, in which he plays bass. Each of the band¹s members has played drums in another band.

An associate professor of English at the University of Akron, which no longer has to endure the leadership of the Scarborough unfair, Giffels wrote a book about repairing an 1813 Tudor house and has one coming out about building a casket with his father. Don’t ask.

After this dynamic pair, the Akron Roundtable will have to settle for such lesser lights as Washington Post syndicated columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr. (October 20), Pro Football Hall of Fame executive director David Baker (November 17), who is taking a beginner’s course in field turf management, and Huntington Bancshares CEO Stephen D. Steinour (December 8).

These are gigantic steps down from Carney and Giffels, but the Akron Roundtable probably will recover from the humiliation.

Kim lured back to BJ

Kim Hone-McMahan

Kim Hone-McMahan just couldn’t stay away from Ol’ Blue Walls, even though she retired from the BJ April 5.

She’ll be writing for Savor Magazine, which the BJ is shelling out if you shell out $9.99 a year to the BJ for four issues.

After being a BJ correspondent for 9 years and a BJ staff writer for 26 years, I guess Kim just couldn’t quit the BJ cold turkey.

Kim replaced Jewell Cardwell as a BJ columnist in 2014.

Kim says Savor “encompasses all things in life we want to savor, from stories of people who are doing something interesting with their lives to places with the best food for dining out to experiencing a culture that is different than our own.”

Monica Thomas is the Savor editor.

Kim is married to Chris McMahan.re that is different from our own.

Sunshine & baseball again for BJ expats Tom, Mike & Tom

 BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore and advertising makeup retiree Mike Williams are enjoying Florida sunshine and watching old guys play baseball in former BJ sports editor Tom Giffen’s 27^th annual Roy Hobbs World Baseball Series in Fort Myers, Florida.

Tom Moore, Mike Williams
back up Tom Giffen

Richmond, Virginia native Tom, who came to the BJ from John Knight’s birthplace, Bluefield, West Virginia, has been Giffen’s right-hand man at the Roy Hobbs World Series in Fort Myers, Florida for 12 years. This is Mike’s second year of helping with the daily newsletter that has player interviews and reports on the games.

The series is divided into age divisions ---youngest group is 28-plus and oldest is 70-plus.

Giffen in 1990 formed a four-team league of adult men playing out of Akron. The next year the league grew to 11 teams and joined Roy Hobbs Baseball, which was owned by Ron Monks of California. In 1992 Monks sold Roy Hobbs Baseball to Giffen and his wife, Ellen.

For several years, Giffen ran Roy Hobbs Baseball out of his basement and continued to work at the Beacon Journal. In the mid-1990s, as the organization brought in more and more teams, Giffen resigned from the BJ to work full-time at his business.

Roy Hobbs is the fictional hero of Bernard Malamud's novel, “The Natural,” and the movie starring Robert Redford as Hobbs.

For Tom Moore and Mike Williams, the fun will end Monday night when they fly back to Ohio.

     Thursday & Friday

 Retired BJ reporter Jim Carney returns to his earlier love again Thursday, Oct. 15, and Friday: Radio.

Writes Jim:

“On WAKR 1590 News Talk Sports 10 am to 2 pm tomorrow and Friday. Filling in for Jasen Sokol. A full dance card. Corn Maze. Devil Strip. Iraq vet's story from Mount Union to Purple Heart. Giant pumpkin grower! New editor of Canton Rep. Fall leaves in national Park. Singer/songwriter Daniel Rylander. UA football coach. Eyewitness to concerts in NEO for 40 years!! Plus much more fun! Stay tune. Film at 10!!”

In case you wanted to tune in to hear how Jim sounds when he’s not roaming Ol’ Blue Walls any more.

Retired BJ Librarian Diane Wright, who spent more than two decades inside Ol’ Blue Walls, got an unwanted surprise from Mother Nature.

That’s Diane’s tree toppled in her yard.

Diane is a 1995 University of Akron graduate. Perhaps she should have majored in forestry.

At least she’ll have plenty of firewood if she has a fireplace.

Fortunately, no one was injured. But it’s a sight no one wants to behold.

 Retired BJ printer Hugh Downing and BJ Guild retiree John Olesky played golf together for the seventh time today since John and Paula arrived in The Villages, Florida on Jan. 1.

Hugh and wife Sharon have been living in The Villages, where 100,000 people in 50,000 golf carts cavort morning, afternoon and night, for more than a dozen years.

In their foursome today was a guy from New Jersey that the computer with 10,000 tee times linked up with John for a third time (and put John in the foursome behind the Jersey guy another time).

That’s Hugh on the right, John in the middle and Joisy Jent on the left in the photo.

Hugh Downing, John Olesky golfing in The Villages, Florida

Hugh enjoying life in The Villages, Florida

Retired BJ printer Hugh Downing and wife Sharon have been living in The Villages, Florida, the world’s most unique retirement community that has ballooned to 100,000 people, since Hugh retired in 2001.

Sharon’s parents live in Bradenton, Florida so they got several looks at The Villages lifestyle before they built a home there.

Their four sons live in Hudson, Toledo, Buffalo and Virginia.

Hugh and John Olesky played on the De La Vista golf course in The Villages on Monday. 

Previously, they played a round together in December 2014 when Paula and John spent two weeks in The Villages. This time they're renting for three months, through March. The weather was in the 70s, of course.

Other than a visit from retired BJ printer Carl Nelson, who has relatives living in The Villages, Hugh hasn’t seen any other of his former co-workers.

Hugh and Sharon had a BJ reunion more than a decade ago with John and his late wife, Monnie, on Siesta Key, adjacent to Sarasota, Florida. Both were staying near where former BJ printer Bill Gorrell had his Poor Bill's rental complex.

If you want to re-connect with Hugh, his phone numbers are (352) 446-1378 and (352) 359-7556.

Sheryl Harris with very first Ms. Magazine issue

A can’t-Ms. xmas gift!

Former BJ artist John “Derf” Backderf sure knows how to come up with an untoppable Christmas present. He gave his wife, former BJ reporter Sheryl Harris, the first issue of Ms. Magazine!

Wrote Derf:

“She was very excited. Reilly (the family dog), despite being a male, keeps her company as she reads. But then, as Sheryl was so fond of saying back in her table-pounding Feminist days back in college as a Women’s Studies minor: ‘All men are dogs.’ "

Responded Cheryl:

“I'm almost afraid to read it. It came in a little plastic sleeve. It's such a treasure. And such a surprise.”

Former BJ Features Department editor/columnist Connie Bloom will have birthday visitors Saturday, Nov. 1.

Posted Connie: “The TV camera crew and hosts will be visiting my studio tomorrow-- my birthday.”

More details were given on The Penthouse Artists of Summit Artspace’s Facebook page: “New Day Cleveland” (WJW-Channel 8) is doing a story on Connie Bloom's quilt art and will be visiting her studio just in time to see the completion of Magic Realism II, on view at Saturday's Art Walk at Summit Artspace,” 140 E. Market Street,  downtown Akron.

Connie is an Ohio quilt art guru and publisher/editor of QSDS (Quilt Surface Design Symposium), a quarterly online magazine about fabric art for Ohio.

Connie has a 350 square foot studio as the resident quiltmaker in Summit Artspace on the third floor. It’s next door to the Akron Art Museum.

Her phone number is (330) 472-0161. Or you can email her at connie@conniebloom.com

David Moss and Natalie Herbick host “New Day Cleveland.” No air date was given for Connie’s masterpieces to be on the show.

PD tries to hush Abe Zaidan

The Plain Dealer/Northeast Ohio Media Group has threatened to sue retired BJ political columnist Abe Zaidan for publishing a short clip of a 40-minute video that the paper had shown online - and then removed. Abe put it on his liberal Internet blog, Plunderbund.

The flap involved the PD's editorial board's group interview of Gov. Kasich, Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios.

The BJ did the same thing to Harry Liggett and John Olesky when the BJ Alums blog told the world about now-retired reporter Jim Carney’s 3-day suspension over his dealings with a person involved with one of his stories. It’s a way for the big bad companies with attorneys to frighten little guys disseminating information they don’t like.

So they use copyright laws, and they’re within their rights to bully little people with it, to keep others from doing to them what newspapers do to other businesses in newspaper articles. 

Interesting, huh?

I ran into the same thing with a bad construction company, which threatened a slapsuit if I didn’t recant my complaint to the Better Business Bureau about its shoddy work. They can afford the legal fees cost; they know you can’t. The company went out of business a year or so later.

It’s the cost of tilting at windmills, which I have done all my life.

BJ newsroom retiree Thomas C. Moore is in Fort Myers, Florida with his annual six-week job of publishing the newsletter for former BJ sports editor Tom Giffen’s Roy Hobbs World Baseball Series for older players.

This time there’s a third BJ retiree, advertising makeup’s Mike Williams, with him.

Writes Tom:

“Back in Florida with the Roy Hobbs 26th World Series. And I've got a good buddy with me --long-time friend and retired co-worker, Mike Williams. And, of course, it's almost like the old Akron Beacon Journal, working with former sports editor Tom Giffen. We have 240 amateur baseball teams from all over the country, Russia, Canada and the Dominican Republic.”

Richmond, Virginia native Tom, who came to the BJ from John Knight’s birthplace, Bluefield, West Virginia, has been Giffen’s right-hand man at the Roy Hobbs World Series in Fort Myers, Florida for 11 years.

Maybe Mike is helping Tom with the newsletter for the older baseball players, which includes interviews and reports on the games.

The series is divided into age divisions---youngest group is 28-plus and oldest is 70-plus.

Giffen, now 65, in 1990 formed a four-team league of adult men playing out of Akron. The next year the league grew to 11 teams and joined Roy Hobbs Baseball, which was owned by Ron Monks of California. In 1992 Monks sold Roy Hobbs Baseball to Giffen and his wife, Ellen.

For several years, Giffen ran Roy Hobbs Baseball out of his basement and continued to work at the Beacon Journal. In the mid-1990s, as the organization brought in more and more teams, Giffen resigned from the BJ to work full time at his business.

Roy Hobbs is the fictional hero of Bernard Malamud's novel, “The Natural,” and the movie starring Robert Redford as Hobbs.

Tom quips:

“No, our wives are not with us. My wife says this is her vacation.”

IF YOU GO TO MIKE WILLIAMS' FACEBOOK PAGE, HE HAS POSTED OTHER PHOTOS OF THE ROY HOBBS ACTIVITIES IN FORT MYERS, FLORIDA. OUR BJ TRIPLETS ARE HAVING A BALL (PUN INTENDED).

Tom Giffen (standing, in shorts) at Roy Hobbs staff meeting; Tom Moore (standing, in red)

Carney on WAKR this week

Retired BJ reporter Jim Carney is on WAKR 1590 this week from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Monday’s guests were BJ publisher Mark Cohen; Edie Deyarmin, mother of Lance Cpl. Daniel Nathan Deyarmin, Jr., killed in Iraq in 2005; Duane Crabbs of South Street Ministries; marathon runners Zeke Petrie and Andre Travis.

Jim was a radio guy before he began his BJ career. Jim retired in May after 35 years at Ol’ Blue.

Jim is subbing for Jasen Sokol, a Baldwin Wallace grad and Kent State grad assistant who was producer of WKSU’s “Morning Edition” before migrating to WAKR.

The radio gig will give Jim something to do while he waits for wife Katie Byard, a BJ reporter, to get a flight home from Paris. Hopefully, this time her plane won’t have to return to Paris after nearly reaching Iceland.

Turncoat Billy on BJ editorial page

Former BJ Washington correspondent and Columbus bureau chief, who retired as Columbus bureau chief of the Dayton Daily News, writes in today’s BJ editorial page about how he turned from Indians fan to Tigers fan because he couldn’t stay the perpetual heartbreak of rooting for Cleveland pro teams.

Bill Hershey

When Bill’s family moved from Ohio to Flint, Michigan, he was a 9-year-old fourth grader with an Indians pennant in his bedroom and was teased by children in that state up north, as Woody Hayes was fond of calling it, for his Buckeye allegiance.

He wrote supportive letters to Herb Score after Yankee Gil McDougal’s line drive struck the Indians pitcher in the face, badly damaging his eye, and to Jimmy Piersall, the Indians outfielder heckled by Tigers fans for his outbursts, the result of mental illness. And received replies.

The Tigers won the 1968 World Series, turncoat Billy became and remained a Tigers fan.

Now that LeBron James has returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the widely-heralded Second Coming, Bill writes, 9-year-olds throughout Ohio have hopes for a return to the glory that was Cleveland so long, long ago.

To read Bill’s BJ Editorial Page column, click on http://www.ohio.com/editorial/william-hershey-broken-hearts-for-james-to-mend-1.510875

Thursday boxing tribute to BJ Circulation retiree Doyle Baird

There will be a well-deserved tribute to retired BJ Circulation truck driver Doyle Baird on Thursday, June 26, when the Blue Steel Boxing Academy puts on a fight card at Lock 3 (7-9 p.m.).

There are many independent observers who say that Doyle beat world middleweight champ Nino Benvenuti, a native of Trieste, Italy, in a Rubber Bowl 10-rounder in 1968. The judge appointed by Benvenuti’s camp forced it to be called a draw.

Doyle said: “I won 6 rounds.” Boxing experts said Doyle won the fight. Doyle added: “I didn’t make 15 cents, but I got what I wanted, at least a draw.” Benvenuti was guaranteed $20,000 plus expenses for the Rubber Bowl fight.

Benvenuti went down in the 9^th round, but the referee ruled it a slip and not a knockdown. 

Doyle’s advisor, Don Elbaum, called it “The Super Bowl of Akron’s boxing history”

In a 1970 rematch, Doyle was knocked to the canvas twice and lost on a 10^th-round TKO in Bari, Puglia, Italy.

Doyle’s boxing record: 34 (21 knockouts)-7 (4 knockouts) and the Benvenuti draw, which jumped Doyle to No. 8 in the Ring Magazine rankings.

Boxing writer Jim Amato penned:

“The Rubber City of Akron has probably never produced anything more resilient than a boxer named Doyle Baird. Rugged and balding, he was often compared to Carmen Basilio in looks and his swarming style. After a fine amateur career he turned professional in 1966 under the wing of Don Elbaum. After defeating Ted Wright two years later he had amassed a 23-2 record. On October 14, 1968, Doyle fought middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti to a draw in a non-title bout at the Akron Rubber Bowl.”

Said Doyle: “I can punch pretty good if I can catch them.”

By that time, the most Baird made was $750 for a 10-round decision over Ted Wright.

In later years, Benvenuti was a successful businessman who helped Mother Teresa with her causes in India.

Benvenuti became world champ in 1967. His hometown was the Adriatic seaport of Trieste, Italy.

Tennessee native Doyle was inducted into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. He got into trouble with the law for brawling on the streets of south Akron – "I’ve been to prison,” Doyle admits – before taking his talents into the boxing ring.

As an amateur Baird won the Ohio middleweight championship in 1966 and was national AAU runnerup the same year. He turned professional and fought 32 fighters in six years - winning 11 by decision, 16 by knockout, had one draw and four defeats.

However, in that relatively short professional career Baird fought four world champions in non-title fights - including middleweights Don Fulmer, Emile Griffith and Nino Benvenuti and light heavyweight Bincente Rondon. 

He won a split decision over Fulmer and fought Benvenuti to a draw. 

In 1968 Baird decisioned Ernie Burford of Cleveland to capture the Ohio middleweight title.

Doyle was ranked among the world's top 10 middleweights for five years by Ring Magazine. 

He began his pro career in 1972 with a technical knockout loss to Jean-Claude Bouttier in Lyon, Rhone, France.

In 1971 Doyle lost a world light-heavyweight title fight to champ Vicente Rondon.

In recent years, Doyle has worked with young boxers – for no pay, because he loves the Sweet Science so much.

There’s fascinating video, “Grit & Determination – The Doyle Baird Story,” that runs nearly a half-hour. To see it, go to  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BhXqoRmrFGc&app=desktop