7 Ohio papers plan joint report on pensions

A group of Ohio newspapers that began sharing content nearly two years ago, and have also conducted several joint polls, are about to publish their first joint reporting project.

An investigation into public employee pensions that will utilize staffers from seven Ohio papers is set to run Nov. 29, according to Editor Ben Marrison of the Columbus Dispatch.

"It has been an issue in this state," Marrison, whose newsroom is the lead on the report, says of the pension issue. "Looking at if they are sustainable given the increasing expense and the increased inability of school districts and towns to pay for them."

Marrison said his paper is providing the main report, with contributions from The Repository in Canton, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, The Akron Beacon Journal, The Blade of Toledo, the Dayton Daily News and The Vindicator in Youngtown.

"They are each contributing examples from around the state," Marrison said of the other papers. "We decided we wanted to do the main part here and crunch the numbers in one place. But we are getting examples from around Ohio."

Marrison said each paper has at least one reporter assigned to the story, and each will run the main piece with other local content related to the issue.

The consortium, known as the Ohio News Organization, began to share content in early 2008 after complaints about the Associated Press coverage of some state issues. At least three polls have also been jointly conducted by the group.

"We are always looking for ways to make better use of what we have and what we can do jointly to better the state," Marrison said, adding that other such projects are likely in the future.

[Above report by Joe Strupp in Editor & Publisher]

Tom Moore at work in Florida sunshine while we shiver in Northeast Ohio

Retired Beacon Journal deputy news editor Tom Moore keeps busy for six weeks every autumn, working for former Beacon Journal sports editor Tom Giffen at the 21st annual Roy Hobbs Baseball World Series in Fort Myers, Florida.

The players, in ages into the 70s and maybe beyond, compete on 186 teams from around the nation and other countries, such as Russia and the Dominican Republic. They play on the fields the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins use for spring training.

The Hobbs World Series runs through this week.

Tom Moore writes and takes photographs for “Inside Pitch,” a daily newspaper that the Roy Hobbs company publishes daily. Game results and schedules also are printed.

To see the photos of Tom Moore, taken by Tom Giffen, and a photo of Tom Giffen riding his bicycle to the fields, taken by Tom Moore, click on the headline.


See  earlier story on Tom Moore and Tom Giffen in Fort Myers.

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Tom emails me that he plans to leave Fort Myers on Thursday to return to the #$#@% Northeast Ohio weather.

Trammell Hogg's trip to D.C. & his Navy memories

Seven days before former Beacon Journal Composing night foreman Trammell Hogg died, the Mountaineer newspaper in Waynesville, NC published a story about Tram's Oct. 31 Honor Flight to D.C. to honor World War II dead and Tram's recollections of his Navy days. Here is the article:

by Worth Corn, Waynesville, NC Mountaineer
Sunday, 08 November 2009

When Tram Hogg looks back on his service in World War II, he sees good experiences and opportunities, but he also knows that those came with a hefty price.

Hogg, 82, served as a fireman first class and electrician in the Navy from 1944 to 1946. When he joined the Navy, Hogg tried to get into the submarine service, but he was told he was too young.

After training in Green Bay, Wis., and St. Louis, Mo., he was stationed in Apra Harbor in Guam and repaired ships of all sizes on the floating dry docks there.

“It was a large floating dry dock, made up of pontoons about 50-feet wide and 200-and-some feet long,” said Hogg, adding that the pontoons were welded together. “If ships could make it to Guam" they could be repaired permanently or temporarily. If it was a major, major fix, it was temporary so it could get to Pearl Harbor.

”Tugboats would bring the ships to the floating dry docks, which would pump in water to sink, allowing the ships to be positioned on keel blocks on the dry docks. Once the ships were in place, the dry dock would pump water back out and rise, lifting the ship."

When the process was completed, workers were able to work on all parts of the ship, including walking underneath it. Everything else was normal.

“It didn’t matter what size ship we had, we had keel blocks for them,” said Hogg. “We put electric and water to the ship, and everyone was still living on it like it was at sea.”

Hogg said every part of the docked vessel got power except the engine. Depending on their size, several ships could by dry-docked at the same time. The floating dry docks helped revive several ships, which the Japanese later called ghost ships because they believed the ships had sunk. Instead, the ships were repaired and continued to battle.

If there was a big hole in the side of the ship, Hogg said all of the compartments around it were closed off and sheets of metal would be used to replace the area around the hole. Most of the ships that Hogg worked on needed only maintenance or minor repairs.

He said he got to Guam in 1945 around the time the war was ending, so much of the fighting had stopped in the region. Throughout his time in the service, Hogg tried to keep things in a positive perspective. “There were a lot of things that you had to do that you wouldn’t do ordinarily,” he said. “But it was what’s put in front of you and you’ve got to do it or be in trouble. If you could cope with that, you had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Hogg said he enjoyed everywhere he had to go, and his perspective helped him turn the most violent war in history into a series of positive personal experiences. “I think it helped me to be in the service, even going in young like that,” he said. “It was probably better for me than for my relatives — my mom, dad and sisters.

“I learned a lot. I saw a lot. Luckily, a lot of the bad habits that could have been going on didn’t really affect me.”

Hogg is thankful that he didn’t face combat during his time in the service, but he knows many did and didn’t return home. “I think I was very fortunate that I never was involved in any kind of direct fighting,” he said. “Luckily, the war ended before I was pushed into it. I feel fortunate about that. I don’t know if I would have the same attitude about things if I had.”

Hogg dropped out of high school to join the Navy in 1944. In 1946, he was discharged under the point system. When he returned to the United States, he earned his GED.

Though he was an electrician in the Navy, a car accident left him too shaky to pursue the profession. Instead, Hogg had a neighbor who worked in a print shop, and he got a job as an apprentice printer under the G.I. bill. He later worked for the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio, as a night foreman of the composing room.

Hogg said he has never regretted his decision to leave school for the Navy. “I really sort of liked it,” he said. “Anything new is an experience, even back then.”

Hogg was one of three Haywood County men to take a trip to Washington, D.C. on a Honor Air flight on Oct. 31.“That was a fantastic trip,” said Hogg. “It was really surprising to me that people here and at the airport and in Washington were able to get together and do what they (did). It was a great, great trip.”

Hogg said the Rotary club did a fantastic job with the trip and the guardians “couldn’t be better people.”

Several people, including Hogg’s wife, Janice, had been trying to get him to go on the trip for a while. Finally, Janice Hogg filled out the papers, and Tram Hogg felt like he should go.

He was amazed at how the buses were able to navigate the streets with the help of police, who rode along the route and blocked intersections as they came to them. He was moved by the many people who stopped to thank him and other veterans for their service to the country and the many letters he received during “mail call” on the flight back to Asheville.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Hogg, adding that he received letters from seventh-graders at Canton Middle School, boy scouts and others. “It made me feel pretty good.”

Among the monuments the group visited, Arlington National Cemetery and the National World War II Memorial stand out the most for Hogg. “One thing that impressed me was all of the gravestones (at Arlington National Cemetery),” he said. “On TV, there are a bunch of them, but there are acres after acres after acres of stones. I knew there were a lot, but I never dreamed it was like this.”

He said the experience took him back to his time in the service and added more perspective to it, particularly the wall of gold stars at the WWII memorial. “It represents a lot of deaths and a lot of people,” he said. “You look at that and you’ve got to think about the people that died.

“When you hear people talking about it, you listen and form your own opinions, but when you see things connected to it, it puts your mind in a different way of thinking. You’re a little more involved and think about it quite a bit more.”

Hogg recommended the trip for any WWII veterans and said they will benefit from it. Hogg and his wife have been married for 58 years. The couple lives in Bethel.

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Click on the headline for the BJ Alums obituary on Trammell.

San Diego's Paper Showing Its Slip

Open up Tuesday's paper and you may spot signs of the recent changes at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

A front-page story sends the reader to A10 to continue the story but you won’t find the story title. Instead, you’ll find the word “Slug” the term journalists call stories. Below that, you’ll find the phrase “Three lines of jumphed right in here, yuppers.”

Apparently the paper started a new pagination system Monday. That’s an automatic system for page layout.

You can see another sign the new system needs tweaking when you check out the Obituary page and find one with the headline “Name Nameline” and subtitle “This is a headline for a wire obituary;headline for wire obit."

The error was caught after the early edition and corrected for later editions.

The UT announced two rounds of layoffs in three months over the summer. In the announcement, the paper said its restructuring plans included changes that would "include a reduction and realignment of staffing levels."

Among the paper's plans for the future, according to the news release, were "an editorial effort that will drive more local news coverage to targeted communities in San Diego; a planned redesign of SignOnSanDiego.com; and a substantial investment in a pagination system that will significantly streamline the newspaper's production process."

In May, the company announced that 192 positions were eliminated.

Former Composing night foreman Trammell Hogg dies

WAYNESVILLE, NC -- Trammell Wilburn Hogg, age 82, of 194 Kelly Springs Road, died on Sunday, November 15, 2009.

A native of Dalton, Georgia, he had previously resided in Akron, Ohio before moving to Haywood County 22 years ago. He was the son of the late Wilburn and Edna Mae Cronic Hogg and also preceded in death by two sisters, Mary E. Hillyard and Freida W. Schweitzer.

He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II having served in Guam. He was employed at the Akron Beacon Journal for 29 years as a night foreman in the Composing Room, retiring in 1984. Trammell was a member of First Baptist Church of Waynesville where he was an active member of the Keenagers Sunday-School Class. He loved the Lord and enjoyed hunting, camping, cutting firewood, and traveling.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Janice Jones Hogg; one daughter, Kathy "Kate" Durham and her husband, Bill, of Hilton Head, S.C.; two sons, Kim W. Hogg and his wife, Karen, of Akron, Ohio and Keith W. Hogg and his wife, Sandra, of Clyde, N.C.; 12 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, November 19, 2009 in the chapel of First Baptist Church of Waynesville with Reverend Dr. Robert Prince officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to services at the church.

Memorials may be made to Youth For Christ of Haywood County, 56 Montgomery Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 or the Good Samaritan Clinic of Waynesville, 34 Sims Circle, Waynesville, NC 28786. Wells Funeral Homes & Cremation Services of Waynesville is in charge of arrangements.

For those who desire, an on-line memorial register is available at 'Obituaries' at

www.wellsfuneralhome.com
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Tuesday, November 17, 2009,. page B7, col. 3]

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Trammell spent his final years in Waynesville, NC, which is 30 miles east of the south entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, NC. Those who have been to that area, as I have, know that it's a perfect place for a man who loved camping and, outside the park boundaries, hunting.

Oren Dorell back at work after spring motorcycle crash

At my request, made after former BJ copy desk chief Jim Kavanagh provided me with their email address, USA Today reporter Oren Dorell's wife, Ginny Knapp Dorell, provided me with this update on Oren's health:

Dear John-

Thank you so much for your interest in Oren.

He is doing a lot better and back to work full-time at USA Today. He was hit on his motorcycle while commuting to work in May. He had four broken vertebrae in his back and shattered his right wrist and elbow. After three surgeries and extensive therapy, he is on the road back to good health.

Oren and I both worked at the Beacon Journal. We have fond memories of it, since that is where we met. Oren covered Barberton/Norton and the swing shift on the night desk. I worked on the copy desk. We were both there from 1998-2000.

Oren's email is odorell@gmail.com and I am sure he would welcome contacts from former co-workers.

Sincerely, Ginny Knapp Dorell

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Oren and Ginny have two sons, Malcolm and Leo.

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Jim Kavanagh got this email from Ginny in October:

I think we are almost back to normal after our summer of disaster. Oren is healing nicely, and is just starting back to work full-time this week. He's still doing physical therapy on his back and is finishing up occupational therapy on his hand (other than what he is up to at home).

I am finally feeling like I can breathe again. It certainly helps getting sleep and not worrying so much.

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The first BJ Alums report on Oren's accident, which happened as he neared his workplace at USA Today, was posted May 10, 2009. He was taken to Fairfax County Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, with four broken vertebrae in his back and compound fractures of his right wrist and elbow.

Click on the headline to read the original BJ Alums report on Oren's accident.

Still dead after 20 years

The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner died Nov. 2, 1989.

The Her-Ex building at 11th and Broadway still is on life support. A grandiose $350 million plan to renovate and resusitate it has been put on hold by the staggering economy.

Parts of the building are used as movie sets -- in "Strange Days," "Cable Guy" and "The Usual Suspects." Heidi Duckler and her Collage Dance Theatre troupe once pranced up and down the grand staircases, performing for its audience, using the newsroom and other areas as props.

The building was designed by architect Julia Morgan. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst liked her work on the Herald-Examiner building so much that he commissioned her to build the Hearst castle in San Simeon, California.

One of the most famous Herald-Examiner editors was Jim Bellows, who made a career out of rescuing dull and sinking newspapers such as the Washington Star, the New York Herald Tribune and the Herald-Examiner.

Bellows was born in Detroit but the family moved to Cleveland by the time he enrolled at Kenyon College. Bellows worked at the Detroit Free Press and Miami News, both Knight Newspapers. Bellows died in March, 2009.

For photos of the Her-Ex building, the Hearst Castle and Bellows, click on the headline.

Cathy Strong fractures foot

Former Beacon Journal State Desk reporter Cathy Strong, teaching journalism in Dubai after decades of doing the same thing in New Zealand, fractured her foot.

"I slipped on a stairwell and broke my foot .... in two places," Cathy reports on her Facebook page.

After snowboarding and water-skiing in New Zealand, and doing other high-risk adventures, Cathy gets hurt walking down steps!

If you want to see all the photos in an album of Cathy that I put together over the months, click on the headline.

To read previous BJ Alums blog posts on Cathy, go to the white rectangle to the right of the white "B" on an orange background at the top left of this page and type in

Cathy Strong

and then click on the magnifying glass. You'll get the previous adventures of Cathy Strong.

Kavanagh escapes CNN exodus

It was only October 2008 when former Beacon Journal copy desk chief Jim Kavanagh reported in the BJ Alums blog that CNN was on a hiring binge. Copy editors, designers and people with graphics and photo skills (for a position they call associate producer) and one-person bureaus around the country were being sought.

My, how times change in 13 months.

I got this email today from Jim that tells a starkly different story:

“A large number of people were laid off this afternoon from CNN.com Live, including a few whom I consider friends.”

The staff memo from CNN senior vice president K.C. Estenson said:

“We will no longer produce anchor-driven, continuous live video programming on CNN.com; and instead, are shifting resources to create a unit focused on streaming major live events, producing video packages especially for CNN.com and increasing our overall on-demand offering.”

Jim’s email continued:

“For those who may be concerned, I am not a part of Dotcom Live, so my job appears to be secure for now.

“Keep the faith.”

Joining the exodus from CNN is high-profile Lou Dobbs, 64, the last of the 29-year-old CNN's original anchors still with the network. Dobbs attracted controversy over his strong opinions, particularly on America’s immigration policy.

CNN correspondent John King, “State of the Union” anchor for the cable news network, will get Dobbs’ time slot for a show devoted to political coverage. CNN President Jonathan Klein said King's program "will reflect what CNN is all about: straight facts from our anchors and the widest range of opinions from across the political spectrum." No more Dobbs hammering away about illegal aliens and jobs leaving America.

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In a later email from Jim:

The CNN.com layoff dust settled with 10 people sent packing, including all the anchors. It could have been much worse; CNN laid off 400 people a few years ago, 80 of them at Dotcom.

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Kavanagh left the Beacon Oct. 13, 2006 and began at CNN Nov. 6 as a web writer. He had been with the BJ for 15 years after five years at Knight-Ridder's Fort Wayne (Indiana) News-Sentinel. He became BJ deputy copy desk chief in 1992 and was promoted to copy desk chief in October 1999.

Newspapers are in Jim’s blood. His dad was a copy boy and cub reporter at the Detroit News before moving on to other things. His paternal grandfather was a reporter and city editor at the News in the 1920s and '30s. Jim’s dad's maternal grandfather owned a print shop in Bay City, Mich., and founded the Bay City Democrat newspaper.

None of Jim’s 10 siblings went into newspaper work.

Jim Kavanah has a blog, “The Freakin’ Deacon,” about faith. You can find it at

http://www.binker731.blogspot.com

For CNN’s story on the departure of Lou Dobbs, go to

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/12/john.king.show/index.html

To find previous BJ Alums postings involving Jim, go to the white “B” on orange background at the top left of this blog, and type

Jim Kavanagh

into the white rectangle to the right of the white “B” and click on the magnifying glass.

For photos of Kavanagh, click on the headline.

Near-record attendance at alums' monthly lunch

The monthly gathering of BJ Alums at Papa Joe's missed the attendance record by one. Cal Deshong, who will be 91 on Nov. 24, Gene McCelland, Carl Nelson and John Olesky were there. The only worse attendance on record was three, on Jan. 14 of this year.

All except Olesky, a Newsroom retiree, are Composing retirees. And Olesky will be absent for the December lunch because he'll be on a Panal Canal cruise with Paula, starting in Los Angeles and winding up in Fort Lauderdale after port stops in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Aruba.

If you want to join the laughter and talk of today and yesterday, the group gathers at Papa Joe's, Akron-Peninsula Road at Portage Trail Extension, at 1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month.

Click on the headline to see photos of all those who attended.

Attendance records, going back to January 2006:

November 11, 2009 ……………. 4

October 14, 2009 ……………… 7

September 9, 2009 ……………. 8

August 12, 2009 ………………. 7

July 8, 2009 ……………………. 10

June 10, 2009 …………………. 10

May 14, 2009 ………………….. 8

April 8, 2009 …………………… 5

January 14, 2009 …………… 3

December 10, 2008 …………… 8

November 12, 2008 …………… 6

October 8, 2008 ……………… 8

August 13, 2008 ……………… 9

July 9, 2008 …………………… 23
(Sandy Levenson, Bob Pell memorial)

June 12, 2008 ………………… 8

May 14, 2008 ………………… 12

Feb. 13, 2008 ………………… 11

Dec. 12, 2007 ………………… 8

Sept. 12, 2007 ………………… 16

August 8, 2007 ……………… 7

June 13, 2007 ………………… 12

May 9, 2007 …………………… 14

April 11, 2007 ………………… 15

March 15, 2007 ……………… ??
(no story & photos no longer available)

January 10, 2007 …………… 14

December 13, 2006 ………… 18

November 8, 2006 …………… 13

October 12, 2006 …………… 11

September 13, 2006 ………… 12

August 13, 2006 …………… 15

July 12, 2006 ………………… 10

June 15, 2006 ……………… 12

May 11, 2006 ………………… 11

April 12, 2006 ……………… 11

March 8, 2006 ……………… 13

February 8, 2006 …………… 11

January 11, 2006 …………… 13

Brian Windhorst visits Dad

I got this email and accompanying photo from BJ retiree Tom Moore, who is helping former BJ sports editor Tom Giffen run the Roy Hobbs Baseball World Series for all age groups:

Brian Windhorst, former BJ sports writer, gets ready to tour Lee County Sport Facility in Fort Myers, Fla. He's visiting his father, Todd, who is one of the honchos of the 21st Roy Hobbs World Series that is run by former BJ sports editor Tom Giffen. The Series has 186 teams taking part in the four-week event.

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To see the original story about Tom Giffen and Tom Moore and the Roy Hobbs Baseball World Series, click on the headline. When you get to the original story, you can see more photos from Ft. Myers if you click on the original story's headline.

Bill Kezziah & JSK reunited

Harry Liggett got this email from former Beacon Journal reporter Bill Kezziah, which Harry passed on to me:

Hey, Harry:

To add to the BJ lore, I found in an estate sale recently some old B&Ws taken in the 1960s at Ascot Park.

The pictures were of winners of different races, but one -- framed -- that caught my eye was the "BJ Handicap" from April, 1960. In the middle was John Knight presenting a cup to the horse owner, a guy by the name of McIntyre.

The 8x10 glossy was probably shot by the park's photog and then hand-lettered by him. He burned three images on one sheet: the race, the cup presentation, and then a picture of the horse, owner, trainer, family.

The other pictures were of different races at different times. I was told the pictures were collectible because of the clothes the people were wearing. I wish the pictures had been signed.

If I remember, Ascot was torn down years ago for ... what?

Hope all is well in Akron.

Bill

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After I emailed Bill for more information, he replied:

John, this was a private estate sale near Charlotte, NC. These were B&Ws that were thrown on a table for $5 or so. I bought the JSK picture for obvious reasons and now have it hanging in my office at home.

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At my request, Bill provided personal information about himself since his 1967-1979 BJ days.

He was a weekly publisher for 20 years in Colorado. Bill taught journalism at the University of Colorado-Kearney. His research was credited in "Media Management in the 2003 "The Age of Giants" book by the University of New Mexico's Dennis F. Herrick.

Bill moved to Greenwood, SC in 2004 "to aid my elderly mother after my father's death. My mother died a year ago."

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Again at my request, Bill sent a recent photo of himself with son David in Savannah, GA.

Bill got his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina and his Master of Arts from the University of Akron.

Cathy Strong photos from Dubai

I got photos of Cathy Strong in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate, from the former Beacon Journal State Desk reporter's Facebook site.

To see those photos, plus other Cathy Strong photos from her State Desk days, to her New Zealand days, to family births, to Dubai, click on the headline.

To see previous BJ Alums blog stories about Cathy Strong, just go to the white rectangle in the upper left, to the right of the white "B" on an orange background, and type in

Cathy Strong

and click on the magnifying glass.

There have been several BJ Alums items about Cathy over the years. You'll see them all. That's also where I got some of the photos you'll see when you click on the headline.

Photos of my 77th birthday party

My daughter Monnie Ann hosted a 77th birthday party for me at her Brunswick home. To see photos of the party, click on the headline.

About the WVU Santa with the naughty message on its butt: Pitt is WVU's oldest rival, going back about 105 years.

Abe Zaidan on JSK

The following is reprinted (er..stolen) from Grumpy Abe, a blog by retired BJ columnist Abe Zaidan

John S. Knight: There was a human side, too...
AS I WAS READING a couple of more death notices for American newspapers, I recalled filmmaker Paul Jacoway's excellent one-hour TV documentary on the life of John S. Knight that was aired a week ago on Ch. 45/49. It was a sad reminder not only of the passing of the last of America's great publishers but also of the abject decline of the print media itself. Jacoway, a part-time University of Akron instructor, worked on the film for three years with Dr. Kathleen Endres of UA as his advisor and editor. It represented the careful assembly of a massive store of material for a journalist who towered above the field - and made a fortune from it.

I never met his brother Jim, who shared many of Jack's attributes, but for the 13 years that I worked under JSK's influence, my desk was no more than 20 feet from his office. Others have written about his life largely from a corporate viewpoint tracking the path of how he and his brother built a media empire. But Jack's passion as a newspaperman dedicated to the city of Akron was never an avocation. He lived it intensely every day, whether he was meeting with CEOs or union guys who ran the presses at the other end of the building. Presidents sought his advice as eagerly as I sought another bet with him on a particular football game. If he won, he arrived at my desk after the week end and primly explained to me how such bets required much research and thought. On the few times that I won, he sent his secretary to me with a $5 bill without comment in a sealed envelope. It was a game with our own rules.

With individuals of great power and influence, human qualities can easily be overlooked. Jack Knight was human, forever a professional newsman while burdened by the tragedies of two lost sons and the murder of a grandson who was being primed to take over Knight newspapers. After that, Knight seemed to retreat to lower expectations for the future of his beloved papers.

The little things about his passions for the newspaper business were clearly reflected when, after much prodding, I convinced him to speak at the Akron Press Club's first annual awards dinner. As it happened, the program was on his 80th birthday, and although he groused about giving up the day for a speech, I think he quietly liked the idea in a pouting sort of way. I found myself in the desperate position of having to work with him on several drafts of the speech and deleting some remarks, particularly his dismay over editorials that said nothing. He didn't want to wear his glasses and complained that I had not placed cards on the tables for questions - which I convinced him that I had. At times he appeared to be an unsure rookie prepping to face a big audience. He gave me strict orders that the speech and following questions from the audience (about 300 guests) would end abruptly 10:3o. Standing next to him on the dais, I reminded him of the time and said I would call it a night. He snapped that I was still holding some written questions on cards and insisted he would continue. I didn't argue.

I suppose that the thing that told me more than anything else about the man is that although my political ideas were to the left of his, he was responsible for my becoming a columnist. I'm sure he disagreed with some of the columns, but never tried to stop me.

While Pulitzer committees and presidents saw him as a fearless outspoken observer of critical issues facing the nation, he was also an editor who circled commas and raised questions in the margins of clippings that he forwarded to the reporter. Having lost a son in World War 11 he saw the folly of our later engagement in Vietnam and defended the young war protesters at the 1968 presidential convention in Chicago, He was attracted to their youthful energy against silly policies.

His voice in his Editor's Notebook column today would be welcome - and perhaps even a strong influence on politicians as we stare at Afghanistan and further losses in human lives and other heavy costs. In the bottom-line culture of newspapers and broadcasters today, you have to look hard to find the kind of courage and sensitivity that came naturally to Jack Knight. Yes, it's a different world, but hardly much better in his absence.

Happy birthday to me!

Today I rolled a pair of 7's for my birthday.

Nov. 5, 1932, to Nov. 5, 2009, equals 77.

I don't feel a day over 57.

Here's Lary Bloom's address

We have added Lary Bloom's email address to our list.  He would be happy to hear from old friends.

larybloom@sbcglobal.net

Fists fly at Washington Post

From The Capital Comment blog:
 Fists Fly After Post Editor Tells Writer, “It’s the Second Worst Story I Have Seen in Style in 43 Years”

It’s come to this: The Washington Post Style section, for years known as “the sandbox” because it was a playground for sometimes immature writers, has turned into a boxing ring because one of the editors was revolted by a story that came across his desk on deadline.

Details are sketchy, but numerous witnesses report that veteran feature editor Henry Allen punched out feature writer Manuel Roig-Franzia on Friday. The fracas took place in sight of Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli’s office. Brauchli rushed to separate the two.

It should be noted that Allen is nearly seventy, but he served in the Marines in Vietnam. He also won a Pulitzer prize in 2000 for criticism. Both apparently came into play when Allen jumped Roig-Franzia.

According to many sources, the incident began when Style editor Ned Martel assigned a semi-political story to Monica Hesse and Roig-Franzia. Playing off of an inadvertent disclosure last week that many congressmen are being investigated for ethics violations, Martel asked the two Style writers to compile a list of similar disclosures in the past. They came up with a “charticle” with a dozen examples, starting with Robert E. Lee’s Civil War battle plans for Antietam showing up wrapped around cigars.

Allen took a look and didn’t like. He started ranting about the number of mistakes he had found.   

Hesse at one point asked him to send the copy back to her. She got a bit teary at the verbal beatdown.

Allen, according to sources, said: “This is total crap. It’s the second worst story I have seen in Style in 43 years.”

Roig-Franzia then wandered into the newsroom. A veteran foreign correspondent, he has been turning out political features for Style. He heard Allen’s rant and stopped by his desk.

“Oh, Henry,” he supposedly said, “don’t be such a cocks-----.”

Allen lunged at Roig-Franzia, threw him to the newsroom floor, and started throwing punches. Roig-Franzia tried to fend him off. Brauchli and others pulled the two apart.

Veteran Style writers said they knew Allen wasn’t happy. He had come up in Style’s heady days, when writers could wax for a hundred inches on the wonder of plastic lawn furniture or the true meaning of the Vietnam War Memorial. No more. Working part time on contract, Allen seethed over the lost art of long-form journalism.

After the brawl, Brauchli called Allen into his office and closed the door. Allen’s contract is up later this month.

Few Style writers expect to see him again.

See the piece on Capital Comment   blog

Thanks to Debbie Van Tassel for calling our attention to the blog

Bloom play premiere is November 12-15

Click on the poster for better view

Here is the poster for “Wild Black Yonder,” the latest play written by Lary Bloom, former Beacon Magazine editor.  The world premiere by Margreta Stage Company will be at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural  Arts Center in Old Saybrook CT.  Performances will be November 12-15 at 8 p.m. with a 2 p.m. performance November 15.

The play stars former news anchor Janet Peckinpaugh in a drama of love and loss. The wife of an Air Force navigator believes that her husband, who disappeared 40 years ago in the Vietnam war, is still alive. A journalist — a natural character in a Bloom play — is researching a book on the fate of the navigator, his childhood friend.

Bloom also is co-author with Tom Ridge, former secretary of Homeland Security, on a book that came out this fall, "The Test of Our Times."  Ridge, describes the challenges he and his new department faced, including Anthrax scares and reports (both real and false alarms) of new Al-Qaeda operations sprouting up in the United States

Bloom as a writer and former editor has helped establish and expand the genre of creative nonfiction. His book on writing, The Writer Within (Contemporary Books, and now Bibliopola), is considered a classic text. It is a natural result of the lessons of 35 years as a Sunday magazine editor. His monthly column in Connecticut Magazine has won an unprecedented two consecutive Silver Awards for column writing from the City and Regional Magazine Association. In addition, Bloom established and hosts the Connecticut Bloomer Awards, to honor citizens who have improved the quality of life in the state. He lives in Chester, Connecticut.


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My first great-grandchild!

By John Olesky (BJ 1969-96)

Brett John Olesky, the first great-grandchild of Akron Beacon Journal retiree John Olesky Jr., was born Oct. 30, 2009 in Akron City Hospital.

The parents are John Richard Olesky, whiz-bang manager of the Verizon store in New Philadelphia and previously an amazing store-rescuer for Alltel in various Summit County stores, and Adri Casper Olesky of Mogadore. Verizon took over Alltel last month.

Brett John is the fifth-generation John Olesky in the family.

My dad was John W. Olesky, Sr. of Monongah, West Virginia.
My son is John Larry Olesky of Tallmadge.

Brett John's great-grandmother is the late Monia Elizabeth "Monnie" Turkette Olesky, originally from Cinderella, West Virginia, who died Feb. 4, 2004, in Aurora, Ohio.

For photos of Brett John and my den wall with the family photo gallery, click on the headline.