Stage 3 cancer for Dunphy

The latest health-care Facebook message 
from former BJ reporter John Dunphy:

Got some semi-grim news today. The new scope shows it is Stage 3 esophageal cancer. That means some aggressive treatments ahead according to the docs.

The surgeon said he would confer with the oncologist and propose a plan of action (surgery, chemo, radiation). We have lots of questions. I was still enjoying what the nurse called "happy juice," and Rebecca only had a few minutes with the doc today. We have an appointment on Tuesday, but expect to hear from them by phone before that.

I'm holding up OK. I'm still a bit groggy. I appreciate all your support, prayers, thoughts and good tidings. I will only post something if there is a real development going forward. Assume that no news is good news.

Rebecca says her mantra is: Every day with Dunphy is a good day. Hey! I think that's mine too.

For earlier reports on Dunphy’s health, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=john+dunphy+health

• Stage 0: carcinoma in situ.
• Stage I: cancers are localized to one part of the body.
• Stage II: cancers are locally advanced.
• Stage III: cancers are also locally advanced.
• Stage IV: cancers have often metastasized, or spread to other organs or throughout the body.      

6 more Grammy nominations for Carney's kid

Pat Carney, left, Dan Auerbach, center

The Black Keys – Akron natives Pat Carney, son of BJ reporter Jim Carney, and Pat’s fellow Firestone High graduate Dan Auerbach – got six Grammy nominations, the same number they got last year when they received four Grammys:

   Record of the year, “Lonely Boy.”

   Album of the year, “El Camino.”

   Best rock album, “El Camino.”

   Producer of the year for Pat, including work with Dr. John and Hacienda.

   Best rock performance, “Lonely Boy.”

   Best rock song, “Lonely Boy.”

Their “Lonely Boy” video on YouTube has more than 20 million hits and has been used on TV shows and in commercials.

The Black Keys have toured Europe, Australia and North America and performed on “Saturday Night Live.” Their rise has been meteoric since they recorded “The Big Come Up” on an 8-track in the Carney basement in 2002. Pat and Dan grew up around the corner from each other. 

Pat Carney married Emily Ward in September in Nashville, where they live. Jim Carney is married to Katie Byard, also a BJ reporter.

To read Malcom X. Abraham's BJ article, click on

http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/black-keys-grab-six-high-profile-grammy-nominations-1.355868

John Dunphy medical update

Former BJ reporter John Dunphy's latest Facebook update on his medical situation:

Met with Dr. John Lipham today at Keck Medical Center, which is nowhere near the main USC campus but is in East L.A. He seems very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. He will do an endoscopic ultrasound tomorrow morning to stage the cancer, checking to see how deeply it has invaded the esophagus and whether the lymph nodes are involved. He's consulting with Dr. Curti, the oncologist today. If the cancer is Stage 2, it sounds as if they will want to do surgery right away. If it is Stage 3, we will discuss doing chemo first. Some recent studies indicate that chemo first at that stage increases longevity. But other studies show it can do some patients more harm than good. It is hotly debated, he says. So pray for Stage 1 or 2!!

In the meantime, he wants some cardiac tests done to make sure the old ticker is up to all this.

If we do chemo, it will take three months. If not, he will try to do surgery right away. He says the operation takes four hours or so and will be done with small incisions in the belly and the neck We were under the impression from earlier doctors that the whole stomach would be removed, but Dr. Lipham says he will save part of it. The whole shebang involves a 6-7 day hospital stay, including an epidural pain catheter and a feeding tube (Moses!) That's if there are no complications. But I should be up and moving around the second day after the surgery. Full recovery will take a minimum of 3 months. Stay tuned...more tomorrow.

For previous BJ Alums reports on Dunphy, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=John+Dunphy+medical

PD to cut 58 of 168 newsroom jobs

The Plain Dealer will eliminate 58 of 168 newsroom jobs, says Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild chairman Harlan Spector, after the current contract prohibiting layoffs expires Jan. 31.

For two articles on the situation, click on

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/197031/cleveland-plain-dealer-tells-guild-it-plans-to-cut-about-one-third-of-newsroom-staff/

and

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Cleveland-Plain-Dealer-workers-prepare-for-cuts-to-one-third-of-newsroom

Once the PD reduces or eliminates its print editions, newspaper carriers will have their incomes drastically cut or wiped out.

Dave White passes away

Composing retiree Gina White sent this email about her husband, former Composing foreman Dave White:

It's with a sad heart that I'm writing to let you know that Dave passed away yesterday after a long struggle with Alzheimers.

I'm tentatively planning a Masonic Service and Celebration of Dave's life here at the house for Saturday. 

Once, I have his obit written it should be in the BJ for Friday. I'm working on it now.

Take care,

Gina

Dave and Gina live in Venice, Florida. Before that, they lived in Sarasota, Florida for two decades after their retirements from the BJ. They filed the successful 2009 healthcare lawsuit that restores retirement-day benefits to 49 Composing and Guild retirees, effective Jan. 1.

NY Times targets newsroom managers in 4th buyout in 5 years

The New York Times is offering buyouts for the fourth time in five years, with up to 30 highly paid newsroom managers the main target.

The Times newsroom employs about 1,150 people — about its size in 2003.

The staff has until Jan. 24 to accept the buyout offer.

Times print revenues are down 10.9 percent and digital ad revenues down 2.2 percent for the third quarter.

To read the full article in Poynter.org, click on

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/196889/new-york-times-offers-buyouts-for-the-fourth-time-in-five-years/

Lawsuit medical coverage cards arriving in the mail

Membership cards for United Healthcare AARP Medicare Supplement Plan N, which will restore printer and Guild retirees to their approximate retirement-day medical coverage, are arriving in the mail for the 50 people who will benefit from the successful healthcare lawsuit against the Beacon Journal.

The $2 and $5 co-pay cards from Medical Mutual of Ohio, which will be handling the prescriptions, arrived earlier.  

Both prescription and medical coverage will be restored to approximate retirement-day levels, beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

As an example of how much the 50 retirees may benefit:

Olesky paid $1,285.83 for his medical costs in 2012, but would have paid about $600 under Plan N for a difference of $685.83. If Olesky hit his average of paying $3,407.78 per year in medical costs for the 2005-2012 period covered by the reimbursement agreement, he would save about $2,800 a year in medical costs to go with the projected $2,700 in savings from the $2 prescription co-pay card for a combined projected total of about $5,500. Others benefitting from the lawsuit may save even more.

BJ Settlement Administrator Roger Messmore, who has been at the Beacon for 32 years in Human Resources, is handling the reimbursement claims for extra medical and prescription expenses from a $100,000 fund. If the total exceeds $100,000, which is not expected, then the reimbursements would be pro-rated.

Those checks have not been received yet.

Forty-five retired printers and their spouses are eligible.

They are Dave and Gina White, of Venice, Florida, who began the lawsuit on behalf of the printers; Bob and Linda Abbott, Massillon (Bob pursued relief informally on his own before he joined the Whites’ lawsuit); Ruth and Tom West, Rittman; Hugh and Sharon Downing, The Villages, Florida; Larnie and Stephanie Greene, Hartville; Joe Catalano, Akron; Lloyd and Claudine Bigelow, Cuyahoga Falls; John Costello, Akron; Dick Gresock, Medina; Henry and Kathleen Heinbuck, North Canton; Denzil Parker, Wadsworth; Francis and Rita Reeves, Akron; Bob Walker, Medina; Cecil and Josephine Santaferro, Akron; Sid Sprague, Loveland, Colorado; Isabel Watson (Blanton’s widow), Naples, Florida; Janice Hogg (Trammel’s widow), Waynesville, North Carolina; Russ and Martel Bendel, Wadsworth; Eunice and Bonnie Collins, Copley; Richard and Patricia Fair, Akron; Marjorie Hanna, Wadsworth; Ed Hanzel, Barberton; Bob Kendall, Berlin Center; Harriet Ledbetter, Canton; Norm and Naomi Mattern, Wellsville; Charles O’Neill, Akron; Fred Pollack, Akron; Don Reppart, North Canton; Ron Sanderlin, Canton; Charles Stadelman, Tallmadge; and Ray and Amaryllis Wolfe, Greentown.

Five Guild retirees and a spouse are eligible for the settlement, which depended on the wording in retirement letters.

They are John Olesky, of Tallmadge, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Guild retirees in 2009; retired reporter Dick McBane, Lilburn, Georgia; maintenance retiree Harold Bailey and wife Elizabeth, Kent; copy desk retiree Dick McLinden, North Canton, and retired photographer Don Roese, Cuyahoga Falls.

U.S. Federal District Court Judge David Dowd approved the settlement Nov. 9.

In early 2007, shortly after Canadian media mogul David Black's Black Press acquired the Beacon Journal, the newspaper switched healthcare coverage plans and drastically reduced these retirees' benefits. 

That sparked a reaction among Guild and printer retirees that led to the successful lawsuits. 

Tom Marvin: Guitar man keeps travelin' on

Tom Marvin (right), brother-in-law Bob Lecraft

By John Olesky (BJ 1969-96)

Former Beacon Journal photographer Tom Marvin is king of the road.

Tom and wife Kay finished a 3,000-mile autumn trip along the Gulf Coast and up through Appalachia last month before parking their 6-month-old camper on their Guernsey County farm in southern Ohio.

Before that, they spent 6 months and covered 10,000 miles in a truckbed camper, most of it in Alaska, which is familiar territory to another retired BJ photographer, Don Roese, who lives in Cuyahoga Falls. 

The Marvins sold the truckbed  camper, thinking their camping days were over, but decided to buy the trailer camper they used for their trip south.

They’ll have to leave the trailer behind next September, though, when they fly to Hawaii for their 25^th wedding anniversary, which is Oct. 1.

Speaking of Don Roese, Tom and Don and their wives took a trip through the Panama Canal together not that many years ago.

Don and wife Maryann are planning a trip to New Zealand, where 1970s BJ reporter Cathy Strong is a university  journalism guru. 

Paula and I will be meeting Cathy in New Zealand during our March 12-April 2 New Zealand/Australia trip next year.

Tom Marvin says he still has a sheepskin rug, a gift from Cathy.

The photo of Tom shows him with Bob Lecraft, husband of Tom’s wife Kay’s sister. Tom has been playing the guitar since he was 11 years old. That’s 55 years of strumming. 

He recalls playing with another former BJ reporter, Ted Gupp, who was on harmonica, at Hunter’s on Turkeyfoot Lake.

Tom and Kay have 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Beth Marvin Stevens, a Los Angeles attorney, from Tom’s marriage to former BJ staffer and former Hoover High School English and journalism teacher Pam McCarthy, gave birth to the two most recent grandchildren, which means that Pam’s grandchildren total is growing, too.

Pam is district manager for Arbonne International, a skin care and health products company.

Tom’s new email address is TMarvin7471@gmail.com His phone number is (740) 498-7471. His address is:

74321 Birch Rd
Kimbolton,Oh 43749

The Marvin farm is just north of Salt Fork State Park in southern Ohio, near I-77 and north of Cambridge.

What about YOU? Have you been traveling lately? If you have, email details and jpeg photos, showing you and family at your destinations, to John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com If you found Tom’s travels interesting, then other BJ folks (current and retired) will find yours of interest, too.

Print newspapers RIP in 5 years?

Most U.S. print newspapers will be gone in five years, writes Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism. Coles writes that only four major daily newspapers with global reach will continue in print: New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

He says local weekly newspapers may survive, as well as the Sunday print editions of metropolitan newspapers that otherwise may exist only in online editions.

To read about the nail heading for the print newspaper coffin, and other effects of the Internet explosion, click on

http://journalism.about.com/od/printjournalisminperil/a/Newspapers-Are-Not-Dead-Not-Yet.htm

Upbeat report from John Dunphy

Former BJ reporter and Orange County Register retiree John Dunphy has this upbeat report on his Facebook about his medical condition:

The news is about as good as we could have gotten. The cancer hasn't spread as far as the docs can tell from the PET scan.

John Dunphy 

It’s Stage 1 or 2, so it was caught early.

Next step is a consultation with USC surgeon John Lipham who will do more scoping and measuring of the tumor. It should help determine whether chemo should be done before surgery.

Thanks for all your kind thoughts, prayers, wishes and offers of help.

For earlier reports on Dunphy’s health situation, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=john+dunphy+health

John Dunphy medical update

Former Beacon Journal John Dunphy’s wife, Rebecca, provides an update on the Orange County Register retiree’s medical situation:

Rebecca & John Dunphy

He is doing well. The brain scan (which was just precautionary) was not something anyone would choose to do. John's head was in a vise and then a cage was put over his face. He had to be completely still for 45 minutes!! This is the guy who can't bear to hit a red light. Then they put him in a chamber where the thunder gods pounded on a drum, a barrel and a gong at various times until any sane person would be screaming to get out. And every itch he had jumped up and demanded to be scratched, but he couldn't move to scratch it. Then they pulled him out, injected him with superpowers or radiation, and put him in for another good thumping.

He was a very patient patient and everything went fine. We will get the results in 3 to 5 days.

He has an oncology appointment tomorrow at 2. The doc won't have the results from this test, but he will have the results of Wednesday's PET scan, which will tell us if it is contained to the esophagus or has spread. That will determine what treatment needs to be done and in which order.

For an earlier report on John’s medical situation, click on http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=John+Dunphy+health+situation

Dawidziak busy as the Dickens for the holidays

    

     If it’s the holiday season then Plain Dealer TV critic and former Beacon Journal TV critic Mark Dawidziak is performing  Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with Mark dressed as Dickens.

    Mark’s schedule ("A Christmas Carol" at Zoar, "A Visit With Charles Dickens" at the other venues):

   1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, United Church of Christ, 142 E. Fifth Street, in Zoar.

   7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, Wayne County Library, Wooster
   2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, Rodman Public Library, Alliance
   7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, Canton, MICHIGAN Public Library near Ann Arbor

   1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, College Club of Akron, Akron Woman's City Club, Akron

    This year marks the 200^th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth.

Mark has been playing Dickens for more than 10 years and is a member of the Cleveland chapter of the International Dickens Fellowship.

The Largely Literary Theater Company was founded by Mark and wife Sara Showman in 2001. They live in Cuyahoga Falls with daughter Becky.

Mark and friends also do Mark Twain – Dawidziak is a dead ringer for Samuel Langhorne Clemens with less and less makeup needed as our Mark’s hair turns as white as Hannibal, MO’s Mark – and Edgar Allan Poe thrillers. 

Dawidziak first portrayed Twain in one-man shows during the early 1980s in Tennessee and Virginia before he began working for the BJ and long before he joined the parade of Beacon reporters and editors who left Akron for Cleveland.

All aboard! Family style

Tom Moore with daughter Kathy in Polar Express outfits

BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore has climbed aboard the Polar Express again, and this time he has his daughter Kathy with him.  

Kathy lives in Cuyahoga Falls after retiring from the Environmental Protection Agency with 35 years of service. She began her “career” as a copy girl in the BJ newsroom.

Hopefully Tom won’t fall face-first from the train the way he did in January. That was not a pretty picture in the BJ Alums blog.

You can board the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s Polar Express at 7900 Old Rockside Road in Independence, 1630 Mill Street in Peninsula and 27 Ridge Road in Akron.

The Express operates only on weekends at this time of the year and most trips are sold out. You can try your luck at (800) 468-4070.

Lawsuit Rx co-pay cards arriving in mail

The $2 Guild retirees and $5 retired printers prescription co-pay cards are arriving in the mail for the 50 people who will benefit from the successful healthcare lawsuit against the Beacon Journal.  Medical Mutual of Ohio is handling the prescription co-pays.

United Healthcare will handle the AARP Medical Supplement Plan N, which will restore printer and Guild retirees to their retirement-day medical coverage.

Both restored prescription and medical coverage will begin Jan. 1, 2013.

To give you an idea of the savings for the BJ retirees, John Olesky paid $2,857.87 this year under Aetna’s prescription coverage through the BJ, but would have paid $104 under the $2 co-pay, a difference of $2,753.87. 

Much of the cost for Olesky came after he hit the donut hole, when the total prescription cost for the BJ and its retirees  exceeded a specified annual limit. Once in the donut hole, Olesky had to pay 100% of brand-name prescription costs, some of which were in the neighborhood of $300. 

There is no donut hole for retired printers and Guild retirees who won their lawsuit against the BJ.

As for medical costs, Olesky paid $1,285.83 in 2012, but would have paid about $600 under Plan N for a difference of $685.83. 

And this was a down year for Olesky in medical costs. He averaged paying $3,407.78 per year for the 2005-2012 period covered by the reimbursement agreement.

BJ Settlement Administrator Roger Wettmore is handling the reimbursement claims for extra medical and prescription expenses from a $100,000 fund.  If the total exceeds  $100,000, which is not expected, then the reimbursements would be pro-rated. 

Those checks have not been received yet.

Forty-five retired printers and their spouses are eligible. 

They are Dave and Gina White, of Venice, Florida, who began  the lawsuit on behalf of the printers; Sid Sprague, Loveland, Colorado; Hugh and Sharon Downing, The Villages, Florida; Isabel Watson, Naples, Florida; Janice Hogg, Waynesville, North Carolina; Bob and Linda Abbott, Massillon; Russ and Martel Bendel, Wadsworth; Lloyd and Claudine Bigelow, Cuyahoga Falls; Joe Catalano, Akron; Eunice and Bonnie Collins, Copley; John Costello, Akron; Richard and Patricia Fair, Akron; Larnie and Stephanie Greene, Hartville; Dick Gresock, Medina; Marjorie Hanna, Wadsworth; Ed Hanzel, Barberton; Henry and Kathleen Heinbuck, North Canton; Bob Kendall, Berlin Center; Harriet Ledbetter, Canton; Norm and Naomi Mattern, Wellsville; Charles O’Neill, Akron; Denzil Parker, Wadsworth; Fred Pollack, Akron; Francis and Rita Reeves, Akron; Don Reppart, North Canton; Ron Sanderlin, Canton; Cecil and Josephine Santaferro, Akron; Charles Stadelman, Tallmadge; Bob Walker, Medina; Ray and Amaryllis Wolfe, Greentown, and Ruth and Tom West, Rittman.

Five Guild retirees and a spouse are eligible for the settlement, which depended on the wording in retirement letters. 

They are John Olesky, of Tallmadge, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Guild retirees; Dick McBane, Lilburn, Georgia; Harold and Elizabeth Bailey, Kent; and Don Roese, Cuyahoga Falls.

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John Dunphy health situation

Former Beacon Journal reporter John Dunphy had a PET (positron emission tomography) scan today, which uses a radioactive substance to look for disease in the body. He will have a brain MRI on Sunday.

John will review the results with his oncologist Monday.

Says John on his Facebook page: “We’re off and running folks!”

John and wife Rebecca Allen live in Lakewood, California. 

He was laid off from the Orange County Register in California earlier this year. John also worked for newspapers in Kansas City, Detroit and Seattle. He is one of nine children of the late Angela and Harry Dunphy of Cincinnati.

Paris trip photos

By John Olesky (BJ 1969-96)

If you want to see photos & explanations of the week-long 8^th anniversary trip to Paris by John Olesky and Paula Tucker, who worked together on Pat Englehart's State Desk in the 1970s, click on https://picasaweb.google.com/115483244393507838338/Paris2012Trip#

What about YOU? If you have jpeg photos of a recent trip to foreign countries with you and family in the photos, with details about your experiences there, email them to jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll compile them in an online album for BJ readers to see. If you have only one or two photos then I’ll just post them on the BJ Alums blog.

Also, what countries have you visited in your lifetime? Maybe I can put together a list of all the countries visited by BJ alumni with your name attached to each country you visited. 

I’ve been to 50 countries since my 1996 retirement from the BJ. I suspect other BJ alumni have visited even more nations.

Phishing expedition ensnares Jeff Sallot

Former Beacon Journal reporter Jeff Sallot, who was involved in the Beacon Journal’s Pulitzer-winning coverage of the 1970 Kent State shootings by the Ohio National Guard long before he retired from the Toronto Globe, got entangled in a phishing foray. So he warned everyone in his email list about it.

Jeff’s email:

Hello,

This is a mass email to all the people in my contacts list in my email. First, sorry for the mass mailing. But I'm especially sorry that some of you already have received phony twitter messages purporting to be from me, saying somebody is spreading gossip about you. You are asked to click on a link. This is a sophisticated phishing operation and whoever is behind it is looking for passwords. If you've already clicked through and entered a password for anything change it right away. If you haven't received a twitter message like this from me - or anyone else for that matter - you may yet see one. I got caught when I got a twitter message like this from a former boss at the Globe a few days ago.

To read more about the phishing tactics, click on http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/nov/08/twitter-warns-hack-password-reset

If you want to renew acquaintances with Jeff, his cellphone number in Canada is 613 668-6412.

Jeff also runs a website -- reportinglab.com -- designed by journalism educators at Ottawa's Carleton University, where Jeff is on the faculty, that links to stories about news events around the world.  

Myths about Obamacare

MYTH 1: The new law cuts Medicare drastically, so I won't be able to get quality health care.

The Affordable Care Act prohibits cuts to guaranteed Medicare benefits. Provisions to help curb the soaring costs of Medicare include taxing high-premium plans (beginning in  2018), cracking down on fraud and waste, and preventive care to avert chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, which cost billions. 

By 2020 the law closes the Medicare Part D prescription drug "doughnut hole," in which Medicare beneficiaries pay full price for prescription drugs after exceeding a dollar limit each year. There will be ever-increasing discounts till 2020.

MYTH 2: Medicare Advantage plans will be cut or taken away.

The Affordable Care Act, referred to as Obamacare by critics, does not eliminate Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately administered but cost taxpayers 14 percent more per enrollee than the traditional Medicare program. 

MYTH 3: I'll have to wait longer to see my doctor — or I won't be able to see my doctor at all.

"If your current plan allows you to see any physician in the plan, nothing will change," says Shana Alex Lavarreda,  director of health insurance studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

MYTH 4: If I have Medicare, I will need to get more or different insurance.

Stuart Guterman, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, said "Medicare beneficiaries will continue to have Medicare, and there's no requirement that they get additional coverage beyond what they already have."

To read the full article by Beth Howard in the September 2012 AARP The Magazine, click on http://www.aarp.org/health/health-insurance/info-09-2012/medicare-and-health-care-reform-myths.html

Old folks learning new digital tricks

Senior citizens are getting with it when it comes to digital technology.

-- 60% of Internet users 65 or older get their news online, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. They no longer wait for the morning newspaper or even the 6 o’clock TV news or top-of-the-hour radio reports.

-- 58% go online to research medical information. If you’re Medicare age, you have a lot of need for that info.

-- More than two-thirds research products online before buying. And more than half have bought products online.

Senior citizens no longer depend on pre-teen family members to use the computer for them. It seems the children and grandchildren have been easing we old geezers into the Internet age, including Facebook.

Rainie’s article appears in the November 2012 AARP Bulletin.

Mark's Mark in Niles on Saturday

Cleveland Plain Dealer and former Beacon Journal television critic Mark Dawidziak will be taking his “A Visit with Mark Twain” road show to Niles' McKinley Memorial Auditorium Saturday at 1 p.m. 

Mark has done this one-man show at a variety of Northeast Ohio locations over the years.

Mark Dawidziak as Mark Twain

He first portrayed Twain during the 1980s in Tennessee and Virginia before he began working for the Beacon Journal.

Mark will perform solo this time, but he has done "Twain by Three" often with his wife, Sara Showman, and Jason Davis, an Akron native who lives in Fairlawn Heights.

Mark and Sara’s Largely Literary Theater Company, founded in 2001, also does shows centered on Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe. Their first performance of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was given in 2002 in Taylor Memorial Library in Cuyahoga Falls.

Mark has written many non-fiction books, a novel, short stories and several plays, and teaches the Reviewing Film and Television course at Kent State University.

Mark Twain’s birth name was Samuel Clemens. He was an author, river boat pilot and humorist. "Huckleberry Finn" was one of his most famous books.