Harry Memmer, mailroom retiree, dies at 88

Beacon Journal mailing room retiree Harry Memmer passed away on Friday. As the obituary below notes, Harry and his wife, Charlotte, were avid motorcyclists. Their bike trip to Alaska in 1998 is partially chronicled on this Fairbanks website.

Harry Memmer

Harry A. Memmer Jr., 88, passed away peacefully at home with family at his side on June 19, 2015. Harry lived in Ellet his entire life and retired from the Akron Beacon Journal after 44 years. He was a veteran in Korea during World War II. Harry and Charlotte visited every state in the U.S. on their Goldwing motorcycles. Their highlight was their Alaskan trip. They were charter members of "Chapter T and Chapter P Goldwing Road Riders Club." They also enjoyed their time and friends at their cabin in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. They enjoyed many winters with their WBN friends in Key Largo, Florida. He also enjoyed fishing, hunting, working puzzles and cross stitching.

Harry is preceded in death by his parents, Harry and Anna Memmer Sr; sister, Jean Lee; first wife, Mary (Higgins); sons, Rick Memmer and Roger Varner. He leaves behind his loving wife of 56 years, Charlotte (Varner); sons, Ron (Dee) Memmer, Bill (Terry) Memmer, Carl (Linda) Varner, Jim (Barbara) Memmer, and John Memmer; daughters, Lorna (Bill) Moore and Norma (John) Gay. He leaves behind 20 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren; and 1 great-great grandchild.

Calling hours will be held on Monday June 22 from 4-7pm with memorial service following at 7pm at Newcomer Funeral Home 131 N. Canton Rd. Akron, OH 44305. Pastor Fred Higgins officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be given to Summa Hospice or a charity ofyour choice.

There was former BJ Features Dept. editor/columnist Connie Bloom in her 350 square foot studio as the resident quiltmaker in Summit Artspace on the third floor at 140 E. Market Street, next door to the Akron Art Museum.

Summit County Executive Russ Pry pops in.

Pry was at Summit Artspace delivering a talk to Leadership Akron interns from around the country.

Leadership Akron is a conduit between interns and established community leaders, organizations and groups to show Akron’s advantages.

Fashion note: Connie’s shirt is by James Madison University graduate Kevin Womack of KevinWomackArt on Etsy, “the place to buy custom-dyed scarves, sarongs and t-shirts,” as K’s website says.

Connie is an art quilts guru, creating fiber art that looks like paintings. She’s famous in Ohio for it. She is publisher/editor of QSDS (Quilt Service Design Symposium), a quarterly online magazine about fabric art.

The former Garfield High majorette married Bob Shields in 2008. They have been together for more than a decade. 

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

Connie was part of the 2008 BJ exodus that saw more than 400 years of experience walk out the door.

It was the beginning of a decimation that reduced the BJ staff from 250 to 60 on one floor – the third – and kick-started unsuccessful attempts to rent out the first and second floors and the mezzanine to other businesses and even caused the BJ owner to see whether it was wiser to move to another, small building. But that didn’t work out.

The survivors of one of many newspaper Titanics still give it their best, despite the workload with one-fourth the apex staff.

Wrinkles & white hair: Proof that both Marks know how to live

Mark Dawidziak in 2015 looks so much like Mark Twain in the 19^th century that it’s as scary as “The Mysterious Stranger,” Sammy boy’s final, unfinished novel about good and evil.

And, as time passes, Mark has to use less and less makeup to achieve the imitation.

The photo is of former BJ and current PD entertainment critic Mark at the Mark Twain House & Museum last week in Hartford, Connecticut. Mark’s first visit there was when he was 16 and living in Long Island with his twin brother and the rest of the family.

Mark and Sara did the show and Mark did the book-signings where he once showed up as a wide-eye teenager.

Monday, Mark and wife Sara Showman, the famous showbiz couple from Cuyahoga Falls, did a show and book-signing (Dawidziak's latest, "Mark Twain's Guide to Diet, Exercise, Beauty, Fashion, Investment, Romance, Health and Happiness") at the Auglaize County Public Library in Wapakoneta, Ohio. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25 they’ll bring their show and book-signing to the Barberton Public Library.

Mark has been playing the other Mark for 36 years, starting when he was 22. You do the math and, as our Mark says, blame genetics and you’ll see why he doesn’t need much makeup to be on the mark as the other Mark.

Hal Holbrook is the most famous Mark Twain impersonator nationally. But I suspect that Samuel Langhorne Clemens might have more trouble telling himself for Ohio’s Mark than from the actor’s Mark.

Sammy was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835, but Dawidziak is keeping him alive in brilliant fashion. He died in 1910 at his Redding, Connecticut home, which explains why the Mark Twain House & Museum is in Connecticut and not in Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain/Clemens lived from age 4 to 17. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. Alas, the report of his death is no longer a great exaggeration.

Paula and I visited the Twain grave site (I like to visit birth, workplace and graves of writers during our travels to 52 countries and 43 states). His wife, Livy, and their children Langdon, Suzy, Jean and Clara are in the same row.

Nearby, we saw the grave of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy in college football. Davis starred for Syracuse, was drafted by the Washington Redskins and traded to the Cleveland Browns but died from leukemia in 1962 before playing a down in the NFL.

Some of my favorite Mark Twain quotes:

“Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.”

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

 And this was before Al Gore invented the Internet and Facebook!

“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”

 

And, as my final tribute to our Mark and Hannibal’s Mark:

 

“Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”

 

 

 

 

Sheryl Harris named to Cuyahoga’s Consumer Affairs department

PD and former BJ consumer affairs reporter Sheryl Harris has been appointed director of Cuyahoga County's Department of Consumer Affairs for $85,000 a year. The appointment by county Executive Armond Budish must go before County Council for a confirmation hearing, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

The department was created in 2012. Sheryl will succeed the first director, Cynthia Cich.
Sheryl is married to cartoonist John Backderf.

 Derf was a staff artist-cartoonist for the Plain Dealer from 1986-89 and for the Akron Beacon Journal from 1990-1999.

Sheryl also was a regular on Cleveland public radio’s WCPN on “The Sound of Ideas” discussing, naturally, consumer affairs. The Ohio State grad lives in Cleveland with Derf.

Elaine! Dustin Hoffman calling for his money. J

Former BJ arts and culture critic Elaine Guregian, Development Officer for Corporate and Foundation Relations with the Summa Foundation, handed out $1,000 in cash prizes to the winners of the Fresh Art Show at Summit Artspace in Akron.

The show had 50 works from the 250 submitted for consideration, from photography and paintings to sculpture and digital art.

Jennifer Omaitz of Kent won the top prize of $500. Kathryn Shinko of Akron got second place and $200. Rachel Goldman of Medina was third with $150. Jennifer Jones of Akron, Diane Taninecz of Peninsula and John Carlson of Lakewood earned honorable mentions.

Elaine!

The Fresh Air award of $150 for an innovative artwork went to Craig, Heather, Leila and Dylan Wargowsky of Akron for an animated video about their family.

The prizes were sponsored by the Summa Foundation, which supports patient care, medical education and research through philanthropy.

The winners’ artwork and pieces from 45 other local artists will remain at the Summit Artspace Gallery until June 27. The Gallery is in the Summit Artspace building at 140 E. Market Street in downtown Akron. The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission and parking are free.

Elaine was classical music and dance critic at Ol’ Blue Walls for 16 years before expanding into arts and culture to add theater to her coverage. Her late mother, Carol Guregian, was a teacher in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Elaine left the BJ in the 2008 exodus, when 18 walked out with 273 years of service. In 2006 there were 24 departures with 335 years of service, including the best food writer in BJ history, Jane Snow. 2001 was the most massive migration from Ol’ Blue Walls: five CENTURIES of service walked out the door, including Tom Melody, Art Krummel, Mickey Porter, Joan Rice and Steve Love, all likely candidates if they ever have a BJ Hall of Fame.

That’s a THOUSAND years of service, and more than that in lifetime career experience, that left the BJ in three momentous days! Ol’ Blue Walls never recovered.

And all this came AFTER my 1996 retirement which freed me to travel to 52 countries, 43 states and take 11 cruises with my late wife Monnie and my current love of 11 years, Paula Stone Tucker, a 1970s State Desk reporter who wised up and became a psychologist. I’m her prime subject.

Managing Editor Doug Oplinger, John Deere’s No. 1 groupie, still hasn’t found a replacement for me.

For those who didn’t get the headline, “Elaine!” is the famous Dustin Hoffman scream in the 1967 movie “The Graduate” as he sees his sweetheart Elaine marry Carl.

 

Benjamin (Dustin) uses a giant cross to swat at pursuers and then to lock the door as Benjamin and Elaine flee and board a passing bus to live happily ever after. That’s what they do in most movies.

Simon and Garfield made a bundle with a song, written by Paul Simon with a reference to the Yankee Clipper that infuriated Joe DiMaggio, they wrote for the movie: “Mrs. Robinson,” Grammy Record of the Year.

 

Later, in a face-to-face meeting when Simon explained to Joe that it was a tribute to his quality personna in a world gone mad, the Clipper calmed down.

Simon performed "Mrs. Robinson" at Yankee Stadium in DiMaggio's honor the month after his death.

I’ve often been told that I tend to shoot off on tangents in mid-conversation. You think?

 

From Elaine Guregian to “Elaine!” in “The Graduate.”

 

A natural progression, in my mind.

Well, I did learn from the best, Patrick T. Englehart.

 

Pat, his DeNobil cigar crammed in his mouth, would run a thought through his brain, then speak the followup thought aloud to you, expecting you to connect the dots by having enough extrasensory perception to read his mind. If you didn’t, Pat looked at you like a man who had a paper asshole.

God, I miss Pat, Harry and Fran.

Fun with Dick and Jane

Jane Noland Hecht, who once worked at Ol’ Blue Walls, is celebrating her 15^th wedding anniversary with husband Dick Hecht.

Quips Jane:

“It's been a Great 15 years! I'm a lucky girl.”

Webb Shaw gets Oscar of digital content industry

Former BJ newsroom editor Webb Shaw, who retired in December 2014 after 22 years with J.J. Keller, has received the Oscar of the digital content industry, the Software & Information Industry Association Peter Jackson Innovation Award. Webb is only the 4^th person to receive the award in its history.

Webb Shaw

The Peter Jackson Innovation Award honors the late Thomson Reuters vice president and chief scientist, and his profound impact on the B2B publishing industry. Dr. Jackson was an active board member of the SIIA Content Division.

Webb’s father, the late Ohio native and Fremont Ross High football star Bob Shaw, was an all-American end on Ohio State’s 1942 national championship team coached by the legendary Paul Brown, who eventually guided the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL. Later Bob Shaw was a tight end with the 1949 Los Angeles Rams and was receivers coach with the Baltimore Colts in 1958 when they beat the New York Giants to win the NFL championship in what has been called "The Greatest Game Ever Played."

Webb’s mom was Mary, who caught Bob’s eye when she was selling candy as an usherette at the Ohio Theater while the Buckeye players were downtown to watch a movie.

Bob Shaw coached briefly at Cuyahoga Falls High School. w years as VP of editorial resources at Keller, no one knows better than your family how hard you worked these past 40 years. Pride doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel, and I look forward to our next chapter…..

The Software & Information Industry Association is involved in the creation and delivery of business information.

Webb was Director Editorial of Resources at J.J. Keller and part of the SIIA Content Division Buyer-Seller Working Group, which meets monthly to act as an advisory group to the Buyer-Seller Project, discuss issues and challenges they are facing and to network.

To hear Webb’s video interview, go to http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcg1hn_webb-shaw-director-editorial-of-res_tech

LeBron best draw since Michael

The stirring saga of King James trying to become the Moses who leads the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first Promised Land despite a demolition derby that hit his supporting cast has ABC heading to the best NBA Finals ratings in 17 years.

And this is in a year when NBA TV ratings during the season were their lowest in seven years.

The last time the NBA Finals ratings were better was when Michael Jordan was still playing for the Chicago Bulls before his first retirement in 1999.

Defeated before the opening pitch

The home page of :The Undefeated” reads: “Presented by ESPN & Jason Whitlock. Coming Summer 2015.”

Maybe. Maybe delayed.

Either way, without one of the country’s most prominent African-American sportswriters, Whitlock. Deadspin, using internal documents and emails, painted Whitlock as a “catastrophe” as a manager.

Now, so does Whitlock’s bosses at ESPN.

Reminds of many smooth talkers who came to the BJ in management positions, but the rank and file recognized immediately that they weren’t up to their title.

Management would keep them around for 12 to 18 months, to avoid admitting a mistake, then one day you’d show up for work and they were gone without explanation.

Even Babe Ruth struck out. But he never pretended that he had hit a home run instead.

Christopher Lee, at 93, on Sunday joined fellow horror film actors John Carradine, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price in that Great Monster Mash in The Sky.

Mark Dawidziak, former BJ and current PD TV/movie critic, had these thoughts:

“The quartet now has its missing resonant voice. I will always cherish the interviews with Christopher Lee, particularly the chat we had for ‘The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula.’ “ which Mark wrote.

Lee on Lee during that conversation: “I seem to be associated with these authors who, like Jonathan Swift, swept readers to these wonderfully imaginative worlds with bizarre characters: J.R.R. Tolkien and "’he Lord of the Rings,’ Mervyn Peake and ‘Gormenghast,’ Bram Stoker and ‘Dracula.’

"The difference, of course, is that ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Gormenghast’ are extraordinary realizations of books people said could never be brought to the screen. They’re stunning and they’re faithful, whereas Dracula never has been brought to the screen in a manner that’s either stunning or faithful.

“I never said I wouldn’t play Dracula again. Indeed, if someone had stepped forward with a superior script that was faithful to Stoker’s novel, I would have loved to play it. That never happened.”

Quips Mark: “Imagine what would have happened if someone had stepped forward with that script.”

Lee played Dracula, the bad guy in the James Bond thriller "The Man with the Golden Gun," the evil wizard Saruman in the "Lord of the Ring" films and the dude who fought Yoda with a lightsaber in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones."

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, with the deep, strong voice that also was suitable for singing, was knighted for services to drama and charity in 2009.

Lee was born in Belgravia, Westminster, London.

He was an uncredited spearcarrier in Laurence Olivier's film version of “Hamlet” (1948). Peter Cushing played Osric.

Lee was Frankenstein's monster and Cushing was Baron Victor Frankenstein in “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957).

They were in more than 20 films together.

Lee co-starred with Boris Karloff in “Corridors of Blood” (1958). Lee played Frankenstein's monster in “Horror of Dracula” (1958) and “Dracula: Prince of Darkness” (1965).

Lee spoke fluent English, Italian, French, Spanish and German and was moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek.

Cushing also appeared occasionally  with Vincent Price.

John Carradine played Count Dracula after Bela Lugosi did in the movies. He appeared in dozens of low-budget horror films from the 1940s onwards to finance a touring classical theatre company.

Price's first venture into the horror genre was in the 1939 Boris Karloff film “Tower of London.”