Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Dayton based alum
Tom Quinn and Steve Esrati are setting up a Dayton branch of CULT. The next meeting will be in January. Details later.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Scenes from the Press Club Hall of Fame dinner
The Press Club of Cleveland inducted 5 journalists into the Hall of Fame Thursday, Nov. 14 at the Mariott in Cleveland. Nearly 200 people attended to honor PD baseball writer Paul Hoynes, former PD reporter/editor Mary Anne Sharkey, PD cartoonist Jeff Darcy, Ideastream radio personality Dee Perry and Jewish News Columnist Violet Spevack.
Here's some sightings from the affair:
Monday, October 07, 2013
Lunch bunch in Parma
PD Editorial Retirees & Expatriates
Gather for lunch on the last Fridays of January, April, July and October
Spouses and guests always welcome
NEXT LUNCHEON: At noon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 .
PLACE: Kumo Japanese Seafood Buffet (formerly Hong Kong Buffet), 1975 Snow Rd., across the street from Midtown Mall in Parma.
Take I480 to State Road, go south to Snow, turn left (east). Just past the new Parma library, enter the parking lot south of Snow between Burger King and Park 'N Eat. Kumo is at the south end of the lot, west of Giant Eagle.
MENU: Japanese and Chinese food, from dim sum and sushi to teriyaki, tempura and ice cream. Prices are under $10 plus beverage.
RSVP by Tuesday, Oct. 22,
Sunday, July 07, 2013
Let's do lunch
PD Editorial Retirees &
Expatriates
Casual unstructured lunch troupe
Gather for lunch on the last Fridays
of January, April, July and October
Spouses and guests always welcome
NNEXT
LUNCHEON: Friday, July 26, 2013 at 11 A.M. (Noon is busiest time,
and restaurant closes at 2 p.m.)
PPLACE:
Original Pancake House, 3000 Westgate Mall (second row of buildings on W.210th
St. side behind Earth Fare), Rocky River
MENU: Order
from the menu (Preview at originalpancakehousecleveland.com) Prices range from
$5.79 to $11. Tip is 18%. Will give separate checks.
PARKING
in Westgate Mall
RSVP by
Tuesday, July 23, to JoAnn Pallant (440) 734-1923 or email japallant@sbcglobal.net
Thursday, April 11, 2013
April luncheon Friday, April 26 at Nighttown
PD Editorial Retirees & Expatriates
Casual unstructured lunch troupe
Gather for lunch on the last Fridays of January, April, July and October
Spouses and guests always welcome
NEXT LUNCHEON: Noon, Friday, April 26, 2013
PLACE: Nighttown Patio, 12387 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights
MENU: Order from the menu (Preview at Nighttowncleveland.com) Prices range from $11 to $18. Tip is 20%.
PARKING in large metered lot west of restaurant on Cedar Road or Euclid Heights Boulevard.
Meters take quarters, first 30 minutes free. Figure at least two hours at restaurant.
RSVP by Tuesday, April 23, to
Janet Beighle French (216) 221-2318 or email jabfr519@sbcglobal.net or
JoAnn Pallant (440) 734-1923 or email japallant@sbcglobal.net
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Ned Whelan dies
In the days of typewriters and copy paper, Ned Whelan would type out a story and paste the pages together. The white glue, made by a copy aide, would stiffen and sometime you'd see a three- feet- long piece of copy stand up from his typewriter. Whelan's stories were long but good.
According to The Plain Dealer's obit, "Whelan fell down the stairs in the dark at his daughter's home in Phoenix on March 16 and suffered irreversible brain damage. After life support was removed, the 70-year-old died Wednesday, March 20, at a nearby hospital."
He worked at The PD in the late 60s and 70s, Cleveland Magazine and later had his own PR firm.
Here's a link to the obituary: http://www.cleveland.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2013/03/edward_p_ned_whalen_was_a_lead.html
According to The Plain Dealer's obit, "Whelan fell down the stairs in the dark at his daughter's home in Phoenix on March 16 and suffered irreversible brain damage. After life support was removed, the 70-year-old died Wednesday, March 20, at a nearby hospital."
He worked at The PD in the late 60s and 70s, Cleveland Magazine and later had his own PR firm.
Here's a link to the obituary: http://www.cleveland.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2013/03/edward_p_ned_whalen_was_a_lead.html
Friday, February 08, 2013
Bill Woestendiek update
PD alum Bill Lucey recently profiled John Woestendiek, son of Bill Woestendiek, former PD editor.
John had this to say about his dad:
He's scheduled to get out of the rehab center Friday (2/8) and go
to an assisted living center in Gilbert, Az., called emeritus, where his wife,
Bonnie, is living.
Basically he went to the hospital for stomach problems,
sailed through the surgery, then had a heart attack. He was in an induced coma
for several weeks, finally coming out of it. Since then it has been a long road
to recovery, but he keeps fighting.
This is a longer piece that John wrote about Bill on
his blog.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Printer Jim Walczak dies
Those in editorial who had to venture up to the 3d floor composing room in the old PD building knew Jim Walczak, one of the best printers up there.
He captained a bowling team of all women from editorial (Hell's Bells) and put up with dozens of sometimes clueless news editors and layout people. He made up page one and helped a lot of rookies through the trials of laying out the front page. He was calm and patient, a good guy. In the days of hot type, if the type didn't fit, he'd reach into his back pants pocket and pull out a short news filler to plug the hole.
Here's his death notice from The PD.
WALCZAK JAMES J. WALCZAK, 79. Beloved husband of the late Wanita (nee Gregory). Most loving father of Kenneth Walczak (Crystal) of Bronson, MI and James T. Walczak (Kathleen) of Lorain, OH. Loving grandfather of Kimberly Ulrich (Aaron). Great-grandfather of Kordelia Ulrich. Enjoyed 43 years as a printer for the Plain Dealer. Committal Service with Military Honors at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements by Yurch Funeral Home 216-398-1010 www.YurchFunerals.com
He captained a bowling team of all women from editorial (Hell's Bells) and put up with dozens of sometimes clueless news editors and layout people. He made up page one and helped a lot of rookies through the trials of laying out the front page. He was calm and patient, a good guy. In the days of hot type, if the type didn't fit, he'd reach into his back pants pocket and pull out a short news filler to plug the hole.
Here's his death notice from The PD.
WALCZAK JAMES J. WALCZAK, 79. Beloved husband of the late Wanita (nee Gregory). Most loving father of Kenneth Walczak (Crystal) of Bronson, MI and James T. Walczak (Kathleen) of Lorain, OH. Loving grandfather of Kimberly Ulrich (Aaron). Great-grandfather of Kordelia Ulrich. Enjoyed 43 years as a printer for the Plain Dealer. Committal Service with Military Honors at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements by Yurch Funeral Home 216-398-1010 www.YurchFunerals.com
Friday, January 25, 2013
January Gathering
About 25 former Plain Dealer employees (and one working guy) gathered at the new Emperor's Palace (where the old Shanghai used to be) on Rockwell Ave. for lunch and conversation Friday, Jan. 25, 2012. It was a cold and snowy day but the place was hot with talk and gossip and worry about whether/when The PD will go to a 3-day publication. The new restaurant is pretty spiffy and big. The next lunch will be in three months. JoAnn Pallant and Janet Beigle French do the organizing.
Former sports columnist Bob Dolgan and former state editor Stu Abbey.
Former art critic Helen Cullinan and former music/dance critic Wilma Salisbury.
Tom Gaumer, Andy Juniewicz and Joel Downey, who is still working -- now in layout. Andy went to work for Mayor Dennis Kucinich nearly 35 years ago. Gaumer ended his long career as the computer assisted reporting editor. These days he's either an elf on the Polar Express or a docent at the zoo.
Next to Joel is Doris Vargo who worked at the Cleveland News and PD.
That's Lori Onder, former business department secretary, on the left, former roving state reporter Richard Ellers, and former food editor Janet Beigle French and her husband.
Dogan, Coyne, Abbey, Gaumer, Downey, Mr. French and JoAnn Pallant
Former secretary Ruth Zander and former book secretary JoAnn Pallant
Looking at some old photos: Kathy Shaw, Bob McAuley, and Andy Juniewicz
 |
| John Coyne, John Soeder, Kathy Shaw. Coyne was a business and police reporter and took the 2006 buyout. Soeder left recently as pop music critic and is now at Cleveland State and writing a book about Jane Scott. Kathy was a copy aide and a police reporter. |
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Life after newspapers? He's looking for you
Bill Lucey, who worked at The PD as a copy aide and library clerk from 1988 to 1998, has a a new blog called NewspaperAlum.com (www.newspaperalum.com). He profiles former newspaper employees to see what they've been up to and get their take (if they're willing) on the dire state of the newspaper industry.
He's looking for you.
If you're out of the business, found life after newspapers and would like to be profiled or just give a brief update on your whereabouts and projects you've been working on, give him a jingle at
wplucey@gmail.com
He's looking for you.
If you're out of the business, found life after newspapers and would like to be profiled or just give a brief update on your whereabouts and projects you've been working on, give him a jingle at
wplucey@gmail.com
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Book Editor Karen Long leaves
Book Editor Karen Long has left The PD to manage the
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.
This is her last column that appeared on the book page Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Karen started as a young reporter covering police, features, the usual. She is married to Chief Editorial Writer Joe Frolic.
In the fall of 1956, a baby was born in Seattle. Things did not look good.
The parents were young, inexperienced and poor. The infant was sickly. The father was not finished with school; the mother was unhappy to lose her job to tend to an ill child. They had fervently wanted a son.
Still, the trio pulled through. The little girl grew stronger. The father became the first in his family to graduate from college. He read "The Catcher in the Rye" and decided to become a teacher, inspired by Holden Caulfield's notion of standing near a cliff, keeping all the rushing children from falling off.
His wife, meanwhile, fought down her fear and isolation by reading, first a novel then a nonfiction title, one after the other, keeping her interior life nourished. Not surprisingly, the girl grew into a literary bigamist, loving both fiction and factual books.
Eight years ago, I told this story to introduce myself as that girl -- grown and newly named The Plain Dealer's book editor. Today, I retell it to say goodbye, and to put my good fortune into perspective.
When I would complain about, ahem, a messy house after a long newsroom shift, my children were mostly unmoved. My oldest once put his fists on his cheeks, rotated them and said, "Oh boo-hoo, boo-hoo. Your life is so hard. You read for a living."
Hard not to take his point: writing about books and engaging the marketplace of ideas are bliss. It is now my great happiness to tell you that Joanna Connors, the gifted and droll arts reporter, will take over the books beat. She'll do a splendid job. She and the senior editors will let me pop up occasionally as a freelancer: Later this month, I'll review Lawrence Wright's hotly anticipated book on Scientology, "Going Clear."
My new calling is to manage the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, a venerable Cleveland institution that I am thrilled to serve. Each year, it honors the best books that address racism and diversity -- its past winners amount to a 77-year roll call of giants. Among them are Gwendolyn Brooks, Nadine Gordimer, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., all recognized years before the world came to know of them.
I hope to coax more readers to discover these prizes, read the recipients and join the conversations they engender. Please consider this your invitation to the next awards ceremony September 12: updates at anisfield-wolf.org.
In these last sentences of my tenure, allow me to thank those who have made the work possible: Sandi Boyd, who tracks the thousands of volumes we receive; Arts Editor John Kappes, who creates a rich, books-friendly environment; and our unsung copy editors, such as Wendy McManamon, who caught my pre-publication errors and wrote headlines that show she understands some books better than I do.
I should also thank Joe Frolik, who endured many thousands of hours of books propped between him and his wife. He responded by fixing our family's Sunday night dinners while I worked.
Mostly, let me salute all of the readers who formed the Plain Dealer salon -- the local critics who led our discussions, the partakers who wrote emails and comments and left voice messages -- sometimes stinging -- on my phone. I will miss everyone, including the cranks.
Because if someone gave us the gift of literacy, it doesn't matter if our parents were poor or frightened or inexperienced. The written word doesn't care. Thank you for meeting me there.
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.
This is her last column that appeared on the book page Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Karen started as a young reporter covering police, features, the usual. She is married to Chief Editorial Writer Joe Frolic.
In the fall of 1956, a baby was born in Seattle. Things did not look good.
The parents were young, inexperienced and poor. The infant was sickly. The father was not finished with school; the mother was unhappy to lose her job to tend to an ill child. They had fervently wanted a son.
Still, the trio pulled through. The little girl grew stronger. The father became the first in his family to graduate from college. He read "The Catcher in the Rye" and decided to become a teacher, inspired by Holden Caulfield's notion of standing near a cliff, keeping all the rushing children from falling off.
His wife, meanwhile, fought down her fear and isolation by reading, first a novel then a nonfiction title, one after the other, keeping her interior life nourished. Not surprisingly, the girl grew into a literary bigamist, loving both fiction and factual books.
Eight years ago, I told this story to introduce myself as that girl -- grown and newly named The Plain Dealer's book editor. Today, I retell it to say goodbye, and to put my good fortune into perspective.
When I would complain about, ahem, a messy house after a long newsroom shift, my children were mostly unmoved. My oldest once put his fists on his cheeks, rotated them and said, "Oh boo-hoo, boo-hoo. Your life is so hard. You read for a living."
Hard not to take his point: writing about books and engaging the marketplace of ideas are bliss. It is now my great happiness to tell you that Joanna Connors, the gifted and droll arts reporter, will take over the books beat. She'll do a splendid job. She and the senior editors will let me pop up occasionally as a freelancer: Later this month, I'll review Lawrence Wright's hotly anticipated book on Scientology, "Going Clear."
My new calling is to manage the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, a venerable Cleveland institution that I am thrilled to serve. Each year, it honors the best books that address racism and diversity -- its past winners amount to a 77-year roll call of giants. Among them are Gwendolyn Brooks, Nadine Gordimer, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., all recognized years before the world came to know of them.
I hope to coax more readers to discover these prizes, read the recipients and join the conversations they engender. Please consider this your invitation to the next awards ceremony September 12: updates at anisfield-wolf.org.
In these last sentences of my tenure, allow me to thank those who have made the work possible: Sandi Boyd, who tracks the thousands of volumes we receive; Arts Editor John Kappes, who creates a rich, books-friendly environment; and our unsung copy editors, such as Wendy McManamon, who caught my pre-publication errors and wrote headlines that show she understands some books better than I do.
I should also thank Joe Frolik, who endured many thousands of hours of books propped between him and his wife. He responded by fixing our family's Sunday night dinners while I worked.
Mostly, let me salute all of the readers who formed the Plain Dealer salon -- the local critics who led our discussions, the partakers who wrote emails and comments and left voice messages -- sometimes stinging -- on my phone. I will miss everyone, including the cranks.
Because if someone gave us the gift of literacy, it doesn't matter if our parents were poor or frightened or inexperienced. The written word doesn't care. Thank you for meeting me there.
Alumni luncheon Jan. 25
PD Editorial Retirees & Expatriates
Casual unstructured lunch troupe
Gather for lunch on the last Fridays of January, April, July and October
Spouses and guests always welcome
NEXT LUNCHEON: 1 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25, 2013
PLACE: Emperor's Palace, 2136 Rockwell Ave. Cleveland
(Old Chinatown area behind PD. Free parking across street.)
MENU: Limited choice @ $6.95 each: General Tso’s Shrimp, Sesame Chicken, Beef with Broccoli, and Spicy Pork. Includes red and brown rice, vegetable spring roll and tea. Fried rice, $1 extra, Won Ton Soup, $2.50 extra. Tofu dishes for vegetarians.
RSVP by Tuesday, Jan. 22
Janet Beighle French (216) 221-2318 or email jabfr519@sbcglobal.net or
JoAnn Pallant (440) 734-1923 or email japallant@sbcglobal.net
Leaving the ship
From the Save the Plain Dealer Facebook site:
Friends, An unfortunate consequence of the state of affairs at The Plain Dealer is talented journalists are fleeing. This week, Book Editor Karen Long, Features Editor Debbie Van Tassel and Columbus Bureau Reporter Joe Guillen gave notice. Last month, Columbus Bureau Chief Reggie Fields resigned (The paper is down to one reporter in Columbus). Since Advance Publications began gutting its newsrooms and slashing daily publication in other markets, the Plain Dealer in recent months also saw resignations of Rock Critic John Soeder, Sports Writer Bill Lubinger, Copy Editor/Page Designer Sue Walton and Video Director Dale Omori. That is a load of talent out the door. It follows the loss of dozens of other journalists over the past four years. And more than 50 additional newsroom job cuts are planned this year.
Friends, An unfortunate consequence of the state of affairs at The Plain Dealer is talented journalists are fleeing. This week, Book Editor Karen Long, Features Editor Debbie Van Tassel and Columbus Bureau Reporter Joe Guillen gave notice. Last month, Columbus Bureau Chief Reggie Fields resigned (The paper is down to one reporter in Columbus). Since Advance Publications began gutting its newsrooms and slashing daily publication in other markets, the Plain Dealer in recent months also saw resignations of Rock Critic John Soeder, Sports Writer Bill Lubinger, Copy Editor/Page Designer Sue Walton and Video Director Dale Omori. That is a load of talent out the door. It follows the loss of dozens of other journalists over the past four years. And more than 50 additional newsroom job cuts are planned this year.
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