Ray Hart dies

Friday, April 24, 2009
Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter
Ray Hart seemed to have spies everywhere.
"He had a scoop every day," said Bill Hickey, Hart's longtime partner in covering TV and radio for The Plain Dealer. "He drove the Press nuts."
Hart died April 14 at Fisher Titus Medical Cen ter, near his home in Nor walk. He was 80.
Hart spent about 32 years at The Plain Dealer, starting as a school sports reporter and winding up as a features copy editor. But the big, quiet, cheerful man was best known for a long stint in between with TV and radio.
He was born in North Canton and graduated from Hoover High School there. He spent a few years living in Canal Fulton and working for his father's meat and meat locker business.
"Ray hated every minute of it," his wife, the former Joan Dimpsey, recalled Tuesday.
Hart briefly studied undertaking in Indiana, then came home and found his life's work. He covered the region's acclaimed school sports for six years with the Canton Repository and several with The Plain Dealer.
Then he covered TV and radio with equal enthusiasm. He hit it off with touchy stars such as Dorothy Fuldheim and went fishing with a few of them.
In a sometimes slovenly profession, he favored a tie and jacket. He also smoked a pipe for many years. The doctor finally told him to cut down. Hart quit cold turkey.
He broke another longtime habit last year. He missed his first Ohio basketball championship in 56 years.
"He thought 55 was a good place to stop," said his widow.
Hart retired from The Plain Dealer in 1993 and edited stories for the Sun Newspapers.
In 1997, the couple moved to Norwalk to be near their daughter, Karen. There he wrote and announced for WLKR FM/95.3 and edited the bulletin of First Presbyterian Church.

This would have been a great contest

A Plain Dealer wry wit revisited by Richard G. Ellers

The late Robert T. Stock was variously a Plain Dealer reporter, editorial writer, Letters to the Editor editor and a not-often-enough humor columnist.

A spouse-induced chore of cleaning my desk was pleasantly interrupted today when I found a clipping I'd saved, a prime example of Bob's wry wit.

No matter that the date is missing from the clip, most of his words still work, albeit some lines outdated: Sorry, these were pre-computer days, you hadda be there to enjoy them.

Thoughts

by Robert T. Stock

By the time you read this, the Press Club of Cleveland will have picked its news media award winners and they deserve a lot of credit, but I would like to suggest some additional award categories, all in the newspaper section.

As follows:

1 Best news story written while intoxicated.

2. Snottiest remark by assistant city editor to a male reporter under 40.

3. Snottiest remark to an assistant city editor by a reporter (male or female) over 55.

4. Best feature story by a reporter sticking his nose into somebody else's beat.

5. Neatest copy boy. (Repeated efforts to revive this category have failed for lack of competition., but it is worth one more try.)

6. Most imaginative expense account by a reporter working under deadline pressure ("How was I to know they had another hotel in Chicago?")

7. Tallest copy editor who graduated from a Big Ten college.

8. Best sports story written in long hand.

9. Most attractive wig worn by a society editor who does not have a private office.

10. Most incisive quotes composed by reporter writing without help of notes.

11. Best editorial written without nagging fear of facts.

12. Longest hook shot into city room wastebasket. (Separate competition for Plain Dealer and Press due to higher ceilings at Press.)

13. Best sports story written in high German under deadline pressure.

14. Most vicious memo by a reporter who is sure of employment elsewhere.

15. Most vicious memo by a reporter who is not sure of employment elsewhere.

16. Any sports story which gives the score in the first paragraph.

16A. Headline least related to a story.

17. Neatest locker

---

New Deals on Dell Netbooks - Now starting at $299

Adios to David Briggs

Help send former religion writer David Briggs off to Nashville! Join him at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at the Agora, 5000 Euclid Ave. Cash bar and menu.
Pls help spread the word accordingly.
Agora management asked for a crowd estimate. Pls RSVP with a yes, no, maybe, depends if I've finished my 1040, whatever.
Hope to see you there!
Please RSVP to Grant Segall: grantsegall@msn.com

It's lunch time!

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: 12:30 p.m., Friday, April 24

PLACE: Li Wah Restaurant, 2999 Payne Avenue (Asian Plaza, E. 30th Street and Payne)

MENU: (Family style) appetizer, cashew shrimp, chicken with mixed vegetables, pepper steak, rice, tea and cookie.

Cost: $12 plus tip

RSVP by Monday, April 20
Janet Beighle French (216) 221-2318, or email jabfr519@sbcglobal.net
JoAnn Pallant (440) 734-1923, or email japallant@sbcglobal.net

Tom Kaib dies

From The Plain Dealer
Thursday, March 26, 2009 Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter

Lakewood -- Tom Kaib found stories all over.

He wrote about a felon turned deputy sheriff in Hardin County, motorcycle jumpers in Indiana and motel pitchman Tom Bodett in Alaska.

"He could pick a name off the map and go do a story on that place," said his wife, the former Shirley Arnett.

Kaib won many statewide and local prizes for stories, photos and headlines during 38 years working at The Plain Dealer.

He died Tuesday at his Lakewood home of complications of cancer. He was 71.

Kaib the reporter had a light touch.

"Baldy the bald eagle flew to Hueston Woods State Park courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service," he once began a story about rehabilitating wounded birds. "He was air-mailed."

Kaib the copy editor was firm, helpful and knowledgeable about grammar and local lore, from addresses to middle initials (a requirement back then).

Kaib the headline writer was playful: "Vroom of their own / Women motorcyclists shift to the front seat."

He was born in Wheeling, W.Va., joined that city's Intelligencer at 17 and worked his way through West Liberty State College. He also taught English at Warwood High School for a year, doubled as track coach with no experience in the sport and led the team to a state championship.

He joined The Plain Dealer in 1964.

In an era of looser workplaces, Kaib used to burn a candle to dissipate the newsroom's plentiful tobacco smoke. He also kept a hunting knife on his desk for paring apples and marking pages in books he'd read on breaks.

Kaib often moonlighted for other papers, sometimes under a pseudonym to avoid The Plain Dealer's wrath. On two straight Thursdays, Shirley's bowling day, Tom dashed to the scenes of bank robberies while Lakewood Sun-Post editors baby-sat the Kaibs' three preschoolers.

On the side, Kaib loved to fish Lake Erie and Rocky River. He gave away his golf clubs young but, after retiring in 2002, he helped at the Mastick Woods golf shop at Rocky River Reservation a couple of days a week.

(And the death notice:H. THOMAS KAIB, 71, of Lakewood, OH. Died March 24, 2009, at home. He had cancer. He was born Sept. 1, 1937, in Wheeling, WV, the son of the late Harold J. and Rita T. (nee Poulton) Kaib. He was a reporter, photographer and copy editor of The Plain Dealer newspaper, in Cleveland, for 38 years. Surviving are his wife, Shirley (nee Arnett) Kaib; two sons, Scott (wife, Gloriann), of Strongsville, OH and Donald of Deerfield Beach, FL; a daughter, Maria Locsei, of Mission Viejo, CA. Brother John (wife, Nancy), of Sun City, AZ and a sister, Mary Ann Kaib, of Wheeling, WV and three grandchildren, Cristi, Nicole and Jamie, of Strongsville, OH. Services were private, through the Cleveland Memorial Society. Contributions may be made to the Hospice of the Western Reserve.)

Have lunch with Brent, Betsy and Joe

Brent Larkin, long-time Plain Dealer Editorial Page Director, will soon retire. Elizabeth Sullivan, currently on the PD’s Editorial Board, has been named to take Brent’s place and fellow Editorial Board member Joe Frolik has been promoted to Chief Editorial Writer.

The Press Club of Cleveland is pleased to present two of Ohio’s most-influential journalists at a "Meet the Media" luncheon on Tuesday, March 3 (Snow Date: March 9). This event will take place at Nighttown (http://www.nighttowncleveland.com), home of The Press Club and Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame, in Cleveland Heights. For full details about this luncheon, please go to http://tinyurl.com/d8txec This event is open to non-members. Seats are strictly limited, so early reservations are strongly recommended.
For specific questions, call Bruce Hennes, event chair, at 216-321-7774 or by email at hennes@crisiscommunications.com.

For information about The Press Club of Cleveland or to read a copy of our monthly publication, The Byliner: http://www.pressclubcleveland.com

Look who showed up

About 35 former Plain Dealer staffers gathered at Mahle's Restaurant in Westlake on Friday, Jan. 20, 2008 for lunch and conversation. We could have put out our own paper what with the variety of talent. Here's some photos. For more images go to flickr.com/photos/rosebud

Don Bean was telling "true stories" while Jim Hatch showed photos of his new grandson. Dick Zunt, Lori Onder and Bob Dolgan caught up.

Jan Harayda sighting

Jan Harayda, former Plain Dealer book editor, is
working on her third novel while participating in the Writer in
Residence program at the Fairhope Center for the Writing Arts in
Fairhope, Ala.

The local newspaper, Baldwin County Now, did a story about her.
The link:
www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/01/30/local_news/doc4979ed78c8b5a792691752.txt

Meet the author, Tom Diemer

Tom Diemer,
former Washington and Columbus bureau reporter, was in Cleveland Sunday, Jan. 11 for a book signing party. Tom's book, "Fighting the Unbeatable Foe," is the story of the political life of the late Senator Howard Metzenbaum. Helping him celebrate at Nighttown were about 35 people including several retired PD colleagues. Diemer also spoke to the City Club Monday. He's now with Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism . For more photos go to flickr.com/photos/rosebud

January luncheon is here, Jan. 30

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, January 30

PLACE: Mahle’s Restaurant

24945 Detroit Road

Westlake OH 44145

Between Columbia and Clague Roads, on south side

Cost: $12.95 including entrée, beverage, tax and gratuity

Choice of Entrées:

Steak Salad

Shrimp Scampi over Angel Hair Pasta

Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/ Fries

Vegetarian Pasta Primavera also available

RSVP by January 23

Janet Beighle French (216) 221-2318, or email jabfr519@sbcglobal.net

JoAnn Pallant (440) 734-1923, or email japallant@sbcglobal.net

Chris Stephens' farewell party

About two or so weeks ago, photographer Chris Stephens left The Plain Dealer, one of about 25 people who left on their own, taking the "buyout." For photos from her party at the Mardi Gras, go to flickr.com/photos/rosebud

A little levity from the past

Former makeup man Bill Fenton sent us this old photo a while
back. Those were the good ole days in the old PD building when hijinks were commonplace. Why Lustig was playing Superman is unknown, but not surprising. Several in the photo are deceased, including Lustig. If you know of others, please comment.

Man of Steel in PD Sports Department:

Seated on left, front to back: Ernie Rocco, Winfield Leathers, Bob Dolgan.

In the slot: George Peters, behind him is Gene Hersh on right and Chuck Webster. (now a lawyer/politician in Lake County)

Seated behind "Superman" (Dennis Lustig) is copy boy Sheldon Rubenstein.

Picture was taken about 1971, either by Dick Conway or Ray Matjasic, but I'm guessing on both counts.

------ Bill Fenton

Hollands return from Cuba

Here's former Religion Editor Darrell Holland and his wife, Ann, at the Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo, where they are service volunteers.

The globetrotters had recently returned from a trip to Cuba, as a part of a trip by Ann's synagogue. Darrell observed that the seven year old rum "went down as smooth as scotch." In 2008, the pair also visited Chile, Patagonia, Wales, and El Salvador. They've gone to El Salvador as part of a medical mission for several years.

Darrell wrote a piece about the Cuba trip for the temple that sponsored the trip. It's a good read.

By Darrell Holland
Rabbi Eric J. Bram reminded 19 people gathered in front of a Miami hotel that they were going to Cuba to “fix a little bit of brokenness.”
The group from Suburban Temple-Kol Ami in Beachwood flew to Cuba on December 21 for a four-day mission to visit three Jewish congregations in Havana.
“All Jews are responsible for one another” Bram told the group.
The visit coincided with Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, which they celebrated with two of the congregations in Havana.
Though visits by Americans to Cuba are restricted by both United States and Cuban governments, the group traveled under a license granted by the American government for the purpose of assisting the Jews of Cuba.
During their visit, the members of the group donated “gifts” that had been collected over several weeks before the trip.
The gifts included prescriptions medicines that could cost several thousands of U. S. dollars. The medicines were given to Cuban Jews who oversee a pharmacy at the Grand Synagogue of Havana, called the Patronato. The drugs are dispensed to those who have a prescription from a physician.
The group’s members took nearly 1,000 pounds of gifts. They included items for dental care, eye glass frames, powered milk, school supplies, and many other items needed daily but in short supply in Cuba. Also donated was $3,000 to the three synagogues.
The need for such donations, several Cubans told the group, is created by the current U. S. embargo forbidding trade with Cuba and the inability of the Cubans government-controlled socialist economy to produce adequate goods.
The shortages, several Cubans said, include food, which is strictly rationed and which often grows scarce as families consume their monthly rations before the end of the month. On the other hand, several Cubans said, medical care and education are free and Cuban-trained doctors are abundant.
Housing, all owned by the government, is nearly free, though often substandard. Always mindful of Rabbi Bram’s admonition about the responsibility of Jews to “fix the broken” and to promote social justice, the group found much that needed fixing. Much of the once-beautiful colonial architecture, especially in Old Havana, is in need of repair, unemployment is high, jobs pay little though Cubans pay little for most things they purchase.
Tourism is a growing industry. There are many hotels for mostly European and Canadian visitors providing abundant food and comfort in contrast to the shortages suffered by most Cubans.
For example, it cost $180.00 (U. S. dollars) for a couple to attend a Las Vegas-style show in Havana, the same amount a Cuban earns annually working in a cigar factory.
Despite the shortages and the expressed dreams of many Cubans to emigrate to the United States, there were constant reminders that on January 1, 2009 there will be a grand celebration of the 50th anniversary of the victory on January 1, 1959 of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro and supported by many Jews.
Many of the approximately 1,200 Jews remaining in Cuba, most living in Havana, will also join in the celebration while many also yearn to leave Cuba for Israel or the United States.
Maritza Corrales, a Jewish historian, told the group there is little anti-Semitism in Cuba though about 1,000 Jews have made aliyah in recent years. That exodus has taken place during the 15 years of increasing freedom of religion under Fidel Castro.
Ms. Corrales led the group in a tour of one of the two Jewish cemeteries in Havana. One of the stops was at what she said is the first memorial to Holocaust victims in the western hemisphere.

Leading Kaddish prayers for the dead at the memorial, Rabbi Bram said, “We are the survivors finding ways to keep the memory of the victims alive,” while also praying for peace.
Bram probably was the only Rabbi in Cuba that day because there are no resident rabbis in the country. Except for twice-yearly visits by a Rabbi from Chile, or other Latin American countries, the synagogues are led by lay people.
During the Revolution an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Jews were living in Cuba. Soon after 1959, about 90% of them departed for the Untied States
By U. S. regulations, former Cubans living in the United States can return to Cuban only once every three years.
As the Suburban Temple contingent was leaving Cuba on Dec. 25, some members of the group wept at an airport scene where sad and largely poor Cubans said farewell to their relatives who were returning to the United States.

Media Career Transition Day

A journalism career might take you to retirement, but if not…What's your Plan B?

You might not need one, but it's always good to be thinking ahead. So we've designed a day for all media employees (with a special focus on the 27 recently laid-off at The Plain Dealer).

PLACE: Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave. (free parking behind church, off Prospect)
DATE: Saturday, January 10, 2009
TIME: 7:45 a.m. doors open. Program starts 8:15 a.m., ends at 3:00 p.m.
MEALS: Breakfast, lunch and dessert reception included in entrance fee.

Professional career coaches on:

Making your resume work for you
Finding transferable skills and strengths
Marketing your talents and expertise
Interviewing and negotiating a salary


One-on-one sessions (concurrent with panels):

Bring your resume for a constructive critique
Meet with career coaches to jumpstart your job search

Choose from panels on:

Working for foundations and non-profits
Public relations and marketing jobs
Careers in graphics, photography and web design
Higher education: Returning to college to teach or get another degree.
Freelancing, online journalism and radio opportunities
Post-Plain Dealer Success Stories: our colleagues show us the way ahead

Cost: Free for the 50 (who were recently laid off from The Plain Dealer or who took buyouts) ; $25 for Guild employees ; $50 for all others (management, other media members, etc.)

Deadline to register is January 5.

This event is open to ALL current and former members of the media in Greater Cleveland. This event will fill up fast, so please register ASAP. Any profits will be donated to the Guild to help the PD people who have been laid off.

PRE-REGISTRATION IS MANDATORY. Anyone registering at the event will be charged $10 extra. You can register online with PayPal. If you don't have a PayPal account, you will be offered the opportunity to set one up when you register. Go to http://www.mediatransitionday.eventbrite.com/ OR make checks payable to Harlan Spector (at The Plain Dealer). A schedule of speakers will soon be posted to: http://tinyurl.com/62fxp3

FOR INFORMATION: Call Harlan Spector at 216-999-4543 or Regina Brett at 216-932-6234.

Hapanowicz dies

Steve Hapanowicz, of Cuyahoga Heights, a former sport reporter who retired in 1992, died Dec. 11, 2008. Here's a link to the death notice:


obits.cleveland.com/Cleveland/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=121281551

Rosenberg sues PD

Don Rosenberg, who was removed as music reviewer earlier this year, has sued The Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Orchestra. To see the story go to this site:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_en_mu/ousted_orchestra_reviewer

Dana's book is out

Curt Chandler, former PD photographer, passed along this news about Dana Canady, former PD reporter.

N.Y. Times' Canedy Finishes Book, Wins Promotion

Dana Canedy, who had been an assistant national editor at the New York Times, has returned from book leave, where she wrote about her slain military fiancé,

Dana Canedy

and has become a senior editor at the paper, working on career development, staff training and diversity initiatives, she told Journal-isms.

Canedy is now a senior editor, succeeding Sheila Rule, who took a buyout from the paper in the spring.

"My book, a memoir entitled 'A Journal for Jordan,' will be on bookshelves on Dec. 30. The book has also been sold to publishers in Australia, Italy, Brazil and the Netherlands, with more countries expected to be added soon. We have a draft of the script for the movie and I am working with Denzel [Washington] and the screenwriter to develop it," she said.

The book, which grew out of a front-page piece Canedy wrote for the Times, is summarized this way by the publisher:

"In 2005, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King began to write what would become a two-hundred-page journal for his son in case he did not make it home from the war in Iraq. Charles King, forty-eight, was killed on October 14, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated under his Humvee on an isolated road near Baghdad. His son, Jordan, was seven months old.

"'A Journal for Jordan' is a mother's letter to her son — fierce in its honesty " about the father he lost before he could even speak. It is also a father's advice and prayers for the son he will never know."

-- This update was swiped from the Journal-isms blog.

Curt Chandler
Penn State University
College of Communications
senior lecturer/multimedia
cwc11@psu.edu

Kathy Kudravi says hi

Kathy Kudravi, former sports copy editor/layout person, dropped us a line recently. She found the blogspot site off of Poynter's Media news.

Here is some of what’s she been doing:

“ I'm sorry to hear about the layoffs at the PD…
Richard (Urban, former PD copy editor, layout guy) and I are doing fine. He's now the business and marketing editor at a company called Nerac, which does research. I'm still in charge of the ESPN bureau staff here on the TV side. Not sure if you knew this but we also have two daughters, both adopted from China. Jonna will be 6 in February and Joelle is turning 3 this week.
We usually get back to Cleveland once or twice a year to see my family. We still cheer (or groan at) the Indians and I am watching the Browns game at work as I write this.

After we left the PD in 1995 (Richard) and 1996 (me), we went to Nashville. We were there 16 months - loved the town, hated the newspaper. From there, on to Fort Worth for three years before I made the move to "the dark side" and TV. We've been here since December 1999. Richard has worked at newspapers, edited magazines, freelanced, etc. I was at the newspapers in all those towns (he followed me around the country). I am the coordinating producer/bureaus here for our studio shows, meaning I am in charge of about 40 reporters, producers and cameramen who work on SportsCenter and all of our studio shows. We adopted Jonna in November 2003 and Joelle in March 2007. Both are from Guangdong Province, PR China.”

They have a website, which she says is mostly about their children:
www.jonna-joelle.com.

If anyone wants to say hello, her email is Kathy.Kudravi@espn.com

Remembering Lamarr Atkinson

Lamarr Atkinson, a former PD library clerk, has died. Here are links to his death notice and to a guest book to leave condolences for the family:


Death notice:
http://www.legacy.com/Cleveland/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=120966181
Online guestbook:
http://www.legacy.com/Cleveland/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=120966181

Guild starting fund to help laid off colleagues

12/1/2008

Dear former Plain Dealer colleagues:

Today we learned that 27 people will be laid off, losing their jobs at the newspaper we've loved and labored for. Those selected will be called at home tomorrow morning, Dec. 2.

I'm sending along a request. Basically, it's a pledge of a different sort, aimed at easing the burden on those who will hear their jobs are done in the morning. This email is an invitation to help in the most concrete of ways.

We, the remaining 238 union members (before the buyouts and cuts) are striving to each volunteering a certain sum out of our paychecks for a certain number of weeks for the 27 people forced out. As each laid off person's severance ends, we will cut that individual a check for 1/27th of the pledged amount. So if Stan Donaldson, say, is laid off, he'll be out of money mid-January, and will get the first.

No need to ask, no need to show a gas bill, although a person could, if they wished, opt out.

We are soliciting past employees, present managers and those who took the 2006 buy-out. The Akron unit and some individuals are already onboard.We hope to send each person out the door with a one-time amount somewhere around $2,400. Obviously, that will take a lot, but the beauty of this system is we are pledging before we know who is axed, and the money is meant as a tribute to the work.

Friends, I know the economic picture is bleak and you have your own finances to work out. But I am also hoping that this salute to your less fortunate former colleagues will appeal to you, and move you to contribute either a lump sum or a weekly amount.

Our reasoning is that those of us who remain and those of us lucky enough to secure other work -- or smart enough to take the 2006 buyout -- can do something now.

Checks can be made out to Account number 14869 at the Plain Dealer credit union. Checks can also simply be made out to Newspaper Guild Fund at the credit Union.

Whatever you decide, many blessings of the season upon us all.

Karen R. Long
Vice President
PD Unit, Local One
The Newspaper Guild