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

Chuck Heaton award goes to Terry Pluto

Plain Dealer and former Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter Terry Pluto is the recipient of the first annual Chuck Heaton award.

The award, presented by the Heaton family, was given at the Press Club of Cleveland's Journalism Hall of Fame inductions ceremonies Thursday night, November 13, 2008, at the LaCentre banquet and meeting facility in Westlake.

The Press Club presented the Heaton Award, named in honor of the legendary and beloved Plain Dealer sportswriter who died earlier this year. Press Club President Ed Byers said the award will be presented annually to the print, radio or television journalist who best exemplifies the sensitivity and humility which, along with his writing talents, were traits exhibited by Heaton.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame this year were Pete Cary, Tom Meyer, Bill Miller and Jane Temple. Elizabeth Sullivan was to have been inducted, but due to a family situation, she wasn't able to be present and will, instead, be inducted in 2009.

You can read the entire program, along with full-page tributes, here: http://www.pressclubcleveland.com/ME2/Audiences/Default.asp?AudID=B6D38AE5372E4669A908C13043FA23F0

Photos from the Hall of Fame event are located here (captions on the photos coming soon): http://tinyurl.com/6eazn4

The Pittsburgh Tribune ran an article about inductee Bill Miller. That article can be read here: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_599701.html

The actual Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame is located at Nighttown, at the top of Cedar Hill in Cleveland Heights, where Press Club of Cleveland members with valid membership cards receive 15% off the food portion of their checks.For further information about The Press Club of Cleveland, click here: http://www.pressclubcleveland.com

-- Bruce Hennes

A night crew to remember

This is the Plain Dealer's night crew as of Nov. 2008. The photo was taken on occasion of what would be the last night this particular crew worked together at The PD, which had also prompted a pot-luck dinner. You have probably read or heard about buyouts and layoffs . From this group, Chris Raider takes retirement, and Rona Proudfoot goes to the newly established Lorain.com. After that, who knows? Not pictured: Camera-shy Deborah Miller, Bob Proske (working in sports that night), Jon Fobes (who was taking the photo), Bill Bevins (night off) and Kathie Kroll (done for the evening), who is taking a position in the business department starting Dec. 1. Two faces who might not be familiar in the front row: Damon Sims, former sports clerk who is now the 4p.m.-1a.m. online editor, and Sarena McRae, the night police reporter. Also, the black sash-type accesory being worn by Felipe is a sling, the product of recent rotator-cuff surgery resulting from a fall last winter. No word on when he will be throwing off the mound again.

IDs: bottom row, from left: Sims, McRae, Proudfoot, Mary Ann Whitley.

2d row, Bill Benedict, John Spetz, Denise Ritter, Doug Kramer, Marty Sterpka.

3d row, Felipe Nieves, John Kuehner, Chris Raider, Joel Downey (behind her), Joe Hanak, Melodie Smith, Mike Mentrek.

Holiday fun, and a fundraiser, too!

The Guild is inviting PD retirees (both Guild members and former managers) to join them at their holiday gathering at the Town Fryer on Dec. 18th.

Brie Zeltner is looking for donations for a silent auction that will raise money for the folks who are laid off. So far she has photographers giving framed photos, knitters giving sweaters and afghans, people who have raided their gift closets, and hand-made jewelry, etc.

She is also happy to accept services. Debbi Snook may be donating a dinner. You can share your talents - a guitar lesson, golf lesson, a hayride at Rosie's farm. Use your imagination.

Contact Brie at bzeltner@plaind.com or brieskates@gmail.com.

Life after the PD

Jo Ellen Corrigan has launched a blog aimed at helping PD departees make the transition to life outside of the newsroom.

She's looking for tips, ideas, encouragement -- whatever you can contribute. Find the blog at:
http://1801zoned.blogspot.com/

It's a Tom Diemer book signing!!

Former longtime PD reporter Tom Diemer has a new book out on former Sen. Howard Metzenbaum and wants to invite current PD staffers or alums to a book-signing at NightTown on Jan. 11, 2009.

If interested please email Tom your mailing address. (Tdiemer@aol.com) The book, published by Kent State University Press, is called "Fighting the Unbeatable Foe : Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio, the Washington Years."

Holiday shopping alert!

Even though I have more time to get to the library these days, I still miss the PD book cart and all the treasures I found there.

Karen Long has generously extended an invitation to all PD alums to the annual Holiday Book Sale!!

It's Thursday, Dec. 11 from 3 - 5:30 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 12 from 9 to noon. Friday is 1/2 price day.

See you there!

Margie

Christine retires, Richard gets married

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008

For more photos from Christine Jindra's Retirement bash and wedding announcement
go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosebud/

Yes, Christine retired, and she and Richard quietly got
married the day before elections.

Jud celebrates 70th

Jud Shelnutt, formerly of the business department,
celebrated his 70th birthday recently with a party
at Punderson State Park, where he and his wife Marty were handling the boat rentals. After 2 years of boating fun, they decided to really retire. Here they are dancing to celebrate.

October 31 Luncheon

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, Oct. 31

Place: Pearl of the Orient

20121 Van Aken Boulevard

Shaker Heights

Van Aken Shopping Center

(near Van Aken Blvd. and Warrensville Center Road)

Cost: $12 per person, includes tax and tip.

Menu: (served family style) Won ton soup, Shrimp with snow peas,

Chicken with cashews, and Beef with broccoli.

RSVP by Oct. 25

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

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

A note from Zina Vishnevsky

Hi there!
Sorry I couldn't see anyone while I was in Ohio. The Cleveland Clinic and family had me totally occupied when I wasn't near my childhood friends and their families.
I have a Google blog now and thought you might want to add it to the links on yours. It's my sometimes not so humdrum life in a sometimes imperfect paradies:
http://islazina.blogspot.com
I don't have the whole photo posting business down pat, but I am working on it!
Best wishes to everyone. And hey, update your blog!
Fondly,
Zina