Gimme Rewrite, Sweetheart . . . by John Tidyman | Cleveland Books | Gray & Company, Publishers | Guide and Gift Books about Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and Ohio.

Description

It was a job unlike any other— putting out a daily newspaper for a major city. In this case, Cleveland, where reporters, photographers and editors were envied, threatened, beatified, fooled and thought to be the luckiest s.o.b.'s in town.

The office was called the city room, and the doors were wide open— to politicians, huffing and puffing and threatening; to beauty queens, inventors, conspiracy theorists, bums, Barnum & Bailey clowns, sore losers and haughty winners . . . It was an amazing parade.

Stories rarely just walked in, though. Reporters wore out shoe leather, jamming dimes into pay phones, pressing their ears to closed doors. Photographers recorded the action, whether a murder victim or a murderer or the Girl Scout who sold the most cookies.

Now, here are the stories behind the stories, told by the men and women who covered them.

Listen in as veteran newspaper men and women talk about life on the job at Cleveland's newspapers during the 1950s, '60s and '70s— when fierce competition between the Cleveland Press and the Plain Dealer made daily newspapers the most exciting business in town.

Their stories are funny, tragic, human and sometimes outrageous. Read them and find out why reporters in those days knew they had the world's best job.

Book Excerpt:

“ Screw the competition.”

Russ Musarra
General Assignment Reporter, Press

You learned your lessons the hard way. I learned how to cajole pictures from grieving wives and mothers. On the night shift, if somebody got killed in an automobile accident or a shooting or whatever, you'd want to get a picture. Michael Kelly was a reporter for the Plain Dealer. Well, Mike was a very nice person. He just couldn't do enough for you. He and I went out to a grieving parent's home one time to get pictures of somebody who had died. We got there at the same time and he said, “ Let me do the talking.” We were talking and getting information. I'm writing as fast as I could. He said, “ Do you have any pictures of little Johnny?” And so she brought out the pictures of him and he took them all. He said, “ Thank you so much.” He's leaving, and I said, “ Do you have any more pictures?” She said, “ Well, no. I gave them all to him.” I said, “ Well, Mike.” He said, “ Screw you.” If you got there first, take them all. Screw the competition.

Jim Dudas
Reporter, Press

The competition was so fierce that I once bribed a prisoner with a carton of Lucky Strikes if he promised that, after our interview, he would not talk with the reporter for the morning paper.

Mike Roberts
Reporter, Editor, Plain Dealer

The heyday for the Press was in the '40s and '50s. By the '60s, television was beginning to impact the afternoon papers. Then the Plain Dealer was beginning to move against the Press. There were a lot of young guys at the PD. Everybody was aggressive as hell and there was as much competition in-house as there . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews

A loving tribute to the art and science of being a newspaper reporter . . . The main thrust of this book is the rivalry between the Plain Dealer and the Press, which died—unceremoniously—on June 17, 1982. An era died with it. But you can re-live those bumptious, boisterous, downright rowdy days of the 50s through the early 80s with this book—told by the ones who lived it, and loved it. Of course, not all of the stories in here were true, (these folks were writers, after all) but still, they'll make you wish you'd been a bigger part of it than just a reader. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and go back to it time and time again for a bit more of the joie de vivre depicted within its pages. — coolcleveland.com

Times may have changed, but one thing hasn't: Media companies continue to report news to the public while struggling—or flat-out failing—to effectively communicate among themselves . . . Tidyman's book is no dirge, however; in fact, Gimme Rewrite is a celebration of Cleveland's competing daily newspapers. If all the stories are to be believed, things were just a little bit zestier back then (a chapter titled "Too many martinis" is subtitled simply, "Drinking"), and though you get the sense these tales have been hauled out and dusted off a few times, nothing feels stale . . . While the industry continues its painful changes, Gimme Rewrite provides a compelling reverie that reminds us of the value of good journalism and its place in a healthy and informed society. — Ohio Authority.com

Long ago and far away, Cleveland was a newspaper town. Tidyman's book takes us back to those days when newsstands and payphones dotted the downtown landscape with the promise of another big story . . . The book will appeal to anyone interested in Cleveland's history and the “glory days” of Cleveland newspapers. — Currents

A collection of accounts from reporters that portrays an era of wild public discussion, when Cleveland had three daily papers competing for news. Some of the names are still working writers (like former PD reporter and editor, and current Scene contributor, Mike Roberts), while others have been out of the business for years. In conversational style, and with the storytelling sensibility you'd expect from reporters, the likes of Fred McGunagle, Jim Strang, Bob Dolgan, Brent Larkin and many others tell what it was like: the breaking stories, the deadlines, the dead bodies, the martinis. It's a great portrait that, even if you didn't live through that age, will make you miss it. — Cleveland Scene

About John H. Tidyman

John Tidyman was ordered by his father to take a touch typing class the summer before high school. Tidyman often cites that incident as the reason he became a writer. After graduating from Lakewood High School, he was drafted and fought in the Vietnam War. He returned a 19-year "buck sergeant.”

Before he joined the Cleveland Press as a reporter, Tidyman worked as a waiter, a warehouseman, and an air freight agent. He is the author of eight books and has also written for almost every area publication. More About John H. Tidyman

Contains References to:

Carl Stokes, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Press, Dennis Kucinich, Dick Feagler, Doris O'Donnell, Joseph E. Cole, Louis B. Seltzer, Ralph Perk, Sam Sheppard, Shondor Birns, Thomas Vail