Samples

Murder, Center Stage: Misadventures of a Clandestine Critic, a novella by Bob Abelman

Murder, Center Stage – Excerpt

The rough draft first paragraph of Gwen’s review of the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was typed out on her computer just before she left her near west side efficiency apartment for downtown Cleveland’s Hedley Theatre. Very little was legible because of the blood.

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Doug Dieken with cast on his broken right arm

Tape It Up and Play: Doug Dieken

If you listen to Doug Dieken, you begin to think his entire career could be summed up with these words: “Better to be lucky than good.” This self-effacing man has a relentless spirit. Part of his career is due to a willingness to show up consistently with a good attitude. And it’s a willingness to adapt to change without much complaining …

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I Want to Hold Your Hand

It was Christmas break, 1963, and I sat in the kitchen trying to stay awake while writing a homework essay. Homework during break just wasn’t fair, but it had to be done. I turned on the large portable orange and white radio that was my lifeline to the outer world, pointed the telescoping chrome antenna toward the window, and turned the dial to 1420 WHK.

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Paul Orlousky during hotel prostitution sting, from the book "Punched, Kicked, Spat On, and Sometimes Thanked: Memoirs of a Cleveland TV News Reporter," by Paul Orlousky

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

“You owe me $240, and if you don’t pay, I’m gonna kick your ass!” There I was, in a downtown Cleveland hotel room with two prostitutes and their pimp, and the pimp was angry. Very angry

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