Essays
Local Tourist: A Roadtrip To Discover The Real Ohio
In early April of this year, I began reading John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, an account of his 1960 road trip from Long Island across and up the country to the West coast, and down through the deep south and back home again.
The Woman in the Red Glasses: Jane Scott Gets a Documentary
Jane Scott, the Cleveland music writer beloved by the rock stars she covered, was honored this week at a fundraiser for the documentary about her life and career and the iconic red glasses.
Roadway Battleground: Bicyclist vs. Motorist
Most car drivers don’t like me. I’m one of those people who rides a bicycle in the street, and over the years I’ve had cars swerve toward me, throw garbage, honk, shout nasty crap, and give me the finger when they ride by.
Robbing the Pillars: Frugal, Poor, or Sustainable in Rustbelt 1977
When I was in high school in the late 1970’s and people I didn’t know well would drive me home from my summer job, I would ask to be dropped off at a neighbor’s house.
Industrial Strength: What Rowing On The Cuyahoga River Taught Me About Myself, and My City
The Cuyahoga River is better known for catching fire than for its natural beauty. When I stepped into the rowing shell for the first time, I thought of the rumors that circulated about the Crooked River.
One Day I’ll Be a Clevelander
I was born in northeast Ohio, on the awkward border between green and brown farmland and the gray highways crisscrossing Ohio’s suburbia. It wasn’t exactly Amish country, but buggies did clip-clop down the road every so often.
Intrigue of the Midwest’s Industrial Ruin
The intrigue of historical Midwest industry ... and the isolated beauty of Marktown in East Chicago, Indiana.
The Second Edition of The Cleveland Anthology
Next month we publish our second edition (and third print run) of Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology, with essays by Connie Schultz, Michael Ruhlman, David Giffels, and others. This excerpt is the book’s new introduction.
Summer Girl … and Other Duties as Assigned
Chicago’s Greyhound terminal in late Aug. 1966 certainly lacked cheer and charm, and perhaps safety. But to me, holding a one-way ticket back to Calumet County, WI, it was a suitable escape platform from my job as a “Summer Girl”
Adventures in Urban Angling on the Cleveland Lakefront
On a sunny summer afternoon, the City of Cleveland buzzes with a frenetic energy you can only observe from the waterfront, where the Cuyahoga meets the Great Lake.

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