- 35 Years In the Making
Our December issue catches up with your favorite character and looks back through how we covered the city during 70s, 80s and 90s. Here’s a taste of what you can expect:
| - A Car-Free Life: The Test Drive
By Andy Netzel
Cleveland Magazine writer Andy Netzel drives an average of 2,000 miles a month despite living only a mile and a half from work. He’s addicted to his car, but agreed to part with his keys for a month to see if he could make it without his Toyota Yaris.
| - A Whole New Ball Game
A benefit isn’t what it used to be. Sure, there’s still great food, cool entertainment and lots of glitz. But there’s a new generation of fundraisers in town.
| - Back to the Garden
Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs
Maurice Small is a man with a message: Roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty, and grow what you eat. A green thumb since his father taught him the basics, Small now takes this and other lessons to city dwellers whose access to fresh foods has become increasingly rare.
| - Beer Me, Boys!
By Amber Matheson
Power hours and hours at the Rock Bottom Brewery
| - Can Anyone Save Slavic Village-?
Andy Netzel
Once thought of as an up-and-coming neighborhood, Cleveland’s Slavic Village has become identified with a few horrific crimes, including the death of a 12-year-old named Cookie. Now, it’s on the brink with nearly 14 percent of all homes there vacant or abandoned, drug crimes up more than 400 percent and residents who are afraid to leave their homes at night.
| - Crashing JFK’s Inauguration
Mary Zunt
When they were college students, future Cleveland city councilwoman Mary Zunt and future congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar sneaked into John F. Kennedy’s snowy inauguration — and his speech inspired their lives’ paths.
| - Creativity to Spare
Lynne Thompson
A retired carpenter finds a way to use his passion for art to give back to Cleveland.
| - Dead Serious
Mary Ann Winkowski is the basis for Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character on the CBS drama “Ghost Whisperer.” We talked to her about where her televised supernatural world ends and her real one begins.
| - European Elegance
Colleen Mytnick
Juicy Lucy brings fashion from across the pond to Cleveland
| - Going Solo
Lynne Thompson
Soon after Channel 3 named Romona Robinson the lone anchor of its weeknight newscasts, we talked to the beloved broadcaster about what the move means for her, the station's viewers and the future of the city’s TV news landscape.
| - Guinness Nook
Lee Chilcote
Bocce inside a bar? Stone Mad, Pete Leneghan’s twist on an Emerald Isle pub, has been years in the making, and promises to give the Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood a taste of its Old World roots.
| - Marlin Kaplan
Interview by Beth Stallings
Since 1993, chef Marlin Kaplan has opened five Cleveland restaurants and closed three. Ten years after launching the elegant One Walnut downtown, the native New Yorker is celebrating the first anniversary of Luxe, a quirky and relaxed Detroit Shoreway spot that is this year’s best new restaurant.
| - Music Lessons
As John Gorman recounts the glory days of “The Buzzard” in a new book, we talked to the former WMMS 100.7 head of operations about his monster rock station, the state of traditional radio and the changing face of how we consume music.
| - Secret Identity
Erick Trickey
You may already know that two Glenville High School students created Superman here in the 1930s. But Brad Ricca delved into the origins of the two teenage creators for his film Last Son, a documentary that revisits the city and times in which Siegel and Shuster lived. It explores tragedy and unearths long-forgotten influences that show how the iconic superhero the world knows today as the Man of Steel was forged by the Cleveland of their youth.
| - Stephanie's Great Adventure
MARY MIHALY
She's either self-actualizing or driven by raw ambition. Either way, the county prosecutor is on a roll.
| - The Celebrity
By Lynne Thompson
Anti-aging guru Dr. Michael Roizen isn’t out for fame and fortune. No, the Cleveland Clinic doctor wants you to take control of your health.
| - The Girl Next Door
By Colleen Mytnick
Monica Potter is one of us. So much so that even after relocating to Los Angeles and starring in movies opposite Robin Williams and Nicolas Cage, she moved back to the Cleveland neighborhood where she grew up. But walking away from Hollywood was nowhere near as easy as she made it look. This month, she’s back with a new series and the role she’s been waiting for her entire life.
| - The Missionary
By Erick Trickey
Dennis Kucinich is running for president — again. Seriously. But the talk-show punch lines and complaints he can’t win only feed his enormous self-confidence. He says he is Cleveland’s message to America. But is Dennis the message we want to send?
| - The Reconstruction of Bruce Drennan
Andy Netzel
Four years ago, it was over: his career, his influence, his life as we knew it. Bruce Drennan’s louder-than-life sports-talk persona lay buried under the debris of an FBI gambling sting that landed him in federal prison. A comeback was the last thing on anyone’s mind — except his
| - The Rookies
Cleveland Browns first-round draft picks and buddies Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas talk to us about being roommates, losing locks and bringing a championship to Cleveland.
| - The Un-Blues
Andy Netzel
If you haven’t heard Kristine Jackson belt out a tune, you’re missing the local music scene’s next rising star.
| - Z
Jeannie Roberts
He knows struggle. He knows hard work. He wants to win as badly as we do. Here’s why a 7-foot-3 Lithuanian is as true a Clevelander as any of us will ever be.
| - Boss Fan
By Jim Vickers
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum presents the first major exhibit examining Bruce Springsteen’s four-decade music career and his ascent from the Jersey shore to worldwide fame.
| - Family Ties
By Anne Hartman
Playwright and Lakewood native Michael Tisdale connects with families of fallen Marines through their stories
| - Marking Time
Lynne Thompson
The writing of Mark Twain continues to fuel actor Hal Holbrook’s long-running one-man show.
| - Caught on Tape
You don’t’ want to be on the business end of Carl Monday’s microphone. As the television sweeps period arrives this month, we talk to the city’s veteran investigative reporter about the finer points of chasing down a story.
| - Drum Solo
Jim Vickers
He’s known best as The Office’s Dwight Schrute, but this month Rainn Wilson takes on his first comedic lead as the jilted drummer of a Cleveland hair-metal band in The Rocker
| - Mood Music
Jim Vickers
Jim Brickman has sold millions of CDs, sang a duet with Kermit the Frog and toured with Donny Osmond. This month, the Shaker Heights native comes home for a Dec. 26 holiday concert at Severance Hall.
| - Mr. Nice Guy
Lynne Thompson
Scott Hamilton is no stranger to Cleveland. Every fall, he returns to host a benefit for the Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute. Now he’s back as an analyst for NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championship at Quicken Loans Arena.
| - Preview: Out of Thin Air
More than 50 years after the Cleveland National Air Race’s famous flying machines, Mike and Ike, disappeared, Karl Engelskirger and Tom Matowitz are bringing them out of retirement.
| - Shaq vs. Cleveland
Jim Vickers
Shaquille O’Neal has a knack for turning big challenges into reality TV. Well, roll the cameras because the NBA’s original Superman could help with some of our civic issues.
| - The Rachael Way
She wowed America’s daytime culinary queen. Now, Jenn Thomas hopes the EVOO encorsement will help her take her creations public.
| - This Will Be on the Test
By Erick Trickey
The city’s hottest political blogger, the brain behind Political Science 216, thrives on scandal and fights predatory lenders with a Blues Brothers-inspired move. We have just one question: Who is he?
| - Tinseltown, Meet Rust Belt
Erick Trickey
Esquire writer Scott Raab takes on Hollywood as only a native Clevelander can. We talked to him about his new book and found out why Sean Penn and Bill Murray are the celebrities most likely to fit in here.
| - Critical Sinking
By Jim Vickers
Plain Dealer music writer Donald Rosenberg covered the Cleveland Orchestra for 28 years. That is, until his critiques of Franz Welser-Möst apparently unseated him from the prestigious role. What happened along the way gives a rare look at two powerful institutions and raises the question of what it means to be a critic.
| - Home Restoration Guide
Lindsey Hoeppner
Ready for Rehab?Tips for buying and restoring your own piece of history.
| - Life According to ‘Big Chuck’
Interview by Dave “Coondog” O’Karma
Charles “Big Chuck” Schodowski made us laugh as Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson’s sidekick. He later picked up laughs with Bob “Hoolihan” Wells and “Li’l” John Rinaldi. As his memoir, Big Chuck!, arrives, we talk to the late-night movie host about his 47 years on television.
| - Miller’s Dining Room
Admit it, those sticky buns on those silver trays are what you miss most about this Lakewood restaurant.
| - Shopping with Kim Crow
Colleen Mytnick
If you read her style column in The Plain Dealer, you already know how fabulous she is. She’s pretty — not perfect. She splurges — within reason. She realizes that a good outfit makes you feel great, but won’t change the world. She’ll tell you what to wear to look your best — on a budget. She’s just like us, and we can be just like her with a little help from the Wednesday paper.
| - Singles File
We’d like to introduce you to two of this year’s Cleveland Magazine sexy singles. But you’ll have to come back Feb. 1 for a full conversation (and to meet the other 18).
| - The City List
Previews of favorites from Andrea Vecchio, Michael Ruhlman, Austin “Walkin’ Cane,” Robert P. Madison and Lillian Kuri
| - The Fries That Bind
Andy Netzel
The cooks at St. Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral consider it an average night when 500 people show up for Friday dinner (the record is 920). Their Lenten fish fry — one of the oldest in the area — is as much family tradition as it is annual fundraiser. It’s just one of the dozen we visited last year for this guide to where you should dig in this month.
| - The Last Word
Interview by Michael D. Roberts
For 38 years, he’s been Cleveland’s voice, its greatest storyteller and its common-sense conscience. Now, as he retires, Dick Feagler looks back on his writing life and the history he witnessed.
| - … And I’m Abby Ham
By Colleen Mytnick
Wake up. Flip on the TV and that’s what the striking blonde with eyes like you’re never seen before will say. Soon enough, you’ll find out she’s funny, she’s fresh and she’s new in town. But what’s the scoop behind the woman soft enough to cry on TV, yet hard enough to push her way to a fire scene? And what is it about her that’s helped make the new morning show at Channel 3 a ratings winner?
| - Call of Duty
By Lynne Thompson
High school quarterback, college student-body president, Marine with two tours in Iraq under his camo belt, freshman state rep who knocked on almost 20,000 doors to get elected — yeah, that’s Josh Mandel, and he’s only 30.
| - Real (Amazing) Estates
Colleen Mytnick
The lowliest of our Top 250 homes is worth just more than $1.5 million. From there, the value soars to $8.5 million. In between you’ll find elevators, infinity pools and houses 10 times the size of the one you live in.
| - The Govertment Springboard
The Editors
Pity not the altruistic souls who toil for peanuts (compared to top jobs in the private sector) working in local government. The best of the punch are able to jump from these posts to top-paying positions elsewhere.
| | - Bar Gazing
Jay Casey
After fantasizing about making it in Hollywood, you’d think working parties with guests Steve Martin, Jim Carrey, Jennifer Connelly and Kenny G would be a windfall. Instead, it proved just how far away dreams can be.
| - Escape Plans
Lynne Thompson
Here's how three homeowners turned their backyards into elaborate outdoor spaces to entertain friends and family.
|  | - Central
Karen Fuller
A new place to call home
| | - Downtown
Karen Fuller
The Soul of the City
| | - Fairfax
Karen Fuller
Welcoming Growth and Stability
| | - Glenville
Karen Fuller
Culture Grows in Glenville
| | - Hough
Karin Connelly
A Renaissance Story
| | - Ohio City
Christina Phillis
Past Mingles with Present
| | - Real Cleveland
Myra Orenstein
We've got baseball, music and Lebron. But we've got so much more, too. Find out what else makes our city shine.
| | - Tremont
Katie Seminara
Boutique Heaven
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