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From his youth in Cleveland to 47 years in television, Schodowski shares memories of teams and friends
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 02, 2008
When Chuck Schodowski retired from TV a little over a year ago, it was clear that he wasn't just going to sit in a rocking chair in his Hinckley Township home and watch the world go by. That's not Chuck.
In fact, he spent a good bit of that year on his autobiography, Big Chuck! My Favorite Stories From 47 Years on Cleveland TV (Gray & Co., $19.95), which has just hit stores.
And he will be on the book-signing trail in the weeks ahead, including appearances at Borders in Fairlawn on Nov. 22 and Borders at the Strip in Jackson Township on Dec. 5.
The book looks not only at Schodowski's career but also his life off-camera, including his youth on Cleveland's southeast side, his 52-year marriage to the former June Kole, their family, and the many friendships he made over the years.
And, while Schodowski was an on-air presence in five decades, the book also talks about the joy he found in producing and creating TV moments for himself and other people. It's a joy he is no longer sure the TV business offers, with computer technology turning once-challenging tasks into the flip of a switch. But for Schodowski, there was plenty of fun to be had — and excitement.
Asked about some of his favorites among the favorite memories, Schodowski singled out ''the times when I actually worked with the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns, and I got to know the players personally. That was exciting for me because I'm a sports nut, and it meant I could be called one of their peers.''
Indeed, while there's no question that Big Chuck is big, and athletic — he played sports as an adult — there was a time in his childhood when that wasn't the case. As Big Chuck! notes, he battled rheumatic fever as a child, and his family would not let him play sports, even when he started to grow tall and healthy in his teens.
Asked whether not playing as a child made him more of a fan, he said, ''It could very well have.''
Schodowski began gathering material for the book in the late '90s, after helping with Ghoulardi: Inside Cleveland TV's Wildest Ride, the book about Schodowski's friend Ernie ''Ghoulardi'' Anderson, co-written by Tom Feran and me.
As that book was being finished in 1997, Schodowski recalls Feran asking, ''When are you going to do your book?'' So Schodowski began making notes.
''When I'd think of something, I'd write down three or four words about it on a piece of paper,'' he said. ''I started tossing the pieces of paper in a briefcase, and then in a box.''
The system proved less than perfect, Schodowski said with a laugh. ''When I took out those pieces of paper, there were some where I had no idea what I was writing about.''
Never having written a book, he turned for help to Feran, who had known Schodowski for more than 20 years, and whose publishing credits include both Ghoulardi and co-authoring John Gorman's The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio.
But Schodowski knew he wanted certain things in the book. He thought it should be a straightforward autobiography (albeit one laced with anecdotes), and that he wanted it to have a style accessible to all his fans.
Schodowski never forgets that, but for a twist in life here and there, he might have spent his career in a foundry or as a Cleveland police officer. And he is pleased that the book's early readers ''really enjoy the down-to-earth approach, the blue-collar approach.''
While this book covers Schodowski's life, he still has stories to tell. ''I've already thought of three or four things I know I should have included,'' he said. ''If I come up with seven or eight more, that would open the door to another book.''
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
When Chuck Schodowski retired from TV a little over a year ago, it was clear that he wasn't just going to sit in a rocking chair in his Hinckley Township home and watch the world go by. That's not Chuck.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 11:57 PM, 11/02/2008
Big Chuck, make a video; it will outsell a book by a mile. I'd buy one for each of our grandchildren . . . quite a few. " Ad multos annos" . . . do you know what that means?
R M Kraus
Akron
Akron, OH
Posted 07:16 PM, 11/03/2008
What, nobody reads anymore?
Posted 02:19 AM, 11/04/2008
I posted a link to this on my website's message board (www.inthebalcony.com) and I know of at least four books that were sold immediately. Big Chuck is an icon to us former Ohioans.
Posted 10:14 AM, 11/05/2008
From Big Chuck and Hoolahan to Big Chuck and Little John I will miss this guy.
Posted 10:23 AM, 11/05/2008
I'll buy a copy. Hey! Christmas is just around the corner. Maybe dropping a few hints will cause a copy to appear under my Christmas tree.
