Auroraadvocate.com - Stocking stuffers: An abundance of books available

Cleveland Rock & Roll Memories: True and Tall Tales of the Glory Days told by musicians, DJs, promoters and fans who made the scene in the '60s, '70s, and '80s

by Carlo Wolff

Gray & Company Publishers

www.grayco.com

The book takes you on a nostalgic magical mystery tour of Cleveland Rock and Roll music, to a time before satellite radio, the Internet, Music Television, CDs and high definition radio.

Vinyl discs were spun, tie-dyed clothes were in vogue and groups with screaming guitars, full grown beards and live vocals ruled.

Carlo Wolff tells the history of Cleveland rock with musings of his own, interspersed with memories from fans, DJs and others who according to the cover "made the scene in the '60s, '70s and '80s."

Stations with call letters like WIXY 1260, WMMS and WNCR ruled the rock radio airwaves in the three decades profiled by Wolff and his legion of fans who made this book possible.

Wolff uses the memories of fans who actually attended and remembered events like the 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland Arena and concerts at other rock hotspots like the Agora, the Cat's Meow and Chippewa Lake Park.

But while using the fans' memories was a novel idea, the sheer amount of information sometimes bogs down the book and forces the reader to skip over dry passages.

However, fans of Cleveland rock will enjoy the photos and their own memories invoked by names like Alan Freed, Joe Finan, Jeff (Kinzbach) and (Ed) Flash (Ferenc), Denny Sanders and (Lawrence) Kid Leo (Travagliante).

The book is full of rare photographs and memorabilia of a time when the James Gang, Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone and The Outsiders made Cleveland their stop not to make quick cash, but to promote album sales and mingle with audiences.

Wolff also gives credit to local groups like Cyrus Erie and the Poor Girls, whose names may be lost to all but the die-hard Northeast Ohio music lover.

For readers who want to rehash their own memories of the early Cleveland rock scene, from Elvis, The Who, The Monkees and the people who made them famous, the fans, this book deserves a look.

Aside from a little too much information being packed between the brightly colored covers, Wolff has created a 131-page, completely portable and affordable Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Tim Troglen

Family Desserts: 55 recipes for every occasion

by Jim Barnes

Kleidon Publishing, Akron

$19.99

Akron resident Jim Barnes, currently a chef at Laurel Lake Retirement Center in Hudson, recently published a book of his own dessert recipes to share. The book was set to be released Dec. 18.

"The book has exciting cake recipes, easy to follow recipes and desserts for all occasions," Barnes said.

Barnes has worked in the culinary field for a few years as a chef. He was mentored by Chef de Cuisine Carla Snyder, co-author of newly released book, "The Mixer Bible." He attended Western Reserve School of Cooking, where he studied professional techniques and pastries. He also is an owner of a personal chef and catering business, Passion For Cooking in Akron.

The book will be available at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson; the Learned Owl Book Store in Hudson and Dance Evolution in Stow.

Barnes will be available to meet people and to sign copies of his book on the following dates:

YMCA-Canal Square, Akron, Dec. 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.;

YMCA-Green, Akron, Dec. 19 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.;

YMCA-Firestone Park, Akron, Dec. 20 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and

YMCA-Riverfront, Cuyahoga Falls Dec. 21 from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

To reserve a copy or for details, call Barnes at 330-715-8448 or e-mail Jbarnes2012@neo.rr.com.

April Helms

Amy, My Search for her Killer: Secrets and Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic

written by James Renner

Gray & Company, Publishers

www.grayco.com

James Renner's true crime memoir of the death of Bay Village 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic in 1989 reads more like a screenplay than your typical tell-all crime story. It is compelling, riveting and hard to set down. The characters are flushed out and frighteningly honest.

Renner was 11 when Mihaljevic went missing from a shopping plaza on her way home from school. Despite having never met Amy, she was his first crush. He recalls fantasies about bringing her home safe, fantasies that were abandoned when her body was found on a hillside in Ashland County in February of 1990. The reader joins Renner on a narrative that introduces old suspects, new secrets and some inherent truths about characters caught up in this macabre chronicle.

The focus remains his passion for Amy. Without being self-serving, Renner reveals a bravado confronting old witnesses as well as a string of suspects.

Unfortunately, books like Renner's steal part of our innocence. We're reminded bad things happen to good people. However, maybe it is just that reminder that keeps us on our toes, keeps us looking out for the boogeyman.

There is an underbelly, a current of evil that moves in every community whether affluent or poor, and Renner exposes it truthfully. After all, it is possible someone who still walks the streets killed a 10-year-old little girl with dreams, hopes and a funny little pony tail that hung off the side of her head.

Stories like this remind us to watch out for each other. This is a well written, passionate narrative that has a place on your shelf, but more importantly a place in your thoughts. Sadly, it is necessary to remind ourselves bad people live around us, watch our children and are dangerous. Renner brings that to light all too well.

Michael K. Dakota

Whatever Happened To 'Super Joe'?

Catching Up With 45 Good Old Guys from the Bad Old Days of the Cleveland Indians

by Russell Schneider

Gray and Co. Publishers

$14.95

While the Indians were usually a lousy baseball team from the early 1960s through the early 1990s, there were plenty of memorable players.

Schneider interviewed players from that era, listing what they are doing today and focusing on significant moments in their careers as Indians.

It is entertaining reading, especially for fans who followed the ups and downs of the Indians through the years.

"Super Joe" Charboneau, an outfielder who was the 1980 American League Rookie of the Year, said he was "never a big fan of that Super Joe stuff" even though a book and a song were written about him after the 1980 season. He said wild tales about himself years ago were embellished by a few of his buddies.

According to those stories, Charboneau opened beer bottles with his eye socket, drank beer with a straw through his nose, ate cigarettes and yanked out a sore tooth with pliers after drinking a shot of whiskey.

Gomer Hodge, an infielder whose only season with the Indians was in 1971, was nicknamed after Jim Nabors' TV sitcom character, Gomer Pyle. Hodge, after getting hits in his first four at-bats that year, told reporters after his fourth hit, "Gollee, fellas, I'm hitting 4.000."

Catcher Joe Azcue, before joining the Indians in 1963, played for the Kansas City team that was owned by obnoxious Charley Finley. Azcue said Finley got mad at him because he wasn't hitting well, but Azcue believed there was a good reason. He told Finley he was sick because he had worms in his stomach.

Jim "Mudcat" Grant, an Indians pitcher in the early 1960s, was traded to the Minnesota Twins during the 1964 season. The Twins were playing in Cleveland when the deal occurred. Grant, entering the Indians' locker room, was informed of the trade by an Indians' clubhouse attendant not the team's manager or general manager which understandably disappointed him.

A year later, Grant became the first black pitcher to win 20 games in the American League, leading the Twins to the World Series.

For long-suffering Indians' fans of that era, it often seemed like most players did better after they were traded away from Cleveland. Grant was surely one of them.

Mike Lesko