I am not a writer.
.
I never imagined my words would appear in a newspaper, especially on a regular basis. I’m fairly certain my family was equally shocked to find them in their driveways or even in a grocery store.
My words did not come from years of education nor from a lifelong love affair with writing. They appeared as a survival method from a heart that was drowning in things it needed to say.
I don’t remember what sparked the conversation between former Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller and myself. But I do remember my motivation in asking. After spending 10 years on the radio, an occupation and lifestyle that cost me a marriage, I wanted to show my family the person I was, not the one I was pretending to be.
As a father of four, I fear a retirement with weekends spent primarily in a car or on a plane — trips to visit my grandchildren if this city cannot attract jobs to retain the younger generations.
I was tired of living in a city being bullied by its daily newspaper. I was tired of being shown, via front-page “special reports,” how bad and ugly my hometown was. I never understood how the publisher of a city’s newspaper could live in a completely different state, hundreds of miles away. The irony of a newspaper publishing repeated editorials offering advice to local politicians on how to run city government while itself losing millions of dollars a year is beyond rich.
I wanted to highlight and showcase Toledo’s greatest export: its heart. I knew that if I shared stories of Toledoans at their finest, it could be contagious. I think it has been.
Toledo Free Press has spent the past decade battling the one thing that has kept this city down since the last episode of “M*A*S*H” aired, and it isn’t the economy. The Blade is close to crippling this paper with behind-the-scenes influence and legal bills from an insulting lawsuit.
If you can’t beat ’em, sue ’em. If they dare to point out the emperor wears no clothes, sue ’em some more. “One of America’s Great Newspapers (For Law Firms)” would be a more accurate description.
TFP dedicates its ink to news without a hidden agenda while highlighting the heart of a city learning how to walk again. It provides a vehicle and voice for many previously unrepresented communities, and people dreaming of change. It’s helped champion the “You Will Do Better in Toledo” campaign, which now welcomes all those who visit the Glass City.
I come from a proud union family full of carpenters, welders and UAW members. I can take my children anywhere around the city and show them things our family has built, from Fifth Third Field to the new I-280 bridge. I have discovered my talents lie in my voice, rather than my hands.
The love and support of those who read my column has been overwhelming. This paper has served as my heart’s bucket, allowing me to dump its words one column at a time. It’s given me the opportunity to effect a positive difference. Since I don’t possess the ability to cut a straight line, this column offers my children a chance to see my work.
As a child, my grandparents Pete and JoAnn Zunk would give me these beautiful personal tours, where they would drive throughout the city to show how rooted our family is in Northwest Ohio.
After writing and appearing in this paper for over a year, I learned they were secretly keeping a scrapbook of my columns. My grandma was painstakingly cutting the paper and gluing the pieces into a photo album. Who needs Google when you have glue?
It was at this moment I knew my words had reached their targeted audience — a nice older couple from Point Place.
Thank you Toledo Free Press for being the jobsite of my work and home to my heart.
We have done better in Toledo with a Free Press.
Jeremy Baumhower can be reached at jeremytheproducer@icloud.com.
