John McNamara is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. Toledo Free Press file photo.
When John McNamara bought advertisements from Toledo Free Press for Raceway Park and Hollywood Casino Toledo, he both identified and agreed with the goals and mission of the paper.
Now, as new Toledo Free Press sales manager, McNamara is an integral part of expanding the brand he said he considers respected, reputable and ethical.
While attending Bowling Green State University, McNamara worked for the athletic and marketing departments, working in game day operations. He later worked event security, a position that required him to manage and relate to people.
“Every job I have ever had has always been relating to people, whether it was customer-related or guest services- related,” McNamara said. “I’ve always loved working with a lot of people around. I’ve never been one to sit behind the desk.”
After McNamara studied marketing in college, he and his wife, Jaimee, decided to stay in the Toledo area, and he began working at Raceway Park.
“At Raceway Park, when I was signing corporate partnerships, I wanted to make sure that we added as much value to the client as possible, to give them exposure for their company, and help their business be successful,” McNamara said.
Toledo Free Press publisher Tom Pounds said he’s known McNamara for a number of years because Raceway Park partnered with Toledo Free Press. The two stayed in contact when McNamara began his work at Hollywood Casino as a manager in the marketing department.
“He’s young, connected and very professional,” Pounds said. “He’s got great leadership skills and is very forward- thinking.”
McNamara said having experience on the other side of sales offers him a different perspective on selling ads and understanding clients’ concerns.
“You have revenue goals at the casino, so it’s a similar setting. You’re not selling ads. You’re selling gambling,” he said. “I think I come from a unique perspective on it because I don’t come from a traditional ad sales background. I come from the other side of the table, where I was buying media and working with sales reps and sales managers from multiple different advertising mediums.
“So I’m going to bring that approach to our clients, as a peer, because I was in their seat and I know what they’re looking for. I understand tight budgets and how they’re trying to maximize their marketing dollars. That’s what I want to do here.”
Renee Bergmooser, Toledo Free Press senior sales representative, said she and Pounds were impressed with McNamara’s charisma and personableness when she met him at Hollywood Casino, but never thought she would have the chance to work with him at Toledo Free Press.
Concern for the buyer is what McNamara said drives the way he conducts business.
“In anything, if your client is successful, you’ll be successful,” McNamara said. “If they’re not, you’re not. So my main goal in any business I’m in, especially now at Toledo Free Press, is I’m not here to sell an ad to someone just to make money. I want to make sure that whatever I’m doing is helping the client. Because at the end of the day, if it’s not helping the client, it’s hurting them. And if it’s hurting them, it’s going to end up hurting us as a company. So my main focus is making my clients successful, whatever that may take.”
Mary Segur will be at the Toledo Lighthouse Waterfront Festival in July. Photo by Ben Block.
With 3,126 miles of Great Lakes
shoreline and 115 lighthouses, Michigan is a
lighthouse-lovers heaven. Hillsdale County resident Mary Segur lives in Osseo,
Michigan, and spends her retirement painting Michigan lighthouses, selling the
paintings at events throughout the state.
When a young Segur was a
first-grader living in Toledo, her mother took her to the Toledo Museum of Art
for art lessons.
“They had good teachers, and they
taught you every aspect you can imagine,” Segur said. “They had clay modeling,
pen and ink, tempera paints; then you would graduate, and you could try
watercolor and oil.”
Every day from first to sixth
grade, Segur received art lessons.
Eventually, having graduated into watercolor and oil, she began taking
private lessons in high school.
As a high school teacher for 25
years, Segur saw many schools go through budget cuts. As an English teacher,
she objected to the elimination of, or reduced funding for, music and art
programs.
“I always argue that practicality
isn’t the whole purpose of schooling any more than it is
of life,” she said. “The thing that artists create, whether it be music or
literature or the visual arts, are not only expressions of their talent and
their message, but they’re also a way of bonding people
together.”
Segur said she’s done landscape and portraits, but portraits were a
lot of work.
“I must have been in my mid-20s
and visited Ludington State Park and saw the Big Sable Point Lighthouse,” Segur
said. “You have to walk about two miles down the beach before you see it. I
just was mesmerized. I fell in love with it.”
The bond between this sea of
language and cultural barriers represents what Segur said she loves about
lighthouses. She said it brought her closer to expressing a human bond that is
often missing in every day life.
“What drew me to
the lighthouses was really what they stood for,” Segur said. “They’re kind of
from a time when people were more willing to risk their life to save a total
stranger. I don’t see people doing that today. The keeper that stayed there had
to get in a boat and row out in a horrible storm to try to save people who were
drowning from a shipwreck.
“Something about
that beacon of light and the way it turns, it’s symbolic of a lot more than
just showing sailors the way,” she said. “A lot of churches have adopted the
symbol of a lighthouse because there’s a parallel there. It has a metaphorical
application to your life.”
Segur’s friend and fellow artist, Rich Katuzin, who draws similar subjects with
pen and ink, takes photographs of the lighthouses for Segur to use as
reference.
“I used to paint
en plein air and I had an easel, and I was painting with oils,” Segur said. “I
had gotten a palette knife, and I was really putting it on thick because I was doing
waves, and all of the sudden that wind picked up and blew the canvas off. It
went face down in the sand. And it was like, ‘Oh! Texture!’ I decided right then and there that I
couldn’t do it.”
Living in a
little house on Lake Pleasant in Osseo, with model ships sitting on the
windowsill above the front door, Segur has filled her home with her paintings
of lighthouses.
At times, Segur calls her friend,
Kevin Kirwan, to look at her paintings, and to get his opinion. Kirwan said
they’d discuss the paintings, and sometimes she would make changes. Kirwan has
lived near Segur since 2006, and said he enjoys the feel of living by the lake,
a feeling that is expressed in Segur’s paintings.
“They call her the Lighthouse Lady
and, when it comes to the lighthouses, she really wants to represent the actual
look and feel, the structure of the lighthouse,” Kirwan said. “From there, she
does her own interpretation of the seasons of the year. She’s very intent that
her rendition of the lighthouse is true to form.”
Along with her paintings, which
she calls her retirement hobby, Segur sells copies of her work and cards that
include the history of each lighthouse on the back.
As she travels to various art
shows, Segur is able to talk with those who have similar interests, as well as
with people who have never quite understood the hopeful and valuable symbolism
in art and lighthouses.
Segur said the hobby will never
make her rich, but after she sells a painting it does pay for gas, paints, and
canvasses so she can start all over again.
Segur and her paintings will be at
the Toledo Lighthouse Waterfront Festival at Maumee Bay State Park on July 12
and 13. More information about the festival can be found at
toledolighthouse.org.
After years of castigating corporate America for failing to recognize Toledo’s convenient location, to see competitive advantage in its Downtown, or to appreciate its hardworking union workers, it appears that The Blade is about to tuck tail and follow in the footsteps of those they’ve previously chastised. What else can we take from formal notifications to the city and The Blade’s unions that it intends to outsource its production? Such an intention makes it difficult to reconcile the disparity between the claim of being one of the city’s biggest supporters and an apparent unwillingness to invest in its future.
.
Nonproduction functions will apparently remain in its Downtown facility, but The Blade appears ready to cease all production at both its Superior Street and Water Street facilities, with more than 130 people losing their jobs. While The Blade has not formally announced where that production will resurface, it’s likely that its plan will require abandoning not only the Glass City but the Buckeye State as well.
In its announcement, The Blade cites the age of the equipment and the challenges of an older building in its decision not to reinvest. Having recently announced that it will finance an almost identical investment for its Pittsburgh newspaper (The Post-Gazette) however, the refusal to bankroll improvement in Toledo might seem almost duplicitous.
From a purely business standpoint this becomes even more curious, considering that The Post-Gazette competes for its market share with another Pittsburgh daily (The Tribune-Review), while no such daily competition exists in Toledo. Does this speak to the market for news in both cities, or simply the red-headed stepchild status of The Blade under the absentee landlord nature of one of its owners?
As “One of America’s Great Newspapers” (self-described), The Blade tells us it lost $8.5 million last year by way of explanation (excuse) for its plan. Some might see this as “how the mighty have fallen,” or perhaps “reaping what you sow”; still others might see it as proof of the adage that “you shouldn’t crap where you eat.” Perhaps however, The Blade simply fell victim to its own stale business plan; like many of its ilk, it could not decide whether it wanted to be an award-winning business that occasionally made a profit or a profitable business that occasionally won an award.
As it now scales back in use, I’m sure some will see the Superior Street site as one that should be on a federal list of historic buildings. Others might agree to its entry on a list, but suggest instead that entry should be on a list of federal Superfund cleanup sites. One cannot help but wonder at the impact of petroleum-based inks, industrial chemicals and lubricants used over time. One might be even more curious about the disposal of decades of solvent-based cleaners used in their cleanup.
The damage of The Blade’s past political attacks may soon become history, but not so quickly whatever may have leeched into the soil and water supply from a facility only blocks from the Maumee River and a stone’s throw from Lake Erie. The toxic treatment of those held in disfavor over the years by The Blade may someday fade away, but not so easily the residue of chemicals used to produce them. As its production equipment is mothballed or removed for eventual sale, let’s hope The Blade makes more of a commitment to the proper remediation of such materials than they have to their Downtown location itself, and that such residue may not prove to be the only long-term legacy it leaves.
The Blade easily deserves one of the stinging rebukes it has been so fond of handing out throughout the years; and the failure in its announcement to promise anything in the way of change shows that its owners have learned nothing. Some may say it seems a bit unfair to pile on The Blade, but few would argue that it’s undeserved.
Sorry guys, but it’s your turn to be on the firing line for picking up your chips and leaving the game early. After all, the blade cuts both ways.
New York-born chef Kengo Kato, who has been preparing sushi in Toledo for seven years, had the opportunity to pull up his Toledo roots and take his sushi-making skills to Denver, but food blogger Josh Wagy of Smash Toledo was not about to let that happen.
Josh Wagy and Kengo Kato plan to open Kengo, a sushi restaurant in the Warehouse District this fall. Toledo Free Press Photo by Christie Materni
“[Kato] was thinking about moving out of Toledo; he had a good job offer in Denver. Me and Smash Toledo want really great chefs to stay in Toledo. We came up with a little funding and a budget and we got backers to help and we made him an offer he couldn’t refuse,” Wagy said.
Wagy and Kato are now co-owners of Kengo, a sushi and yakitori (skewered meat) restaurant set to open by Sept. 1 at 38 S. St. Clair St. in the Downtown Warehouse District. The restaurant will be the first sushi bar to come to Downtown.
“It was a pretty unanimous decision on where we wanted to put our restaurant,” Wagy said. “Rent was a great price and everything has been lining up really nicely for us. We got the money in the bank and we’ve signed the lease and it’s a go.”
Currently, the two are working to transform their rented space from an empty room with just a three-bin sink to a 25-seat dining area with a five-seat sushi bar. They already have an architect laying down plans and recently met with an electrician.
A fabrication shop in Delta is building Kengo’s sushi bar and local woodworker Craig Mossing is creating the platter boards for the sushi rolls.
The final effect they’re hoping for is urban and organic with lots of art. They will not have any white plates, only ceramic bowls, Wagy said.
“We’re going to have local artists doing murals. It’s going to be a fun, casual, eclectic atmosphere.”
The menu will be unique as well, they said. They’re calling it “small and more traditional” than what other sushi restaurants are offering. The courses will be cut down in size and available à la carte or in a combination platter to keep it simple, they said.
Kato will buy fish fresh at area markets as well as in Livonia, Michigan, and from places as far away as Honolulu and Japan, he said.
“I really want to work with local farmers and stay local,” Kato said. “I will work with Honolulu and Japan and all over the U.S. I have guys that will deliver (the meat) daily and in Livonia there’s a warehouse where I will personally go pick it up. I just want to do everything fresh. I don’t have a walk-in cooler or freezer. Everything is going to have to be fresh.
“I’m going to have a sushi bar and I’m going to purchase a yakitori grill where I’ll be skewering all kinds of meat and fish and grilling them. Yakitori is a Japanese street food and comfort food. I don’t want to be a pretentious restaurant. I just want people to enjoy themselves. I want to go back to the roots of a Japanese chef and do simple things.”
Kato was born and raised in New York City. His parents owned two Japanese restaurants in the city, where he worked from a young age. As an adult, he worked in a traditional Japanese restaurant for seven years and helped other people open up restaurants, but this endeavor will be the first time he has opened up his own restaurant.
The opportunity to own his own restaurant and the support from people in Toledo convinced Kengo to stay, he said.
“This is an opportunity. I’m originally from New York and my friends and family want me to come back there to do my thing. A friend gave me an offer in Denver. [But] people here just have been really great to me and supportive of me. I’ve gotten so many text messages congratulating me, and [saying] how happy they are I’ll be staying in Toledo. I just love the support and Josh is so supportive.”
The plan is for Kengo to be the first restaurant in the city with sake on tap. Wagy said they’ve also been in talks with Maumee Bay Brewing Co. and Black Cloister Brewing Company, both of which said they would come up with a beer designed especially for Kengo.
I had just returned from dropping off my daughter at her last day of kindergarten when my wife said, “Don’t you have a column to write?” Oh, yeah, that. Hang on.
Sid Kelly
I pull out my laptop, sit down and take inventory … my 10-month-old son is crawling around my floor yelling out words I’ve never heard before while my 3-year-old is running around her room as she pretends her dolls are her babies and they all must be naked. (Can someone tell me why girls take clothes off their dolls?) The noise is too much, so I have to move to my office, something I should have done anyway.
This is a great example of what I, as a father, have to endure on a constant basis.
To be honest, I love it.
This month, we’re going to celebrate Father’s Day! With the celebration of yet another holiday, let’s peel back a layer and ask: What does it take to be a good father?
Based on the definition of “father,” my dad provided everything I needed so he should have been a candidate for father of the year. However, I look back on my childhood and that’s the last thing I think he should have won.
Being a father starts with being there whenever you’re needed for whatever you’re needed for. It sounds so simple, but we (guys) screw it up so often.
I have a very good friend that is a great man. He provides everything his family could ever want. He provides his wife with the type of lifestyle others would be jealous of, yet he has no idea how to relate to his young children. He loves them as much as you can love someone, but when it comes to spending time with them he falls short.
I also know of (but am not a friend of) a man who is a very shady person. This is a guy you wouldn’t trust to have your kids around, but you put him around his kids and you would think he’s the best father you’ll ever see.
Who’s the better dad?
What I’ve learned is that being a good father is more than just providing for your children or spending good quality time with them. It’s both of those, and much, much more.
I think most men reflect back on their own father for guidance. They may look back and see their childhood as being too controlling so the first thing they do is loosen the reins a little. The problem with that theory is that their kid may need more guidance than usual, so loosening the rules only adds problems. The end result? A failed relationship.
Being a good father is a custom, kid-by-kid job. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean different rules for each kid. I mean a different set of guidelines on how to treat each child.
My oldest brother is the kind of kid that will do things the first time you tell him. Me, I need a little push. If you were to approach both of us with the same attitude, you’d have no way of avoiding failing one of us.
Does this sound confusing? It should. This is why being a parent is, without a doubt, the hardest job you’ll ever take on in your life. There will never be something as important or with such high stakes as your role as a father.
Men need to look into how this is really done before jumping into having kids, too. Sure, it’s a learn-as-you-go environment, but you better put some serious thinking into who you are as a person before accepting that type of commitment. This thought process needs to include more than the “I’m going to be (nothing like) or (just like) my dad.” That doesn’t work. You need to be there for each of your kids.
So, for all you dads out there reading this, happy Father’s Day. We are a very interesting breed, we fathers. We spend all that time trying to ensure they’re OK, only to have them look into the camera and thank their mom when the news interviews them. Perfect! Happy Father’s Day!
Three local bands will perform during a benefit concert called the Spotlight Artist Showcase to raise money for the International Boxing Club (IBC) in Oregon, at 6 p.m. June 14.
The showcase, co-hosted by 92.5 KISS FM and IBC, will feature Harbours, The Eight Fifteens and The Last Born Sons.
“This will be our first live show together as a band and we’re very excited to launch with this project,” said Matt Beier, guitarist for Harbours. “I know the other bands who are participating, too, and they are fantastic. It’s just a nice opportunity for us to get out and showcase what we’ve done creatively.”
KISS FM’s morning show, The Morning Rush, has hosted dozens of local music artists, bands and DJs on Fridays for more than a year. However, the Spotlight Artist Showcase will be its first concert.
“It’s usually one quick song and an interview on Friday. This is a full-blown show with three live sets and all the proceeds — except for sound equipment expenses — go straight to the boxing club,” said Jodi Szczublewski, promotions director at Clear Channel Media and Entertainment.
IBC is a Toledo-based organization that engages disadvantaged 8- to 20-year-olds in their studies by using amateur boxing and boxercise “as a hook to get kids into the building and off the streets,” according to its website. Since its founding in 1998, IBC has helped more than 4,000 at-risk youth.
“We’re trying to develop champions in life,” said Harry Cummins III, IBC’s founder and executive director. “These kids have a future in our community and we can’t turn our backs on them. They don’t have anywhere to go. As adults, we need to support them and send the message that they can get out of their neighborhoods and current lifestyle. It’s key just to show that we do care as a community.”
Cummins said that IBC’s program costs about $165,000 annually and helps an average of 160 local youth every year. The program does not cost anything for participants, but requires them to meet IBC’s academic standards.
“Got to keep the grades up to put the boxing gloves on,” Cummins said. “Watching them grow up and graduate makes you so proud. I’m blessed to have these kids.”
In addition to academic services, such as a free tutoring program with University of Toledo’s Honors college, IBC provides vocational training and community service opportunities for its participants.
“Our drummer actually trains at the International Boxing Club so this is very exciting for us as a band,” said Josh Whitney, guitarist for The Eight Fifteens. “We love to do charity events. It’s our pleasure to help other people by giving back and if we can provide entertainment, too, then it’s a double whammy.”
DJ 3PM, aka local artist Casey Clark, will open Saturday’s show at 6 p.m. The bands kick off at 7 p.m. and each will play for about 45 minutes, with DJ 3PM spinning tunes between each set.
Szczublewski said she hopes to see a crowd of about 300 people and would consider making this an annual event to raise money for IBC.
Alcohol, food and band merchandise will be available for purchase at the concert, which is open to all those 21 and older. Tickets cost $15 at the door and $10 in advance at 925kissfm.com/showcase.
“We’re all stoked about it,” said Kyle Smithers, bassist for The Last Born Sons. “It’s cool just because we’re playing with guys we’ve known in town. It’s just fun to do showcases like this where we can all work together for the Toledo music scene and make a contribution for charity, too.”
The world is currently accepting applications for the position of father. To qualify:
You must own attire that can be unceremoniously decorated with baby-created bodily fluids.
You cannot be afraid to dress and brush the hair of an American Girl doll.
You must be willing to play catch every day for the rest of your life. Knowing how to throw a curveball is a plus.
You must be able to cook hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets, every day for years. Ability to watch others dip anything in ketchup is a plus.
You must have the patience to build various luxurious items that Barbie may own. Possessing the patience to apply tiny stickers is a plus.
You must be eager to attend countless talent shows, featuring participants with more enthusiasm than talent.
You must be good at designing Pinewood Derby cars so that people believe your son built them.
You must have a fine palate for such tastes as imaginary tea and cookies or anything created in plastic kitchens.
You must be willing to look under beds and inside closets for monsters. Be able to kill bugs and spiders upon demand.
You must on occasion believe that floors are temporarily filled with flowing hot lava and couch cushions are the only thing keeping you alive and safe.
You must be competent using the following software: Angry Birds, Minecraft, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
You must be able to medically treat boo-boos, bumps and bruises, even if they cannot be seen by the human eye.
You must speak and comprehend the following languages: Baby, Toddler, Tween, Attitude, More Attitude, Heartbreak and Moron. Being able to read body language and use emoticons is a plus.
You must read to your child every night for 30 minutes, in hopes that one day they will start reading to you.
You must be able to tone down your awesome sauce in the event your child has company.
You must be good at being found and bad at finding.
You must eventually accept the remote possibility that a boy may text.
You must know what to say when a girl says “no.”
You must know how to properly hug, so that the other participant never wants you to let go.
You must not be afraid to cry or to say “I love you.”
You must be able to accept any version of your child, including their sexual orientation.
You must be a good example of someone you wish your child to become or to one day marry.
You must teach love over hate, acceptance over intolerance and compassion and understanding, no matter the views you were raised with and surrounded by. You must do better than your parents, even if that seems impossible.
You must never quit nor walk away. You must never give up on your child.
You must be fully ready to accept the most important job a man can ever have. There are no days off, no pay raises and very few vacations. You will be paid in kisses within months of starting. If you can accept this payment arrangement, in lieu of pension you will receive a lifetime of happiness, adoration and unwavering, unapologetic love.
If you were not deterred by any of the above mentioned items and meet these minimal requirements, then you are qualified and ready to be a dad.
Good luck to all future applicants. For those who are already on the job, Happy Father’s Day
Jeremy Baumhower can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeremytheproduc.
Sometimes you have to finish something before you really understand why you wanted to do it in the first place.
Clark Gregg
Clark Gregg was sitting in a theater at the Seattle International Film Festival in early May, watching the premiere of one of his movies. This was not, in and of itself, an unusual occurrence for the 52-year-old actor. Gregg has attended more than his fair share of big premieres over the past few years — ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe had been born and a certain S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Phil Coulson became, rather surprisingly, one of its most beloved figures.
This premiere was different. This wasn’t a bombastic superhero epic where the fate of the world was at stake. This was a small independent film, made on a shoestring. Gregg was still playing an agent, ironically enough — a down-on-his-luck showbiz representative of child actors, looking for that one special client who could relaunch his career. And he wasn’t just acting in this one. Director: Clark Gregg. Writer: Clark Gregg. This film — “Trust Me”— was his baby.
But even with all the work he had put into it, Gregg didn’t completely realize why he’d been so compelled to bring this story to the screen — not until he watched it that night. He hadn’t understood how personal it was for him, and how much it said about his own life.
“I went, ‘Oh, God. That’s what made me write this.’ It’s about how having a daughter, or a child that you love, can completely change who you are. And I have a 12-year-old daughter, and it never occurred to me that that’s what was driving me to write this. But here, two and a half years after I wrote it, that’s clearly what was motivating this.”
The To-Do List
“Trust Me” tells the tale of how Gregg’s character, Howard Holloway, stumbles across a child-star-in-the-making named Lydia (played by newcomer Saxon Sharbino) and attempts to launch her career despite pitfalls and surprises that come from both inside and outside the movie business.
“I was writing a bigger piece about a bunch of different kinds of stories, about grown-ups and children and Los Angeles. And it was just going to be an epic that would never get made. And this one felt different,” Gregg said in an interview with Toledo Free Press.
“From the beginning, it felt like an unusual mashup of kind of a comedy of desperation, about this former child actor, and a film noir about the brutality of a certain part of show business. It never was meant to be an exposé — I don’t think it’s representative. It felt like a story that was representative of an idea about success and stardom.”
Though Gregg has plied his trade as an actor for decades now — from performing in small off-Broadway productions to consistent roles on TV and film — he is no neophyte behind the camera. In addition to writing the screenplay for the 2000 Michelle Pfeiffer/Harrison Ford thriller “What Lies Beneath,” Gregg made his directorial debut with a 2008 adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel “Choke.” (Gregg also wrote the screenplay.)
But while in “Choke” he had a relatively minor role on camera, in “Trust Me” he is the lead, which, combined with his other responsibilities, was even more pressure than he expected.
“The most I’ve ever experienced. And at the same point, it was so laughably too much to handle that it became kind of funny. It was just you’re so thrown out of an airplane without a parachute, and a couple of napkins that you might be able to use to slow your fall, that you can only laugh and see if there’s a way you can pull it out. And I woke up nightly leading up to this, thinking of directors or actors I could give one of the two jobs to.
“And yet, I had this vision for the piece stylistically and for the role — and I felt the guy needed to be as old as I am for you to really buy that this is his last shot. And my partner, Mary Vernieu, really pressured me to not give up the part. And she’s kind of dependably brilliant about these kind of things.
“I got there, trying to get through a 20-day shoot of this ambitious, odd movie, and I realized that I was going to feel just as vulnerable and over my head as Howard Holloway did,” Gregg said. “For all the things I might sacrifice, it was going to work to support the performance.”
I love trouble
The similarities between Howard and Clark first became clear to Gregg as he was working on the original story, a piece of work that resists easy classification. “Trust Me” merges elements of comedy and drama into a tale that sees both the humor and the tragedy of Tinseltown.
“It came out of me that way,” Gregg said of the script. “Like life. Like some stuff I’ve been through and survived in a very different sphere, which is, everything’s fine, and you’re trying to work on something and collaborate on something, and then suddenly there’s a lot of money involved, and things get dark. And you find out what you stand for, and what your dreams are, and what you’re willing to do for them, and what you’re not.”
Gregg answered a lot of those questions himself as he was working to make “Trust Me” a reality. “I had a lot of people say, ‘We won’t. This doesn’t fit into a category. It’s kind of two different things at once. And we won’t give you the money to make it unless you change it.’ And I couldn’t. I was lucky to have a partner who liked it, and really kind of believed in what we were trying to do,” Gregg said, referring to fellow producer Vernieu.
“Because I felt like a lot of the movies that I loved that walked that line, a lot of them were in the ’70s. And I wanted to try and make a movie like that. I wanted to try something new, and not try to fit something into a box. I think that the purpose of independent film is to try, you know, to not succumb to those kind of commercial pressures and to try something risky. And that’s what we went for.”
Brightest star
They say that 90 percent of being a great director is finding a great cast. If that’s true, Gregg is an impressive director indeed. In addition to the “name” actors that fill key roles in “Trust Me” — Amanda Peet, Sam Rockwell, Felicity Huffman, Allison Janney, William H. Macy — Gregg’s film also features great performances from its unknowns. Most crucial of all is the role of Lydia, Howard’s hopeful superstar, played by Sharbino.
“Mary and I, and our other partner Keith Kjarval, agreed if we didn’t find someone that special — one of those people who people would go, ‘Who the hell is that?’ — if we didn’t find someone like that, we wouldn’t make the film,” Gregg said. “For a minute, that’s where we were. And when I hear people, so many people, have been touched and blown away by Saxon, and I still can’t believe that we found her. Because I didn’t believe that we would.
“One of the smartest things of the many that Mary talked me into, was how important it was to have Lydia and her father Ray played by actors that weren’t household names. That we didn’t know enough about. Because there’s kind of this unknown quantity to Howard, and the movie is very much seen through Howard’s eyes.
“So to find this brilliant character actor, Paul Sparks — who I had seen on ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ and remarked on — to kind of realize that that was the same person that I was looking at on this tape that Mary presented, who in real life couldn’t be more different than his ‘Boardwalk’ character, and is this kind of very masculine, soft-spoken Oklahoman. When we found both Saxon and Paul, that’s when I felt that we had a shot at making the movie work.”
The air that I breathe
Gregg is promoting “Trust Me” during his hiatus from “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” the ABC series that resurrected Agent Coulson following his untimely demise in 2012’s “The Avengers.” There’s no doubt that the expansive fan base he has earned during his time wearing Coulson’s suit and shades has helped shine a light on Gregg’s other work. And it’s clear he’s thrilled by the response he’s gotten from Marvel devotees.
“The cool thing about the friends that Agent Coulson has made, and that I have made since Agent Coulson became a part of my life, is there’s a real deep connection. Because Agent Coulson, in the Marvel world of superheroes, is the guy with no powers. Who’s a bit of a nerd. Who’s probably been to a Comic-Con like I have. And there’s a real ownership — they brought him back to life when he died, with their human cry. So there’s a connection between those people and I, and it’s one that I’m very honored by.”
And whether it be through “Trust Me,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” or directly via his presence on Twitter, it’s clear that continuing to connect with people is a big part of what drives Gregg as a person.
“I spent most of my 20s doing plays in New York and it was really amazing, the greatest education. An intimate relationship with an audience that’s missing in film sometimes, most of the time. And then suddenly, there’s this way to connect with the people,” Gregg said. “I had taken up Twitter when my wife (actress Jennifer Grey) was on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ and found out that people kind of liked Agent Coulson.
“And suddenly you see the stuff you worked so hard on, in a vacuum, in a soundstage, to make it good, and make it real and make it work, and see that blowing people away, or in some cases not. It’s really — it’s a connection with people you’re trying to work for. And one of the reasons I came out to Hollywood is because it’s communication, it’s a form of communication. And at its deepest, it’s even a form of nonverbal, emotional communication with, you know, an unimaginable number of people.
“And that’s why films are exciting. You can reach so many people. You can touch and inspire them, if you’re lucky, the way that I have been touched and inspired by other people’s films and television.”
“Trust Me” is available On Demand and will be shown theatrically in select cities beginning June 6.
Eddie Boggs died Jan. 9 after an eight-month battle with cancer. Toledo Free Press File Photo by Sarah Ottney
The life of Sylvania musician and retired educator Eddie Boggs will be celebrated with a tribute concert combining two of his greatest passions: music and serving others.
Eddie Boggs died Jan. 9 after an eight-month battle with cancer. Toledo Free Press File Photo by Sarah Ottney
Eddie Boggs: A Tribute of Song is set for 2 p.m. June 22 at the Franciscan Center at Lourdes University, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania.
The event will feature performances by Bob Wurst & Sundown, David Browning, Jean Holden, First Creation, Tim Ellis & Flatland Grass and Sam DeArmond. The event will also have remarks from Sylvania Schools Superintendent Brad Rieger and Rep. Marcy Kaptur.
In lieu of tickets, donations will be accepted to benefit The Victory Center, a Toledo nonprofit that offers counseling and wellness programs for cancer patients and their families. After the concert, a musical jam is planned to last until 6 p.m.
The tribute concert was organized by a group of musicians who approached Boggs’ family wanting to do something to honor and remember him. Boggs, 68, died Jan. 9 after an eight-month battle with cancer.
“‘Thank you’ are two little words that cannot express how it feels that so many people miss him and have a story to share with our family about him,” Boggs’ wife, Chris Boggs, wrote in an email to Toledo Free Press.
“It is overwhelming. He was a simple man. He loved life and he lived to lighten people’s loads. And his avenue was music and kindness. … We miss the music, so to hear it from his friends means everything! … Each participant has their connection with Eddie and we hope the songs reflect the stories. What a memory for our family! What a gift they are giving us!”
DeArmond, who is related to Boggs by marriage and was mentored musically by him, said he plans to perform “You’ve Got A Friend” and “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor.
“I chose these because Eddie was always there to lend a helping hand to not only me, but countless others. And ‘Fire and Rain’ is a song that we all can connect to about losing someone that meant a lot to us,” DeArmond said. “He deserves to be remembered at the highest level.”
Wurst said he wants to leave his song choices a surprise, but said each will have meaning and be attributable to Boggs.
“One I’m going to be doing is the only song — the only serious song — Eddie and I ever sang together in a show,” Wurst said.
Wurst said he, like many others, respected Boggs as a musician, but even more as a person.
“He was very kind and courteous to anyone he talked to,” Wurst said. “I think it would be impossible for anyone to meet him and not like him.”
Holden, who plans to sing “In This Life” by Bette Midler, performed with Boggs at numerous charity events over the years.
“Eddie was always ready to lend a hand to raise money for worthy causes and I was always willing to work with him if he called me,” Holden said. “He was a wonderful musician and just a wonderful guy.”
Holden said she felt a special connection with Boggs because of their shared Southern roots. Boggs grew up in rural Kentucky while Holden was born in Arkansas and grew up in Louisiana. Both moved to Ohio as teenagers.
“That old Southern charm — he was just bubbling with it,” Holden said. “That common politeness and courtesy. … I loved that about him.
“We all loved him,” Holden said. “[The concert is] just to share our love for Eddie and to embrace Chris and the family and let them know that we loved him so much. It just does not seem like he ought to be gone. … He just had such a love in his heart for everybody.
“It will be good for all of us to be together,” Holden added. “There will probably be a lot of tears. But he will be there.”
Musician Kerry Patrick Clark, a close friend of Boggs’, was also slated to perform at the tribute event, but his tour schedule will keep him out of town. Although disappointed to miss the event, Clark said he’s happy so many fellow musicians will be coming together to celebrate Boggs.
“I think it speaks to the heart of the man, the teacher, the musician, the entertainer,” Clark said in an email to Toledo Free Press. “He not only fostered and supported so many local and regional artists, but invited them to participate in some big or small way in one of his many shows.”
Boggs, who retired in 2007 after 37 years as a teacher and school counselor, also left a lasting legacy as an educator, Rieger said.
“Probably the greatest character trait of Eddie is he had tremendous empathy,” Rieger said. “He always seemed to have his radar up for students on the margin and find a way to bring them back in and make them feel valued. Eddie used every opportunity he had with the students to elevate their worth and dignity.”
Recalling the student trips Boggs led to Washington, D.C., where he would stop to sing and play guitar outside the Capitol, Kaptur said Boggs often reminded her of a “strolling minstrel.”
“He brightened the Capitol whenever he was here,” Kaptur told Toledo Free Press in January. “He was uniquely gifted and he was uniquely generous.”
Boggs’ family said they are humbled by the gesture.
“It is a testimony to who Eddie was and how he treated others,” Chris said. “For those who attend, myself and our family extend our sincere gratitude for remembering Eddie, in whatever way he touched your life, and we thank God for blessing us with such a loving man.”
This summer’s Toledo Free Press benefit CD for the American Red Cross, “Red, White & You, Too!” is dedicated to Boggs and contains one of his signature songs, “Uptown Boogie Down Saturday Night.”
Another tribute event, being organized by the Sylvania Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Sylvania, is planned for Aug. 17 in Downtown Sylvania.
On June 1, I awoke with a sore left knee and a right hamstring that protested even the slightest movement. I do not believe I will ever be so grateful to be strained and in low-grade pain.
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The day before, I shared a field with the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team, armed forces veterans who sacrificed arms, legs, hands, feet and untold other elements of their lives in the service of our country. Aching muscles were an embarrassing complaint compared to the prosthetics those men must use every day.
The Wounded Warriors played three games May 31 at Ned Skeldon Stadium, raising more than $18,000 during their time here.
The group’s core effort consists of three missions: “To raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.” These are men like Zachary “Beef” Briseno, a Marine who lost both legs below the knee in Iraq and yet still plays softball, hunts, lifts weights and coaches his son’s baseball team. Men like Kyle Earl, a Marine whose right hand was amputated during service in Iraq but who still plays hockey, football and softball. Men like Matias Ferreira, a Marine who lost both legs below the knee in Iraq and yet skydives, dances, snowboards and bikes.
These are men who redefine concepts like toughness, perseverance and grace.
I never played organized baseball or softball growing up. I did play on the NASA softball team during a summer in Washington, D.C., but was smart enough to not swing for the fences when playing against the IRS and Department of the Treasury teams.
PHOTOS: Click here for a gallery of photos from the game
But when Newsradio 1370 WSPD’s Fred LeFebvre asked for volunteers to form a media team to play the Wounded Warriors, there was no way I was going to say no. We all knew going in we were signing up for a probable ass-kicking, and not one of us hesitated.
The Wounded Warriors beat the Metro Police/Firefighters team in extra innings but then lost to the Allshred Services/Pacesetter Property Management tournament team, which left them tired but determined to whoop on some local “celebrities.” Close to 30 of us assembled, with no practice, to form our team, managed by Al Seeger. There were a number of former Detroit Tigers serving as our ringers (Stan Clarke, Tom Matchick, Mickey Stanley, Dave Rozema, Jon Worden, Milt Wilcox and Willie Horton as well as former Cleveland Indian and 1980 American League Rookie of the Year Joe Charboneau), but I was most excited to meet football legend Chuck Ealey, the University of Toledo and Canadian Football League quarterback who never lost a football game during his career. Ealey was friendly and accommodating, a true pleasure to meet. I was less impressed with some of the former pros, a couple of whom spoke about the women on our team like we were in a 1972 locker room.
Among the many media people on the team were WSPD morning show producers Don Zellers and Adam Ragle, and Joe Thompson and Tori Carmen of NBC 24. Ragle and I had been talking for weeks about our relative lack of softball skills and how we just wanted to get through the game without major injury to body or pride.
The pregame ceremonies included a home run hitting demonstration, an appearance by veteran Matthew Drake, an honor guard and a medley of military anthems danced to by the Off Broadway Dance Company, decked out in red-white-and-blue-spangled vests. The national anthem was beautifully performed by Yvonne Ramos, who contributed to our 2012 Make-A-Wish holiday CD; her rendition was so powerful and moving, each of the Wounded Warriors lined up to hug her with thanks, even as the last echoes of her vocals faded from the stadium.
The game started with the first few innings played by our Tigers ringers, who jumped out to a several-run lead. But any illusions we had of competing were dashed when the media members and celebrities took over. I had carefully watched the first few innings, during which not one hit came anywhere near third base, so that was the position I covered. The umpire there greeted me with, “Taking the hot corner, are you?” to which I responded, “No, I am third base. If I had known they called it the hot corner, I’d have stayed in the dugout.”
The Wounded Warriors did things on prosthetics I would not have dreamed of doing in my athletic prime. As an offensive lineman for the Libbey High School Cowboys in the mid-1980s, I was about force, not finesse. These men ran, rolled and hustled with a purpose that inspired awe and respect in vast measures.
Nothing came my way that inning, though I did manage to catch one ball Zellers threw my way. It was actually kind of rolling to a stop in front of me as I set my borrowed glove down before it. I was still excited enough to show the umpire, as if I had made a deciding catch in a World Series Game 7, prompting someone in the stands to heckle my glee, but I did not care; of all the possible embarrassing fielding outcomes, none transpired.
“Hammer” Ragle led off the next inning and slapped a single into right field, so there was a man on first as I approached the plate. I took a few quick swings and tried to remember coaching advice I had seen in baseball movies. The only thing I could think of was Kevin Costner’s line in “Bull Durham” about “long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days,” which wasn’t relevant and didn’t help. The first pitch arced in low and hit the dirt right in front of me, an obvious ball. I stepped out of the batter’s box and then took my “stance” waiting for the next pitch.
I swung, connected, and the ball sailed over the pitcher’s head, a line drive single to center field. I did my best imitation of running to first base, absolutely soaring to get a hit.
It was one of the three greatest athletic moments of my life, the others being a 1985 senior high school football game against St. John’s (no Jesuit in the name then) and the session that led to the conception of my first son.
The joy lasted until I realized just how far away second base looked. Radio personality Sid Siddall was up next, and he hit a single that scored Ragle and allowed me to lumber to second base. It was then that I first thought I might actually have a chance to score a run. With my little boys and wife in the stands cheering me on, it was a tantalizing and previously unconsidered chance at glory. But Zellers took the plate and his contact with the ball sent it straight toward third base. I tried, though, barreling as fast as I could, pushing my protesting legs.
Predictably, I was outplayed by a catcher with one arm and a baseman with two prosthetic legs.
I went back to the dugout happy and fist-bumped Ragle on our achievement, which I know, in the presence of the Wounded Warriors, was pathetic, but we were still happy. In fact, when Zellers asked me if I was going back on the field, I declined, ostensibly so someone else could take a turn, but primarily because why mess up a .1000 career batting average? Zellers, by the way, took the hot corner and played like an all-star, making catches and throws so good that the Warriors-supporting crowd booed him.
The Wounded Warriors beat us 19-11, and as we lined up for the postgame attaboys, I thanked every one of them for their service. The games raised $18,000 and some much-needed attention for a tremendously compelling cause. Plus, I got a hit!
So, yes, I was sore the next morning, but I have legs to be sore, and after seeing what the Wounded Warriors have sacrificed for you and me, that soreness was a blessing of perspective to be treasured.
Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and news director of Newsradio 1370 WSPD. Email him at [email protected].
