Jim Merkel has established himself as a popular historian of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, with fun-to-read books about the South Side, the city’s German-Americans and the people behind the Gateway Arch.
Now, with “The Colorful Characters of ºüÀêÊÓƵ,†Merkel gives readers brief profiles of 80 of this city’s more interesting people (including himself).
Some of those people will strike readers as obscure. Take Tom Goabout, a long-ago chicken thief. Who has heard of him? Well, author Merkel notes that “the Post-Dispatch made mention of him at least seventy times from 1885 to 1903.â€
But others have fame as well as quirks — Phyllis Diller, Miles Davis, Redd Foxx, Dizzy Dean, Yogi Berra and Dick Gregory, to name a few.
Many of Merkel’s characters came here from elsewhere — for example, pitcher Dean, an Arkansas boy. But all made a name for themselves here. Among the more interesting names:
People are also reading…
• University City founder Edward Gardner Lewis, later imprisoned in California as a con man and swindler.
• Joe Edwards of Delmar Loop fame, whose record collection once totaled 48,000 discs of 45 and 78 RPM.
• KMOX’s Jack Carney, of course — but also, in a profile of her own, KMOX cleaning lady Miriam Blue, was often put behind the mike by Carney. Once, when a female caller asked if it was OK to burn her bra, Blue replied, “Sure. But be sure to take it off first.â€
• Perennial political candidate Bill Haas, ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ minor-league version of Harold Stassen.
Author Merkel never worked at the Post-Dispatch but is generous to this newspaper with profiles of onetime editorial cartoonist Bill Mauldin, famed Weatherbird artist Amadee Wohlschlaeger, longtime sports editor Bob Broeg and former columnist Elaine Viets. (Alas, Merkel overlooked Bill McClellan and the late John “Mike†McGuire, two genuine characters.)
Some may quarrel with his limited selection of blacks (10) and women (six). But any book like this reflects the author’s fancy, not the census data. Anyway, Merkel is unlikely to get rich from this book, given its steep price ($21.95 for a trade paperback) and its lack of draw outside our metropolitan area.
But local readers will enjoy many of the profiles. Few among us can resist chuckling when Merkel recalls appliance dealer Steve Mizerany bellowing in his ads, “The Bevo Mill is next to us!â€
JIM MERKEL
When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: Buder library branch, 4401 Hampton Avenue How much Free More info: 314-352-2900
Harry Levins of ºüÀêÊÓƵ retired in 2007 as senior writer of the Post-Dispatch. He was disappointed — but hardly surprised — to find no mention of himself in Merkel’s book.
