Profiles

The event will explore Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo’s new children’s book, "My Grandma and Grandpa Rock," and the inspiration behind their journey as artists, partners, and grandparents. The discussion will also highlight their legendary music careers and their passion for connecting generations through storytelling. ...

Unlike most others his age, 74-year-old Silver Lake resident and business owner Daniel Moneypenny loves climbing stairs. So much so that he recently raced up the 1,576 stairs of the Empire State Building to its 86th Floor Observatory as part of the Empire State Building Run-Up (ESBRU) in New York City. ...

The Root family has piloted and expanded the company from its earliest days of beekeeping innovation, beeswax production, and beekeeping supplies and honey sales. Today, after nearly 155 years, there’s still a Root family member at the top—Brad Root—but the company focuses solely on candlemaking and retail sales throughout the United States. ...

As the curtain rises on Playhouse Square’s 2023-24 Broadway Series season, Joe Garry prepares to take center stage in the Upper Allen Theatre. Before each production, the Bratenahl resident presents a half-hour lecture to appreciative theater lovers who come early to hear him speak. Each of his “Broadway Buzz” talks is filled with engaging, behind-the-scenes tidbits and historical perspectives. ...

Remember Austin Walkin' Cane from our May 2020 issue of Northeast Ohio Boomer magazine? The local blues singer would have been at the pinnacle of his performance career. Instead, the pandemic cancelled his big plans. Now, the blues man is back with a new album and a revived tour schedule. ...

Unlike some of his characters, cartoon creator Tom Batiuk is in the enviable position of doing exactly what he has always wanted to do since childhood. He saw a copy of “The Flash” at the Rexall Drug Store in Akron and “It rearranged my molecules,” he says. ...

Ted Alexander grew up with Cleveland radio. As a kid, he pushed the tortoise shell buttons on his beige knit sweater as if they were the knobs on the radio. He spun the beads on his playpen like he was tuning in a station and used his rattle as a microphone. Today, he hosts a popular oldies radio show at Gold 93.7 WQGR. ...

Like other customers during the last 165 years, George Richards goes to Chagrin Hardware for two reasons: the people who own it and the things they sell. It’s a formula that’s bridged decades and cemented friendships in historic Chagrin Falls, weathering wars, the Depression, pandemics and the vagaries of small business ownership. ...