EDITOR’S NOTE:
Carl Monday has seen some stuff.
He’s had a gun pressed to his forehead. He’s been on stakeouts. He’s ambushed corrupt politicians.
But until a couple of weeks ago, he’d never been trapped on a third-story deck in Cleveland’s Warehouse District with two strangers.
That’s how I learned that Monday is not only a sharp investigative reporter but also limber.
Our pop culture columnist Mike Olszewski met Monday decades ago when they worked in radio, suggested a story and put together the following Q&A.
I tagged along with photographer Kim Stahnke for our cover shoot so I could write an introduction to Olszewski’s story. And honestly, I wanted to see for myself what kind of person Carl Monday is. After all, I only knew him from his TV persona.
Before we got a single photo, I accidentally locked us out on Monday’s rooftop deck. Thanks to athleticism, the good fortune to have a cell phone (Monday) and car keys (Stahnke), they climbed over three walls, took an outdoor staircase down from the roof and got a door key from Monday’s wife who was working nearby.
Here’s what I know: Monday tells great stories that are great because they’re true, he’s unexpectedly soft-spoken, and he’s just a little bit scary because, like I said earlier, he’s seen some stuff.
He’s also a good sport and a decent climber.
I hope you enjoy the interview.
—Marie Elium, editor
WHO DOESN’T LIKE MONDAY?
There’s more to Carl than a mic and a camera… and all those Emmy Awards
By Mike Olszewski
Investigators and trench coats go together like peanut butter and jelly… Sam Spade, Columbo, Dick Tracy and many more. In Northeast Ohio, no one wears the coat and the title better than veteran TV investigative reporter Carl Monday. He’s semi-retired but is still reporting, so we tracked him down and to find out what he’s like when he puts down the mic.
Boomer: Is it fair to say there are two Carl Mondays? There’s the hard-nosed reporter who’s not afraid to get in some pretty tense situations for a TV story, and then there’s the guy talking about old records, Cleveland history and everyday stuff. Is there a dividing line somewhere?
CM: At least two! Just kidding. Even as a kid growing up in Cleveland’s Slavic Village, I always had a split personality. At St. Stanislaus, I would be serving as an altar boy at morning mass. By lunchtime, I was sitting in the principal’s office for disrupting class. One news director told me I had the most “passive/aggressive personality” of anyone he ever met in the TV business. Thing is, I can turn it off with a flick of the switch, whether on the job or off.
Boomer: But is it tough to turn that switch? Your reputation precedes you.
CM: As time passes, your private life and public persona tend to become one and the same… at least it did in my case. The news is everywhere 24/7, so it’s difficult to get away from it. That’s not to say that, off the air, I don’t have interests that I enjoy. I’ve always been fascinated by the recording industry, collecting records and listening to music, new and old. As my wife Sandy and I transition into full retirement, we’re traveling a lot more. In just the last couple of years, we’ve vacationed in St. Lucia, Charleston and Maine, and took a river cruise in the Netherlands. We also work out five or six times a week to keep our boyish/girlish figures.
Boomer: Are people surprised to see a different side of you off-screen?
CM: Not as much as you might think. I was born and grew up in Cleveland. During our marriage, we spent one year someplace else. As Sandy often jokes, “When Carl asked me to marry him, he promised me we’d see the world. In 50 years of marriage, we’ve seen Cleveland and Wichita, Kansas.” We’ve lived downtown for 25 of those years. Sandy works part-time at the downtown Heinen’s. We have a group of senior friends we hang with, and even some of the younger folks downtown. I think there’s a comfort level here.
Boomer: What’s it like going into a restaurant for the first time? Do you notice people watching you or pointing you out, maybe wondering if you’re there for something other than a meal?
CM: What I do often get is the “If Carl Monday’s eating here, the food can’t be too bad.” Always get a kick out of that. Like I’m on the Food Channel or something. Some people I run into will also say, “I bet you get good service here.” Or “I bet you get a good deal.” What I tell them is, “That may be true. But everyone is entitled to good service or the best deal they can get.”
Boomer: What is something about yourself that might surprise people?
CM: The Cuyahoga River is right outside my window. But if I ever fell in, I’d be in big trouble. I can’t swim a lick, even after taking swimming lessons three times.
Boomer: You live in the heart of downtown Cleveland? Why?
CM: Sandy and I have lived downtown in the Historic Warehouse District for 25 years. We were lured from Lakewood when downtown was making a comeback in the late ‘90s, about the time the Rock Hall and new ballpark were going up. We live in a four-story townhouse. We were the first folks to build, and move into a newly constructed home downtown in 30 years. We both have worked in or near downtown. We love the convenience, not to mention the money we’ve saved on gas the past 25 years. I was on the Warehouse District Board for over 23 of those years. I grew up in the city. It feels like home. Although you never completely get used to the loud car music, motorcycles, sirens and occasional gunfire.
Boomer: You and Sandy have been together a long time. You also have a high-stress job. How do you keep the stress of the job away from your home life?
CM: Somehow, you adapt. I learned to use the stress to my advantage during my years on the job. But to be honest, it hit me like a brick wall when I retired from full-time work. I like to call it TV-PTSD. Five years later, I’m still trying to wind down, after years of deadlines, threats and lawsuits.
Boomer: You’re semi-retired. We still see your reports now and then. Any thoughts on officially saying, “I’m done” at some point?
CM: I still air an I-Team story on Fox 8 during the three ratings periods of February, May and November. Don’t know if I’ll ever retire. Still have that book to write.
Becoming Carl Monday
Most people know Carl Monday from his TV reports; the tough reporter who asks tough questions in tough circumstances, but that’s not the way he started out. We asked Monday about his career evolution, image and the future of TV news.
Boomer: Based on the stories you’ve chased down and the way you’ve covered them, you can be an intimidating presence. Are people a little nervous when they first meet you?
CM: To be truthful, some people can be somewhat guarded when they meet me. I try to assure them that I’m “off the clock.” Of course, that’s never totally true. A good reporter is always on the clock. On the other hand, I meet people who will take me aside and say, “Don’t tell anyone where you got this from…but…”
Boomer: If you weren’t an investigative reporter, what could you see yourself doing? Was there a “Plan B”?
CM: When I entered Kent State as a freshman in 1969, I wanted to get into the music business, working for a big record company. But two things happened. I quickly realized the music business had a hidden side that I didn’t want to be a part of. Secondly, the Kent State Shootings occurred months later. Not long after, I found myself working news at the WKSU-TV station and KSU RADIO-TV Information. I never looked back.
I never had a plan B. I was already on commercial radio as a senior in high school. I was the sports and music editor of my high school paper (Go, Garfield Bulldogs!) But looking back, I might have enjoyed a career perhaps in urban renewal and design, or even home design. I’m hooked on HGTV. Oh yeah, in fifth grade, I wanted to be a priest.
Boomer: Do you have a favorite story? Was there a story that might have gotten away?
CM: By far, the story viewers most often bring up is the one involving my confrontation with George Forbes over his delinquent water bill. We recently aired an update on Fox8, 40 years to the date the story first aired. My personal favorite may be the one I did on restaurants and caterers tossing perfectly edible food in the dumpster. As a result of the story, we started Food Rescue, that picks up otherwise wasted food and delivers it to the poor. Thirty-five years and millions of pounds later, the program is still in operation as part of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
As far as those I missed, there have been a few. Remember Jimmy DiMora? Yeah, we had tips on him and his buddy Frank Russo long before the FBI raid. I learned the hard way to take every tip seriously.
Boomer: We are in a far different media landscape than even a few years ago. “AI”-generated news, dwindling ad revenue for traditional media having an effect on news staffs, younger people opting for online news and social media, and on and on. You were on TV news in its prime. Will there even be TV news as we know it a decade from now?
CM: Local news is in a precarious position, and so are the networks. You’re right about right place, right time. I made a good living, doing what I loved to do for nearly 50 years. I still get a kick out of viewers coming up to me with a, “Get away from me, Carl Monday” or, “One of these days, I’m gonna take that camera and wrap it around your @$#&*!!” (phrases borrowed from one of my investigations.)
Boomer: Assuming, of course, they aren’t serious.
And if you were wondering…
Carl Monday wasn’t always a Monday, or any other day of the week. He was Carl Stylinski, but has used “Monday” since 1970 and changed his name legally to Monday in 1972. His wife Sandy has always been a Monday.
Here’s the story behind the name in Monday’s words:
“As a freshman at Kent, I was a day away from my first DJ show on the campus radio station WKSU.
Over a couple of beers, my dorm roommates and I kicked around some names. Someone suggested Carl Alexander, after the character played by Robert Wagner on ABC’s “It Takes a Thief,” Alexander Mundy.
I shook my head. Someone else recommended Carl Day. But there was already a Carl Day on a Canton radio station. Well, how about “Carl Monday?” another roomie suggested.
“That’s it!” I shouted. And from that day on… I became Carl Monday.”
Photo by Marie Elium
