7/5/2012 - West Side Leader
     

On the Mark — By Craig Marks

It was around 1996 when people started telling me, “Craig, you should put together your columns and cartoons in a book.” And then they would add, “But please wait until the book can be read on a not-yet-invented mobile electronic device, a device that can also play games where birds hurl themselves at livestock.”

Well, the wait is over. The e-book, “On the Mark: A Compilation of Columns and Cartoons 1992-2012,” is now available. You can order it for Kindle or Nook by going to the website ceasite.com. It contains 97 columns and 29 cartoons, as well as a few odds and ends. On one page is a vintage picture of me dressed in a Gumby Halloween costume, and that alone makes it worth the $3.99 list price.

The book includes stories about some of the goings-on in the area over the last two decades, as well as tales from my own life. There are articles and cartoons about cat-sitting, cable TV battles, searching for my daughter’s stuffed lizard and rants and laments about Cleveland sports. Also included are some poems and one story about how Mr. Spock became dressed as a pirate. Hopefully you’ll find in it a smile or two.

I tried to choose the pick of the litter, and I made the tough call of leaving out some fine columns that were just not right for this compilation. Some are more insightful than others, of course, but I’m sure they’ll be deserving inclusions for Volume II:

• Montrose traffic cannot get any worse, only solution is to close the drive-in (1986)

• Twenty-three reasons why new owners PAX will be great for WAKC-TV (1998)

• Trust me, he won’t be around long enough to make it worth our while to learn how to spell “Plusquellic” (1987)

• Little LeBron James steals show in my youth production of “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” so glad I pushed him to take the role of Heat Miser (1991)

• I’ll let my trees grow out as much as I’d like, thank you (2003) You may have missed this column, as it came out the same day as the multi-state blackout.

• It’s never an easy decision, but breaking up the band Craig Marks and the Black Keys may turn out to be best for all involved (2000)

• While I dearly wanted a memento from this exciting World Series, I fear I may regret swiping Jose Mesa’s pregame relaxation tape (1997)

• My plan to protest Copley’s roundabout by refusing to budge from its center proves to be horribly ineffective (2006)

• I’m using my one genie wish to bring Jim Tressel to The University of Akron within 10 years (2002)

• The e-book, undoubtedly a passing fad (2009)

As I said, some of the columns are more insightful than others.

• All you need is clove
• Cartoons: 5-16-13
• Coventry resident suggests use of tuition to fund public schools
• Manchester superintendent thanks community
• Cartoon: 5-17-13