Jason Segedy - The Akron Anthology

CONTRIBUTORS

David Giffels books include The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches From the Rust Belt (Scribner 2014); All the Way Home, (William Morrow, 2008), Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! (co-written with Jade Dellinger, SAF Publishing 2003), and Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron (co-written with Steve Love, University of Akron Press 2008). A former Akron Beacon Journal columnist, his writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Parade, the Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, Grantland.com, Redbook, and many other publications. He also was a writer for the MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head . He is an associate professor of English at University of Akron, where he teaches creative nonfiction in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program.

Pat Jarrett is a photographer and editor working in Virginias Shenandoah Valley, but he was born and raised in and around Akron. Jarrett is married to a fire-breathing seamstress and prefers two-wheeled transportation to four any day of the week. He believes the low-and-slow method is best for cooking meat, luck is a manifestation of hard work, and daily newspaper photography is a surreal art form.

L.S. Quinn was raised in Northeast Ohio and has a B.A. in English from the University of Akron. Shes worked in churches and social service agencies in Akron, Cleveland, and Chicago. After writing and performing in Chicago for more than a decade, shes come back to Akron to serve the Grace Park area. She loves slam poetry, vintage fashion, and Scrabble.

Greg Milo heads the Social Studies Department at Archbishop Hoban High School, where he teaches World Cultures, International Politics, and Hometown Histories. He also coordinates Hobans Project HOPE program, guiding students each Wednesday evening to hang out with Akrons less fortunate brothers and sisters. He is a frequent contributor to the Akronist and has written articles for education journals, such as Education Week .

Matt Tullis is an associate professor of journalism at Ashland University and is the producer and host of Gangrey: The Podcast. He is also an associate editor of River Teeth, a journal of nonfiction. He has written for SB Nation, Cleveland Magazine, Nieman Storyboard, Sports On Earth and many others. He lives with his wife and two children on the edge of Amish country in Wayne County, Ohio.

Maria Mancinelli is a native of Cuyahoga Falls and a graduate of Miami University where she earned a Bachelors degree in International Studies and Latin American Studies in 2011. Maria began her career in Brazil as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at the Federal University of Uberlndia. She relocated to Akron in 2013 where she worked as Community Outreach Coordinator for the International Institute of Akron. Maria recently moved to Milan, Italy to better understand Europes response to the current refugee crisis and hopes to begin graduate study in Europe in fall of 2016.

Roza Maille is an artist and arts administrator living in her adopted hometown of Akron, Ohio. She works for the Akron Art Museum, Artists of Rubber City, and is a big supporter of all things creative. Traveling is her number one hobby but shes always glad to come back home to her husband and two cats.

Jeff Shearl is a writer from Akron, Ohio, and a graduate of the university of Akrons English program. He has difficulty taking most things seriously, and as a result lives a life of excitement, intrigue, and mystery.

Andrew Poulsen is an Akron-born writer and musician currently living in Cleveland. Andrew is a graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. He has written for Billboard.com, Cleveland Magazine, Ohio Magazine and several other regional and national publications. He is an avid enthusiast of U.S. history, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Fender guitars.

Jason Segedy is the Director of Planning and Urban Development for the City of Akron, Ohio. He has worked in the urban planning field for the past 21 years, and previously served as the Director of the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS), the Metropolitan Planning Organization serving Greater Akron. He is an avid writer on urban planning and development issues, blogging at Notes from the Underground. His work has been published by Planetizen, Streetsblog, Rustwire, Wise Economy, Real Clear Policy, and New Geography . A lifelong resident of Akrons west side, Jason is committed to the city, its people, and its neighborhoods. His passion is creating great places and spaces where residents can live, work, and play. He came into this world at St. Thomas Hospital, in 1972, and hell continue to do this work until they put him in the ground at Holy Cross Cemeteryhopefully a long time from now.

Jennifer Conn is an Akron-based freelance reporter and writer. With her recent focus on life in Northeast Ohio, Jennifers work has appeared in The Devil Strip, Crains Akron Business and Crains Cleveland Business . As a daily news and trade reporter in Ohio and Kentucky, shes covered crime and the environment, as well as the automotive, tire and recycling industries. With an MA in journalism from Kent State University and a (nearly completed) post-graduate certificate in TESL, she also teaches English composition and English as a Second Language courses at KSU and the University of Akron. Jennifers interest in cemeteries is an extension of her passion for honoring our historical sites and structures through storytelling.

Joanna Wilson is the author of The Story of Archie the Talking Snowman & Akrons History of Christmas Attractions (2015), and the co-author of A is For Akron (2014). She earns her living as a Christmas entertainment writer. In 2010, she wrote Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-themed Episodes, Specials and Made-for-TV Movies , an 800-page reference book with over 3000 listings which earned her national attention. She stays active as the Assistant Director of Crafty Mart, an organizer of Dance Dance Party Party-Akron , and a contributor to Akron Empire and the Devil Strip . Although she grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, she now lives in Highland Square where she counts herself as one of the areas many memorable characters.

Akron native Rita Dove , former U.S. Poet Laureate, is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Heinz Award, the National Humanities Medal, and the National Medal of Arts. Her many books include the poetry collections Thomas and Beulah, Sonata Mulattica, American Smooth, and On the Bus with Rosa Parks, the novel Through the Ivory Gate, and the play The Darker Face of the Earth . Her Collected Poems 1974-2004 will be published in 2016 by W.W. Norton. Dove is Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Mike Gruss is a journalist who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. He covers national security issues related to space for the magazine SpaceNews . Previously, he worked as a columnist and reporter for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia. He graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and owns a T-shirt with the Route 8 logo printed on the front.

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Eric Wasserman is the author of a collection of short stories, The Temporary Life , and a novel, Celluloid Strangers . He is an Associate Professor of English at The University of Akron where he teaches creative writing, literature and film studies. He lives in Akron, Ohio with his wife, Thea. You can visit him at www.ericwasserman.com.

Patricia Fann was born in Akron and spent her earliest years in Akrons Kenmore area until the 1960s when I-277 was built, cutting through the neighborhood, and her parents moved to Manchester (or New Franklin as its now called). She has lived with her husband in an older house in West Akron for 30 years, raising their three daughters.

Matthew Meduri teaches writing at Kent State University. A graduate of the NEOMFA program, his work has appeared in Cactus Heart, Milk Sugar, and Rubbertop Review . Although Matthew lives in Kent, Ohio, he is no stranger to the Rubber City, having spent a good majority of his adolescence seeing shows at the Lime Spider. He is currently working on a novel.