[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 69 (Monday, May 23, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF EMERSON BATDORFF

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 23, 2005

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember Emerson Batdorff, a 
friend and colleague from my early career in journalism at the 
Cleveland Plain Dealer. ``Bat'' was a reporter, columnist, and 
entertainment editor who started the Plain Dealer's Friday magazine.
  Fellow Plain Dealer reporter Bill Hickey called him ``the ultimate 
newspaperman. `` And he was right. Batdorff, who was inducted into the 
Cleveland Hall of Fame Press Club, covered police, courts, and other 
city beats before becoming a fixture in the features department. Bat 
started his career in journalism before serving in World War II. After 
the war, he started with the Plain Dealer's Akron bureau in 1946 before 
transferring to the Cleveland newsroom in the 1950s.
  Computers came easily to him. He was known for waving a red flag to 
alert editors and reporters when the system was about to crash so that 
they could save their work. When he became entertainment editor, he had 
a lot of young writers working for him. He always made the effort to 
point out their mistakes in a friendly and constructive way. Bat 
retired from the Plain Dealer in 1984.
  Emerson Batdorff served in the Army in World War II where he was a 
platoon leader with the Third Infantry Division, a liaison officer in 
the 30th Infantry Regiment, and historian with the XV Corps 
Headquarters in Europe. He received the Bronze Star Medal for valor and 
a Purple Heart. Bat remained in the Army Reserve and was recalled for 
duty as a military historian during the Korean War.
  In 1977, while in his late 50s, a would-be robber mistook Bat for an 
easy mark one late night after work. But Bat, who held a black belt in 
karate, scared off the attacker with a few deftly executed self defense 
moves.
  Bat was a past president of the local chapter of the Newspaper Guild. 
He was also a past president of the Mensa Cleveland chapter.
  Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, please join me in offering condolence to 
Bat's wife Judith, his son Lee, his daughter Ilo, his brother, and his 
grandchildren.

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