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From Refugee to American Rhapsody -- What A Trip

© Robert Powers

Let me tell you about Joe Eszterhas, author of the best seller called American Rhapsody. I knew Mr. Eszterhas long, long ago, when the '60s were still fresh and the nation's college campuses threatened to boil over with resentment about our government's policies.

At the time, I held a part-time job as a journalism instructor at Ohio University in Athens. Students, a dozen or so each school quarter, would walk over to the offices of The Athens Messenger, where I was news editor. Athens is one of those towns that depends greatly on the success of the university. Knowledge of that fact led to a somewhat frictional relationship between town and gown.

Eszterhas was born in Hungary and spent his first six years in Austrian refugee camps. He landed in the U.S. and grew up in Cleveland. A significant percentage of Ohio U's enrollment came from Cleveland and environs. That was the source of another uneasy peace between town and gown. Clevelanders arriving in southeastern Ohio's Appalachian hills tended to scoff at the town and its residents. Athenians tended to talk a little different than those who were nurtured around the Cuyahoga River.

In my class (it consisted of students writing headlines for stories that were to be published), Eszterhas stood out. He obviously wasn't interested in learning anything about editing or writing headlines. Joe was interested in letting everyone within earshot know how much Joe thought of Joe. It was a very, very lofty opinion. In short, I didn't like the kid. The Messenger staff chuckled a bit when Eszterhas's name appeared in the court news for bouncing a $25 check to the local supermarket.

In time, Eszterhas graduated. Soon his byline began to appear in The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's morning daily paper with the largest circulation in the state. One Sunday, the PD's slick Sunday magazine carried a detailed story about survivors of the infamous 1966 fall of the Silver Bridge in nearby Point Pleasant, W.Va. More than 40 perished.

I read Joe's magazine story. It was filled with delicious quotes. I must bow to his talent, I told myself. He's done a good job. Eszterhas also had been awarded a personal column in The Plain Dealer, a major accomplishment for someone not far out of college.

Sometime later, the news began to be whispered in newspaper offices across the state. According to several of the bridge family survivors, they had never heard of Joe Eszterhas, much less been interviewed by him.

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