'Plain Dealer' Ex-Publisher, Others Elected To Cleveland J-Hall Of Fame

By: E&P Staff Retired Cleveland Plain Dealer Publisher Alex Machaskee is among five people who will be inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame at a dinner in October.

The Press Club of Cleveland is also inducting former Cleveland Press Society Editor Marge Alge; Cleveland Jewish News Editor Cynthia Dettelbach, wire agency photographer Ron Kuntz; and broadcaster Casey Coleman.

Machaskee, who retired as president and publisher of the Plain Dealer earlier this year, joined the paper in 1960 and rose from promotions director, assistant to the publisher, director of labor relations and general manager to publisher in 1990. "As publisher, Machaskee beefed up the news staff, supervised the development of a $200 million production and distribution center in Brooklyn, and a $38 million headquarters building in downtown Cleveland," the Press Club said.

Alge spent 34 years at the old Cleveland Press included two decades as society editor. She covered the inaugural parties of Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Carter. After The Press closed, she wrote for Northern Ohio Live, Cleveland Magazine and Sun Newspapers. She authored the 2001 photo memoir of Cleveland society, "People, Places and Flings."

Dettelbach has been the editor of the Cleveland Jewish News since 1980. In 1998, she was awarded the Joseph Polakoff award for overall excellence in journalism from the American Jewish Press Association. Her book, "In the Driver's Seat: The Automobile in American Literature and Popular Culture," won the first Ralph Henry Gabriel prize in American Studies.

Kuntz began his career as a photographer at United Press International in 1953. Based in Cleveland, he has photographed 38 Kentucky Derbys, 10 Olympic Games, including the Munich Games in 1972, and the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, where the American hockey team upset the Russians. He also covered the Mohammed Ali-George Foreman fight in 1974 in Zaire. Since 1992, he has worked free-lance for Reuters and The Associated Press.

The inductees will be honored at a dinner on Oct. 26 at LaCentre in Westlake. Ticket information will be available a later date, the Press Club said.