STORIES OF THE CITY
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
It’s no secret that Youngstown is a storied place.
Activists, artists, journalists, politicians and deep thinkers from across the globe routinely visit because they know it is no ordinary city.
They’ve chronicled Youngstown from its industrial heyday to its collapse, and profiled its people with their ethnic roots, insular attitudes and enduring traditions. The city’s corrupt and bullet-riddled history and its post-industrial struggle have made Youngstown notorious.
But what sometimes gets drowned out in this deluge of words are the stories of actual Youngstowners. In a new book titled “Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology,” residents share the moments that define the city in a series of essays, profiles, poems and photographs.
The anthology includes contributions from dozens of past and present Youngstowners, including actor Ed O’Neill, author Christopher Barzak, filmmaker Eric Murphy, former football star Maurice Clarett and former Mayor Jay Williams.
It was edited by Jacqueline Marino and Will Miller, and is part of a series of city anthologies from Belt Publishing that already includes Cleveland, Cincinnati and Detroit.
Marino is a journalism professor at Kent State University who grew up in Boardman, graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School and now lives in Northfield.
Miller, an Austintown native and a Fitch High School graduate, is an author and an instructor at Flagler College in Florida.
The two did not know each other before they started on the project, but they shared the same idea. Both had approached Ann Trubek of Belt Publishing.
They put out a call for submissions in August and were pleased with the quality and quantity of responses.
“Youngstown is the smallest market in the series, and [Trubek] was concerned that the numbers wouldn’t be there for sales,” said Marino. “But Will and I argued that it is a very storied place, and there is a lot of interest in it, and Youngstowners are everywhere.”
The anthology will be unveiled at a book launch party Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave. The editors and many contributors will be there, and yes, there will be a cookie table.
Marino and Miller received a strong response for contributions, from the general public and also the celebrities and experts they specifically contacted.
“We weren’t looking for nostalgia,” Marino said. “We were looking for brave, honest accounts about how being from Youngstown has influenced people’s lives and art.”
In a press release, Miller said he wanted to show that Youngstown’s stories transcend the city limits. “While this volume is clearly written for those who know Youngstown, the stories will reach beyond Northeast Ohio,” he said. “As I travel across the county, I run into people who are fascinated by what they know of Youngstown and eager to know more. Through this book, they’ll be able to see and hear a side of the city only natives truly know.”
Miller said they had to reject some of the contributions, mainly to avoid repetition. The result is a tight and very creative collection, and Marino said she is pleased with it.
“What is so cool is that there are 45 contributors, and everyone did their best,” she said. “We did a lot of back and forth with the contributors, sending paragraphs back and talking on the phone to them about what they are really trying to say.”
Almost all of the essays were written expressly for the anthology, although there are a couple of pertinent reprints.
In addition to Friday’s event at the B&O Station, the local literary group Lit Youngstown will have a reading, featuring many of the anthology’s contributors, at 7 p.m. June 3 at Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts, 32 N. Phelps St., downtown.