Displaying items by tag: Rich Heldenfels

After 22 years at the Akron Beacon Journal, Rich Heldenfels is calling it a career. And on his 65th birthday, no less.

Heldenfels has been a pop culture writer at the Beacon since 1994, and he joined the Ray Horner Morning Show on his final day on the job. Heldenfels talked about his arrival into Akron by way of Schenectady, New York, and was thrust into work head-first during the OJ Simpson saga in ’94.

The long-time Beacon writer says some of his favorite memories were meeting local celebrities who went national, such as Steve Harvey Drew Carey, and LeBron James, and walking around the set of 25 Hill at Derby Downs.

Heldenfels will still teach at the University of Akron, but now that his wife has also retired, he felt this was a good time to step away from the paper.