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Radicals fans roll in for breakfast

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Henry Heimlich, life-saving maneuver creator, dies at 96

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It&#8217;s the end of the year and time to clean off my desk.</p><p>Time to purge my work space of all that at one time was vitally needed for this story, that column, or the other feature.</p><p>On the surface, you might think this is an easy task &#8212; especially if you have not one ounce of sentimentality in your heart.</p><p>But it&#8217;s not that easy for me. Some things just can&#8217;t be discarded. </p><p>Like my photo of actor Jon Voight, who appeared in Wilkes-Barre in 2012 with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on behalf of then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney. I actually got to talk to Jon &#8212; shook his hand as well.</p><p>Voight&#8217;s picture adorns my computer hard drive. It is taped right next to a picture of Bill &#8220;Clarker&#8221; Clark, who was standing on Route 315 holding a &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; sign and, oh yeah, Clarker is dressed as Star Wars character Chewbacca.</p><p>Those are special photos, but neither is as important to me as the picture of our very first group of Victory Baseball players. These young men and women are mentally and/or physically challenged, and they have brought much joy to my life, serving as constant inspiration and motivation.</p><p>There are other pictures around my desk: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, former heavyweight boxing champ Larry Holmes, and Mr. Peanut.</p><p>Close to my line of vision is a copy of an article I did on Pete Chaivanik. Pete is the man who, despite a severe disability, would sit in his wagon in front of The Boston Store (now Boscov&#8217;s) and sell pencils . Pete brought much joy to downtown shoppers, always with a welcoming smile on his face.</p><p>There is a lot more stuff around my cubicle &#8211; much of it about to become part of some landfill somewhere. There is just no reason to keep it anymore, what with this age of technology in which we can hit a few buttons on our computer keyboards and find whatever we need.</p><p>So the massive purge has begun. Several garbage buckets will be filled with this collection of stuff that has gathered dust for several years. There are cups filled with ink pens and markers. There are business cards everywhere. Old phone books lurk in a corner, a stark reminder of the days before cellphone contact lists and when telephones were dialed, sometimes resulting in busy signals at the other end.</p><p>At some point I will look at the cards I received from various readers. They are valued and will not be thrown out. I will read them again just to recall the moment when first received &#8211; usually after a particular article ran, motivating the person to send a card of thanks or appreciation.</p><p>We news people like to get these things, although most of us will never admit it. We sincerely enjoy hearing from people whose lives we have touched in some way through our work.</p><p>Back to my desk. I am certain that when my co-workers pass by next week, they will be shocked to see my desk and how it has been cleared of all the clutter. I only hope I can muster the inner strength to actually get rid of the things that really should be gotten rid of and that I don&#8217;t just cart them home in a plastic bag or cardboard box.</p><p>While I go through this process, there is one item in our newsroom that I hope and pray will never be discarded. It&#8217;s a Christmas tree that belongs to staff writer Mark Guydish. Legend goes that Guydish became the custodian of this magnificent holiday decoration when another staffer left the employ of the Times Leader.</p><p>You can see by the photo attached to this column that the tree is unique in it symmetry, scarce in its adornments, yet magnificent in its meaning. This 12-inch tree, which stands in all its glory with the help of a few small strips of duct tape, fills our newsroom with the spirit of Christmas each and every year.</p><p>As it hovers over Guydish&#8217;s desk and mine, its mere presence makes my purging a lot easier to accomplish.</p><p>When things get tough, just one glance at that tree relieves all the frustration and stress of clearing one&#8217;s work space and restores the Christmas spirit.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Columnshot-1-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_The-tree-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The tree </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_The-tree-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>The tree </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Some things should never be thrown away