Classic Cuneo

While I’m a consistent critic of Kevin Cuneo as “public editor” of the Erie Times-News, I’m a big fan of his longstanding weekly column in the entertainment tabloid, “Showcase,” inserted in every Thursday’s edition called “Take Thirty,” a throwback to the old newspaper tradition of indicating the end of the hard copy draft of a news article or column with a – 30 -.

I once suggested to Kevin that he compile what he considers the best of the Take Thirty columns he’s written over the years into a book entitled, well, “The Best of Take Thirty by Kevin Cuneo.” He didn’t seem too receptive to the idea, but I hope he does it.
An anthology of his output over the years would be a great addition to anyone’s bookshelf collection.

For starters, Kevin’s one of the best interviewers I’ve ever read at any level of newspaper and magazine writing. He practices the fine but rare sensibility of never allowing himself to get between his interviewees and the insightful – often moving and touching - portraits he paints of them on paper.

The fact that he typically must conduct, of necessity, many of his interviews of otherwise inaccessible big name performers, public figures and personalities by phone renders his achievements in this genre doubly impressive.

In addition, he’s a first rate writer and thinker with a wealth of experience and acquired real-life wisdom which radiates like sunshine through his non-prolix prose. It’s refreshingly straight-forward and delivered with a rare economy of style and a seemingly bottomless reach that ranges from “Hair” to Haydn.

While most entertainment writers’ columns are airy and frothy, Kevin always manages to integrate a serious and thought-provoking theme into his Showcase pieces without preaching or lecturing, giving them an ethereal, timeless quality. Today’s effort profiling the character actor Joe Pantolino is a fine example.

He opens this piece with a catchy and compelling lead that reads: “Over the last 30 years, Joe Pantoliano has played some really crazy characters in the movies and on TV. Now he tells us he wasn't always acting.”

Then, in a moving exhibit of life imitating art, or vice versa, Kevin segues seamlessly into a discussion of the lifelong affliction of clinical depression the actor has suffered which has been mirrored in his memorable roles. It’s classic Cuneo.
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