JOE CLEARY: To most of the younger reporters, he was never known
as “Joe.” It was always “Mr. Cleary.”

We recently ran across the story about the death of Joseph M.
Cleary and realized, surprisingly, that it has been 10 years since
this man – the creator of Round the Square – had died.

Mr. Cleary had been in the newspaper business for 60 of his 81
years. His obituary, which appeared in the Feb. 12, 1996 edition,
reminded us of his RTS legacy of nearly half a century. At the time
of his death, he had written more than 13,000 RTS volumes!

Mr. Cleary began the column in December of 1949 and the first
item of the first column was, not surprisingly, a “Zippo
sighting.”

As of the date of his obituary, Round the Square was believed to
be the longest-running front-page newspaper column in the nation.
Presumably, its continuation over the intervening 10 years has kept
it in that top position.

Although Mr. Cleary was an institution in the Bradford newspaper
business, he also had a niche in local radio.

In fact, he was the “founding general manager” of WESB radio –
and the obituary noted, “WESB came onto the air with a splash,
marking its first day on the air during the historic flood of
1947.”

No doubt, many Bradfordians will remember his distinctly
resonant voice in the early days of the “Kendall News Review.”

At the time, the newspaper and radio station were affiliated
companies. He remained a consultant with the radio station, and he
later was named general manager and executive vice president of The
Era.

As for this column, he was proud of its popularity and
success.

He started it as a forum for readers and, as such, Mr. Cleary
always stayed in the background. It was a rare occasion when you
saw his name mentioned in connection with Round the Square.

“It’s not my column. It’s the readers’ column,” he would
say.

Thinking about Round the Square from our 2006 vantage point, we
have to marvel at his perception about providing a conduit for
readers’ thoughts, memories, discoveries and day-to-day occasions –
long before the Internet popularized analogous “electronic”
offerings.

Our hope is to keep the column in the JMC tradition, letting the
readers dictate its content, style and information. So, readers,
keep it up!