Meet Canton Repository entertainment writer Ed Balint
Local journalism requires local journalists. Every couple of weeks, we will spotlight Canton Repository staff members who serve the Stark County community.
Growing up in the Wooster area, Ed Balint fondly recalls boyhood trips to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heggy's Nut Shop and Mellett Mall in Canton.
His post-college jobs included stints at newspapers in East Central Indiana and Sandusky before arriving at The Canton Repository in the summer of 1999.
Last year, Balint's newspaper beat took a wild swing — from covering murder trials and other hard news to writing about rock stars, local artists and pop culture as he shifted from being the court reporter to the entertainment writer.
Why I became a journalist
I remember first telling my grandmother that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. Newspaper reporter became my second choice, but an aversion to complicated mathematics kept me on Earth.
I recall kneeling on a chair in my father's office, pecking away at his manual Remington typewriter as a young boy and producing a makeshift version of a newspaper front page.
Working for high school and college newspapers, I discovered a passion for storytelling, a curiosity for the world around me, the fundamental need for a government watchdog, and a fascination with the mysterious and unexplained.
Although it was hard work, and often required long hours, newspaper reporting never felt like a real job.
What I like most about my job
Meeting and talking with people who are far more interesting, inspiring and accomplished than me, and living through them vicariously while sharing their stories.
My favorite story or stories I've written
The most rewarding was a series of articles about the most serious juvenile criminal offenders in the small rural Indiana county where I first worked as a reporter in the mid-1990s. Months of research and behind-the-scenes reporting went into the award-winning project, from riding in the back of a police cruiser with a sobbing teenager headed for lockup to combing through courthouse records and tabulating statistics with a ballpoint pen and legal pad.
And I've gladly earned a reputation as The Repository's crackpot reporter: Walking the darkened woods in search of Bigfoot; exploring Canton's connection to the alleged Roswell UFO crash; a Canton man who tried to escape from Alcatraz prison; searching for ghosts at the Mansfield Reformatory; and the lost French gold of Minerva are among the quirky stories I've written.
The biggest challenge I face
Stories that never get told, the ones that get away, because there aren't enough hours in the day to tell them all.
Why I love music
Music memories begin in boyhood when I flipped through and listened to the vinyl albums of my older brothers — Kiss, Foghat, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Judas Priest, Adam Ant, New Order, Men Without Hats, Brian Eno, The Psychedelic Furs.
Music has been there for me ever since. When I'm happy, sad, lost, searching. And it's wonderfully nostalgic, dating periods of my life, recreating moments in my head. Sometimes I even sing in front of a mirror, pretending to be a rock star.
My favorite rock bands and musicians
Nirvana and all things Seattle grunge. R.E.M., Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Wolf Alice, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, Buffalo Tom, Mammoth WVH, the Pixies, Echobelly, Ingrid Michaelson, 10,000 Maniacs and Natalie Merchant, Charlie Hickey, Public Nature, Jaded Era, The Vindys, The Buffalo Ryders, JD Eicher.
Do I know how to cook?
Not really, unless HelloFresh meal kits count. But I know how to eat.
Favorite quote
"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not." Kurt Cobain
What I like to do when I'm not working
In the winter, it's snowboarding. And I love nature — hiking, biking, camping. Other favorites include roadside diners, bygone architecture, country churches, forgotten cemeteries, amusement parks. Another pastime is hopelessly rooting for Cleveland sports teams.
And I'm fascinated with space travel, especially the Apollo-era moon missions. Some nights, I even drift to sleep while listening to radio transmissions from the golden era of NASA.
My perfect day
A road trip on the Lincoln Highway while listening to favorite music. Tires humming over pavement under sunny skies. Random destinations, historic sites and mom-and-pop restaurants waiting in the miles ahead.
Coolest dude ever and the superhero of my childhood
Evel Knievel
How to reach me
You may reach me at 330-580-8315 or ebalint@gannett.com. On Twitter at @ebalintREP.
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton Repository writer Ed Balint covers food and entertainment
