Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The “Elderlies” Column by Karl Kurtz


Karl Kurtz can be seen at the right in the picture above at WLEC Radio. From 1974 to 1979, Mr. Kurtz wrote a column for the Sandusky Register entitled “The Elderlies.”  The articles usually featured photographs, and included topics of interest to senior citizens. Karl interviewed area residents and asked them their memories about businesses, school days, sporting events, and customs from Sandusky in years gone by. Here is a column from 1975 talking about the days when local residents used an ice box instead of a refrigerator.



Copies of “The Elderies” columns have been clipped and were bound into three large notebooks. If you would like to read more of these articles, stop by the Reference Services desk at Sandusky Library. The three bound volumes kept in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. 

Karl Kurz worked in advertising and radio for many years. He passed away on May 15, 1980. His tombstone at Oakland Cemetery includes the inscription “Oddity Man,” named for his popular WLEC radio program based on unusual facts and stories.


3 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Apparently he was a mason, and his wife was in eastern star. do we know which lodge he belonged to?

Sandusky Library Archives Research Center said...

According to an article in the Sandusky Register, November 10, 1965: "Kurtz [was] a member of Perseverance Lodge 329, Sandusky; a 32 degree member Ancient and Accepted Order Scottish Rite, Toledo Valley; charter member Ohio Lodge of Research F&AM; and worthy patron, Eleanor Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star."