John Hyduk, Cleveland Magazine contributor, appears in Esquire

"One of the best writers in Cleveland," Esquire calls John Hyduk this month, introducing his essay, "The Loading Dock Manifesto," in its May issue.

"There's work in poetry, and poetry in all work," Hyduk writes in the piece, the story of his life and his job at a beverage distributor near Cleveland.

We've known about Hyduk's talent for a while -- he's a contributor to Cleveland Magazine. So after you read his Esquire piece, we'd like to send you to our archives to read more of his work:

"Born and Bread," February 2010, about his relatives' life on the near West Side and their favorite Italian bakery.

"City of Wonder," August 2009, recalling his years as a feature writer for the Free Times.

"A Zoo Story," April 2008, about his grandfather, who fed lions.

"The Long Goodbye," May 2007, his feature about serial killer Frank Spisak (executed this winter) and his victims.

"The Night Man," March 2007, a visit to a corner store scarred by murder.

"Wild At Heart," August 2006, his ode to West 25th Street.

(photo from esquire.com)

Never can say goodbye

Frank Spisak was the reason we 1980s seekers of urban higher education looked over our shoulders after a coffee in the Cage or studied the shadows after a beer at Fat Glenn’s, on our way to University Tower for the library and the facilities. Three men had been shot dead by a campus stalker, and a female staffer barely escaped another ambush. So maintenance locked the first floor restroom door. Every isolated place was a potential trap.

After his arrest, we studied the photo in the newspaper, the nerdy glasses and unremarkable loner’s profile, and for a second we’d think we knew him. This was before VaTech. Before Northern Illinois. Before Biswanath Halder. Back when “campus” and “shooting” still looked strange together in a headline. Frank Spisak—sent to Death Row—looked at first like a classmate, then an alum we’d lost track of, and then one day we didn’t think of him at all. We’d moved on, past the shadows.

If this were a movie, the credits would have rolled long ago. This is not a movie. We haven’t moved on. The shadows have just grown longer. --John Hyduk

(The U.S. Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will hear Frank Spisak’s case in the fall. Spisak is trying to get his death sentence overturned; prosecutor Bill Mason is fighting to uphold it. See yesterday’s Associated Press report. John Hyduk’s May 2007 Cleveland Magazine article, "The Long Goodbye," told the story of Spisak, the murder victims, and their families. --ed.)