Written by: Beau Brown
“It feels weird to listen to tape recordings of people who have passed away. When years have passed since you’ve talked with someone, you can’t help but to wonder what happened to them before they died. What happened to that person since I’ve spoken with them? Where is that person’s wife, husband or kids nowadays?”
Irv Korman, retired lecturer from the The University of Akron communication department and four-time winner of the Communicator Awards, will return next week for a book signing at the Barnes & Noble locations in the Student Union and the Polsky Building.
Korman was an instructor at the university for over ten years, and earned both his bachelor’s in liberal arts and his master’s in theatre at The University of Akron. His first collection of celebrity interviews, “I was Jerry Lewis’ Bodyguard for 10 Minutes!: and other celebrity encounters,” was published last November.
Korman made a career out of writing reviews for local publications, including The Plain Dealer and The West Side Leader. These reviews, which Korman collected to create his book, include biographies and photographs of famous people of his time, and the interviews that Korman conducted with them.
“Originally, the book was supposed to be a collection of my interviews with celebrities who had passed away,” Korman said. “But with my daughter’s advice, I made the book longer by including interviews with celebrities who are still alive.”
All of the celebrities that Korman included in his book have visited Akron, including Mickey Rooney, Jerry Lewis and Robert Alda.
Each chapter tells the story of how Korman came into contact with the celebrity, and gives the reader an insightful look into just how personal, and personable, these celebrities were. As Korman put it, he felt honored that such influential people would speak with the average “Joe Shmoe.”
“When I first started my career, I was nervous, to the point of shaking, when it came to interviewing these people who I had idolized for so long,” Korman said. “However, after a while, I became used to it, and started realizing that they weren’t that much different from you and I.”
Korman explained how his love for writing reviews and interviewing celebrities stems from his experiences at The University of Akron.
“When I was a student here, I took a theater course and had to review multiple plays. I started really getting into it, and by the end of the class I had reviewed 10-12 plays over the semester,” Korman said. “After the class, I wanted to continue writing reviews for larger publications.”
Revisiting The University of Akron is like stepping back in time for Korman, back to the days when he was just a student and a lecturer. Now, as a published author and a retired instructor, he returns with high hopes for his new book. Looking back, Korman finds it hard to believe that the work he put into making his book actually paid off.
“To this day, I still am astonished that I was published. It’s a surreal feeling. Every time I feel upset, all I have to is look at this book and say ‘Wow, I did that?’ and I feel 100 percent better.”
Korman’s book signing will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the Barnes & Noble in the Student Union from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Korman will also be signing books at the Polsky Barnes & Noble between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
