Roldo

The Wall Street Journal wasn't so interested in coverage of poverty and urban issues, or critical analyses of people in power. So in 1968 Roldo Bartimole left that paper and devoted the next 35 years to writing for alternative publications, living on the modest pay that comes with that pursuit. For 10 years he wrote a column for the Cleveland Free Times, leaving when Village Voice Media shut down the since-revived paper in 2002. He also wrote for the Cleveland Edition in the 1980s and, most recently, for an African-American weekly, City News. Now 70, Roldo is giving up his one-man newsletter, "Point of View," to retire. New York Times reporter Walter Bogdanich tells E&P that even the targets of Bartimole's barbs had to admire his courage in following through on his beliefs.