“I got a call about 3 or 4 in the morning,” House said recalling he and King’s 1999 exchange. “My wife answered the phone and said it was Don King. I asked ‘What Don King?,’ and she said ‘Thee, Don King.’”
By KEVIN ‘CHILL’ HEARD
Managing Editor
It is surely one of our greatest success stories.
From paper boy to president!
After moving from Louisville at a very young age, Michael House, then just a mere 8 years old, could never have imagined in his wildest dreams that he would become the president of the very same newspaper that he sold out of his worn newsboy bag, up and down Cedar Avenue.
Between 89th and 105th and Cedar, young Mike House diligently hustled the Call and Post to finance his youthful outings to the much heralded Play-Mor Skating Rink on 107 and Euclid. Selling the newspaper also afforded him an opportunity to stick his head into many of the Cedar bars and pool halls and provided him an early education on how to be a people person – and handle a pool stick.
“When I got to Cleveland, the first thing I looked for was how I could make some money selling newspapers,” said House, who is currently the president of the Chicago Defender newspaper.
“Not in my wildest imagination would I have thought that I would become the president of the Call and Post,” he said. He added that even as an adult working in New York City as the head of API, he never thought he would return to Cleveland. That is, until he received a fateful phone call from Mr. Don King.
“I got a call about 3 or 4 in the morning,” House said recalling he and King’s 1999 exchange. “My wife answered the phone and said it was Don King. I asked ‘What Don King?,’ and she said ‘Thee, Don King.’”
That phone call started the ball rolling to what ended up with House moving back to his second hometown. He would head up the Call and Post that had been recently purchased by King.
Although the paper had just been rescued from bankruptcy, House had known the C&P to be, historically, one of the iconic and well-respected Black newspapers in the country.
“They had good workers there who had been through a lot,” said House. “And I felt that [with] this same paper that I delivered as a young man, I could bring in a management structure that could turn things around. I knew W.O. Walker’s reputation and the paper’s reputation, and the fact that it had editions in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, I felt this was an ideal opportunity.”
House says that some of the things that stand out in his mind while at the C&P were Giving scholarships to young people (A young Basher Jones was of those that came to his mind) and winning the Sengstacke Award for overall best newspaper in the nation.. “But the thing I am most proud of,” House began. “…my recognition of the employees and being able to reward excellence amongst the staff for unwavering support through good and bad times. To those who helped us grow and helped us to get back on our feet.”
Though he now heads Chicago’s iconic Black newspaper, Mike House will never forget his hometown paper that he sold as an 8 year old and ultimately became its president.
Upcoming articles in this space will be dedicated to telling the story of former C&P employees. From the names you may have long forgotten, to names you may have just recently come to know.
The Call and Post Newspaper, 95 years and counting, stand up and be counted. Be a part of the history that you or your family helped to build. Email us at Info@call-post.com or give us a call at (216) 588-6700. Yes, we are still looking for you!
