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| A TRIBUTE TO JAMES C. MELBY
February 2007 – Rich Tate “I found a photograph on eBay of a match between Reggie Lisowski and Mike Blazer from the early 1950s. It likely was one of a kind and I decided I was going to get it. Another bidder named Jimmy Pizza was also after it. I watched the auction like a hawk and snatched the photo out from under Jimmy Pizza's nose at the last second. I felt pretty good about it, considering it cost me about $35 for that one 8 X10. Several weeks went by and I happened to mention to Jim that I had an action shot of Reggie vs. Blazer that I won from someone at the very last second. It was then that Jim revealed to me that he was Jimmy Pizza. He said he had been bidding on the photo so he could send it to me. It still makes me laugh when I think about it.” – George Lentz When James C. Melby died at his home early Sunday morning, February 11, 2007, at age 57, the wrestling world lost one of its true pioneers. Jay West said, “Jim Melby's name was known by only a relatively few people, but his influence on professional wrestling reporting is monumental.” West, while working as a ring announcer for Georgia Championship Wrestling, submitted some written work to Melby. “I sent him an unsolicited story to the Wrestling News in late 1979. He called me about a week later. We talked several times over the next few years, mostly about story ideas I had, or confirmation he wanted on some information that had been sent to him regarding Georgia wrestling. I was always impressed with his knowledge of the business.” |
| Melby started out like a lot of fans during his childhood era. “I first met Jim Melby in the early 1960s when he joined my fan club run by a lady here in Cincinnati,” Les Thatcher said. “That began a forty plus year friendship. Jim was not only a close and valued friend, but a person that showed respect for our business in everything he did.”
Thatcher continued, “He was a tireless worker for promoting professional wrestling in a positive light through everything from fan clubs, magazines, and as a current member of the Cauliflower Alley Club Board of Directors. Not only did I lose a great personal friend this past weekend, but wrestling lost a class gentleman, and historian who waved its banner proudly. We all will feel the void.” Melby began his career as a young writer in the 1960s, acting as a correspondent for one of the earliest newsletters to be distributed among the most hardcore fans. Mike Mooneyham, who also contributed to the newsletter, said, “We came up through the ranks as correspondents for Burt Ray's Matmania during the 1960s. Jim Melby was one of the most informed and dedicated professional wresting historians I ever had the privilege of knowing.” |
| He took it to the next level in later years, submitting pieces to Wrestling Revue magazine, and most recently the newsletters for the CAC. “Jim Melby was a friend of over forty years and we worked together on wrestling magazines and programs during over half of that time,” Norman Keitzer said. “He was probably the best-informed wrestling historian around and a great person as well.” In the 1970s, he became the editor for Kietzer Publishing’s Wrestling Revue, in addition to Wrestling Monthly, the Wrestling News, and the Ring’s Wrestling Magazine. Melby eventually became one of the most respected journalists of his time. The duo of Melby and Kietzer produced programs that were distributed at various arenas around the country, including the WWWF, the AWA, and numerous promotions under the NWA banner. Mooneyham, who also worked as a contributor to Kietzer’s publications said, “He was a wonderful writer and editor, and a real friend to the business. How ironic it was that I received my CAC newsletter this weekend that included an article by Jim with a message asking fellow members to drop him a line. The article ended with his sign-off: ‘Remember – if you are looking up at the ring lights, it's time to kick out.’” |
| Later in life, Jim began to dig more into researching the history of the business of professional wrestling. Even into the 1990s, his work could be seen through various record books, self-published and made available to fans with niche interests. Such books included ones dedicated to the careers of Verne Gagne, Red Bastien, Orville Brown, Rikidozan, Bronko Nagurski, Whipper Watson, and Yukon Eric.
Don Luce, a highly regarded historian himself, knew Jim for more than twenty-five years. “I first met Jim in person when SABR had their national baseball convention at Minneapolis in 1988.” He continued, “Over the years we have traded many wrestling articles. Jim, with his huge program collection, was always sending me pictures of wrestlers as I was trying to find out who they were. As recently as two weeks ago, Jim told me the picture of Ivan Zdanoff in 1959 was ‘Demon’ Jack O'Brien. Jim was a baseball fan also, and we attended two Twins games when I first met him. Just like we are losing our wrestling legends, the real historians like Jim Melby will never be replaced.” |
| Jim published two wrestling books during his career. Mat Wars, in conjunction with Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association, was released in 1985. His most recent publication, Gopherland Grappling, came out last year, and was primarily a collection of photographs he had collected over the years. “Jim’s record books and his latest work, Gopherland Grappling, make up a big part of my library and are often referenced,” said Mark Hewitt. “I knew of Jim Melby by reputation long before we actually met in person at an International Wrestling Institute and Museum Hall of Fame induction ceremony. His impact on researching and recording the history of professional wrestling is huge, and all of us interested in preserving the sport’s heritage owe him a big debt of gratitude.” Fellow historian Tim Dills agrees. “Any of us who try at some level to capture pieces of professional wrestling's past, whether for our own memory’s sake or for the memory of others to enjoy, look on at a distance from the shadows cast by a select handful of people who have dedicated untold hours and days of their own lives to this craft. Jim Melby is part of that group casting the shadows.” Perhaps the greatest honor bestowed upon him for his work occurred in 2006, when the George Tragos / Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame wing of the IWIM, located in Waterloo, Iowa, created an award in his name. The award was designed to honor individuals who followed the same path in the business, though they may or may have not ever stepped foot in a ring. |
| The IWIM felt it was time to recognize people who spend much time and effort, for little or nothing in return, among the legends who earn their way into the Hall. Melby, of course, was the first recipient of the award, and was present to accept, though he later wrote that he was completely surprised by the honor. “I had no forewarning, and most certainly did not have time to prepare an acceptance speech. In trying to remember what I did state in accepting my plaque I remember saying, "that I felt it has always been important to me to apply the high journalistic standards that I had been taught in college. I further added that I thought all history is important and should be accurately documented, and once it is committed to print that it belongs to everyone,” Melby wrote afterward.
In a press release regarding the James C. Melby Award, museum Executive Director Mike Chapman stated: "Writers are essential in building interest in any sport, and in maintaining the history. Jim Melby has led the way in the world of professional wrestling. We want to recognize others who have done what Jim has done and we want to inspire others to do so. Jim Melby will be the inspirational leader for that group. This will be an annual award named in Jim's honor." The world of professional wrestling is not one easy to learn about without people digging into the dusty archives and squinting at microfiche. However, the Internet has begun to make the work a bit easier for the newer generation of researchers. Jim made sure to learn how to navigate a computer to take advantage of the resources and benefits it provided. Crimson Mask reiterated that Jim was “one of an unofficial newsgroup, I guess you'd call it, of researchers and historians that would confer by email on questions of wrestling's past, and he was always one of the first to contribute anything he knew that might shed light on a subject – and it usually did.” “Jim was always a generous person to me. He was always willing to help. Sometimes out of the blue he'd send me a program or other wrestling-related item that helped me in my research, “said Lentz. “The Saturday night before he died, we exchanged several emails, the last one around 10:42 p.m. Jim was excited about some stories I had relayed to him for a book on Wisconsin wrestlers that I hope to publish. He encouraged me to finish it and offered whatever photos he had for use in the book, if need be.” |
| He continued, “It made me feel good that Jim was so enthusiastic about what I was doing, but what impressed me the most about Jim was that through all the adversity in his life due to his diabetes, he never complained. He never let on that there was ever anything wrong. He just kept on doing what he loved. Sometimes I wouldn't hear from him for a while, then he'd be back like nothing happened.”
Though his career as a wrestling journalist was impressive, he still had to endure, much like most of us, the rigors of a day job that may have paid the bills, but it kept us away from the work that we really loved. Jim worked by day with the Ramsey County Court system in Saint Paul, Minnesota, up until his death. Like the trooper he had been as a journalist, pioneering the research to dig into the unknown mystique of the wrestling business, he also showed great courage over the years in his battles with diabetes, a fight that had begun in the early 1970s. Since that time, he had a leg amputated, as well as going through a kidney transplant. It was discovered that he had continued his typical constant correspondence via the Internet among like-minded friends Saturday night before he died. Even though his health had deteriorated over the years, he still managed to regularly attend the annual reunions in Mobile, and Tampa or Las Vegas for the CAC. |
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| Perhaps one of the most validating moments for me personally, was when Jim once wrote the following to me via email: “I am in awe of what you are doing with your website. It takes great passion, and sometimes courage, to keep the desire to put in thankless hours and dedication to preserve the history and bring forth as much information as we can about those who entertained us over the years. Keep up the great work!” With words like that from someone whom I hold in high regard, it makes it possible to continue to operate the Georgia Wrestling History website no matter how “thankless” it may often seem.
Another legendary historian, J Michael Kenyon, perhaps said it best: “Add to the pantheon of those pioneers who began leading the archeological excavations into the deep, dark past of pro wrestling history: Bob Nitsche, Burt Ray, Tom Gannon, Gerhard Schaefer – and now Jim Melby. We will not forget them.” A memorial service has been scheduled for Saturday, February 17, 2007, with arrangements to be announced in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press later this week. *** Thanks to Norman Kietzer, Don Luce, Mike Mooneyham, Les Thatcher, George Lentz, Tim Dills, Jay West, J Michael Kenyon, Mark Hewitt, and Crimson Mask, for sharing their time and thoughts to contribute to this article. |
| James C. Melby (Courtesy of Wrestling Revue Archives) |
| Melby with Norman Kietzer (Courtesy of Wrestling Revue Archives) |
| Melby with Verne Gagne (Courtesy of Wrestling Revue Archives) |
| Melby's Gopherland Grappling Cover (Courtesy of Wrestling Revue Archives) |
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