Student Spotlight: Arthur Merims

By: Deniece Diggins

The Tri-C melting pot of student aspirations and personal enrichment harbors many talents and a plethora of celebrated successes. Tri-C is known for cultivating authors, poets, and journalists alike, as well as enriching the lives of those who have already made their mark in the world of Public Relations.

Retired New York native Arthur Merims, spent his life being successful in the field of PR and advertising. After being recruited to Cleveland to manage the PR department for the Illuminating Company, he eventually left to establish his own roots in his field by starting his own PR firm.

Merims, now living out his retirement in Shaker Heights, attends Tri-C during the week as part of a free program for senior citizens to take enrichment courses. Merims completed his undergrad at University of California at Berkeley and received his MBA from New York University. After completing his education he moved to Paris searching for the inspiration to complete his first novel.

If he only had a byline. If his folks could see his name over one of his stories in the local newspaper, that might convince them finally that he made good. To the public, a byline was journalism’s mark of achievement. A reporter without a byline was less than a reporter, a condition akin to the woman who cannot bear children: though perhaps no fault of her own, it was rather disgraceful. (Excerpt from Bitter-sweet: A Reporter’s Life).

Bitter-sweet: A Reporter’s Life is a nonfiction novel that takes you through a journalist’s perspective of life in the 1960s era. Inspired from the hustle and bustle of reporting in a big city, this novel gives an interesting view of a time when central air was nonexistent and employment was plentiful, adding to the stress of meeting deadlines and gaining recognition for your achievements.

“It’s about young people starting their careers and I think that would be of interest to the millennial generation” said Merims.

Merims captured the importance of patience and perseverance in both professional and personal relationships with his novel. Originally rejected by three publishers at the time it was written, Merims gained the help of a couple Tri-C faculty to fine-tune the final draft to be published. Bitter-sweet: A Reporter’s Life is now available at the Shaker Heights library, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all Cuyahoga County Libraries.

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