Salesman

Gene Ward Meekins Sr., a retired salesman and collector of military memorabilia, died of cancer Thursday at his Catonsville home. He was 81. Mr. Meekins was born in Baltimore and raised on Elm Ridge Road in Arbutus. After graduating from City College in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy. He served as a boatswain aboard the destroyer USS Duffy and participated in the Leyte Gulf, Mille and Maloelap Atoll campaigns. After the war, Mr. Meekins became a furniture salesman for Shaivitz. In 1970, he joined the old Hutzler's department store, where he worked in the rug department at Westview Shopping Center and later in Towson.

Dennis Patrick Lantz Sr., a salesman and thoroughbred racing enthusiast, died Wednesday of a brain tumor at the Joseph Richey Hospice. The Baltimore Highlands resident was 41. Born in Baltimore and raised in Pigtown, Mr. Lantz attended Southwestern High School and played baseball in youth leagues at Carroll Park. As a teenager, he sold subscriptions to the old News American and later worked for Callen Publishing. Before his illness, he was a salesman for Allied Distributing in Westminster.

Jeremiah Twomey, 58, car salesman, dog trainerJeremiah "Jerry" Twomey, a car salesman who often helped neighbors in need, died of a heart attack Friday at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 58.Mr. Twomey was born in Jackson Heights, N.Y., and graduated from Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y., in 1959.After graduation he went to work for his father, Daniel J. Twomey, at the family's restaurant in Long Island City, N.Y.In 1970, he moved to Towson and worked as a trainer at Mr. Lucky Dog Training School on Reisterstown Road.

David C. Jones Jr. didn't say anything when the car salesman directed him to take the 1993 Lexus to a pair of open-air drug markets in Park Heights.He remained silent when the salesman got out of the car at each location and came back a few minutes later.But when Jones returned to the car dealership on Reisterstown Road after his test drive yesterday afternoon, he revealed his occupation: police officer in Baltimore's Central District drug unit."I couldn't believe that he would take me on a test drive through open air drug markets," said Jones, a 15-year veteran.

It was Miller time at last night's Tony Awards ceremony in New York as a 50-year-old play -- Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" -- took home more awards than any other show."

Albert Maysles has never liked the term "cinema verite," even though he is credited with helping to invent it.Maysles, with his late brother David, used hand-held cameras, synchronous sound and no narration to create an intimate, urgent, occasionally frenetic style of filmmaking that came to be called "cinema verite" -- loosely translated as the cinema of truth. But Maysles has always preferred the term "direct cinema" to describe his work."People talk of the near-death experience as being so revelatory," said Albert Maysles from his Manhattan office during a phone conversation.

Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Death of a Salesman," turns 50 on Wednesday. The occasion will be marked by the opening of a new Broadway revival, as well as the release of an anniversary edition of the script, published by Penguin Books, with a new preface by the playwright. Here are some "Salesman" facts and figures: Miller wrote the first act in one day and the second in six weeks.He subtitled the play: "Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem."The play opened at Broadway's Morosco Theatre on Feb. 10, 1949, and ran for 742 performances.

Attention must be paid," Linda Loman says of her husband Willy in one of the most famous speeches in "Death of a Salesman." That line was first spoken on stage a half century ago, but thanks to a powerful new Broadway revival starring Brian Dennehy, attention is once again centering on Arthur Miller's modern classic.The reason isn't merely because of the strength of the production. It's because in this monumental drama, Miller introduced themes that would resonate not only with audiences 50 years later, but throughout much of his subsequent work.

Roger Francis Xavier Ecolono, who sold cars as a salesman and as a dealer during a 52-year career, died of a heart attack at his Ellicott City home on Saturday. He was 76.Born in Charleston, W. Va., Mr. Ecolono moved to Baltimore when he was a child. He graduated from Loyola High School in 1940 and enjoyed a brief venture in show business, with voice lessons in New York and an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan show" as an Italian-style crooner. Under the stage name "Buddy Rogers," he sang in clubs around the country.

Richard Gatney could make something out of what seemed to be nothing. For instance, he'd take a discarded soup can and turn it into a shelved jewelry case. Or he'd carve into a rusted pipe and soon have an ivy planter.He spent many afternoons at junkyards and considerable time sifting through trash bins.Mr. Gatney, 72, who died Wednesday of heart failure while at his brother's home in Hartford, Conn., considered his fascination with forgotten and broken items a "cheap hobby that anybody could play," his brother said.

Theodore Henry Knach Sr., a retired stationery company salesman and World War II Navy veteran, died Monday of congestive heart and renal failure at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 88. Mr. Knach was born in Baltimore and raised on East Avenue in Canton. He was a graduate of Patterson Park High School and worked before the war in the shipping department of the old Montgomery Ward catalog store on Monroe Street. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and was trained as a machinist's mate. He served for four years aboard the destroyer USS Conway and the destroyer escort Nauman in the South Pacific.

Richard O'Neill Smith, a retired communications equipment salesman who enjoyed listening to big-band music, died of cancer May 6 at Carroll Hospice's Dove House in Westminster. The Manchester resident was 75. Mr. Smith was born in Baltimore and raised in Windsor Hills. He attended Polytechnic Institute and graduated from Forest Park High School in 1952. He attended the University of Maryland and worked as a lifeguard for several summers at the Meadowbrook pool near Mount Washington and later in Ocean City, where he sang in the Irish House on the boardwalk.

Speros J. Leanos, a retired wholesale wine and spirits salesman, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease March 4 at the Edenwald retirement community in Towson, where he had lived for the past 10 years. He was 92. Born in Yonkers, N.Y., and raised in Annapolis, he was a 1934 Annapolis High School graduate. As a young man, he worked at Jim's Corner, his parents' confectionery store and restaurant on West Street. He was also an A&P grocery store stock boy. He served in an Army infantry unit during World War II. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was one of eight survivors when his company was overrun by the enemy at Vielsalm, Belgium.

Hear the one about the slumping auto industry? It was in a recent Doonesbury. Guy walks into a car dealership and looks at an SUV the size of a battleship. Beleaguered salesman offers the guy 50 percent off. Guy says, "No thanks, just looking." Salesman says, "OK, I'll take another 30 percent off because you're wearing a red sweater." "Sorry, not interested," the guy says. Crazed with desperation, the salesman says he'll let the car go for the cost of prepping it. "And that's with the in-vehicle HD system!"

Andrew Braun, a janitorial supply salesman and former synagogue administrator, died Tuesday at Seasons Hospice at Northwest Hospital Center. The Owings Mills resident was 85. Mr. Braun was born in Budapest, Hungary, and in 1927 moved with his mother and twin brother to Cleveland, where his father was a physician. He was a 1941 graduate of Glenville High School in Cleveland and began his college studies at Ohio State University. Mr. Braun left college in 1942 and enlisted in the Navy, where he served stateside with the medical corps.

Herbert William "Bill" Shore, a retired salesman and longtime Westminster resident, died of heart failure March 5 at Brinton Woods Health Care Center in Sykesville. He was 79. Mr. Shore was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo., and graduated in 1946 from Shawnee Mission High School. He worked for Western Electric Co. installing telephone equipment before enlisting in the Air Force in 1950. A staff sergeant, he served in France and Germany installing phone equipment until he was discharged in 1954.

James Joseph Donohue, a retired calculator salesman, died Sunday in his sleep at his Catonsville home. He was 89. Born in Baltimore and raised on Poplar Grove Street, he was a 1936 Mount St. Joseph High School graduate who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Loyola College. During World War II, he served in the Army in England and France and attained the rank of captain. He was a salesman for the Monroe Calculating Co. for nearly 30 years and retired in 1977. Mr. Donohue enjoyed baseball, softball, bowling and table tennis.

Arthur G. Turner Jr., a former newspaper reporter and life insurance salesman, died Feb. 11 at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. He was 86. His son, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles A.P. Turner, said his father's health had been weakened by a stroke a few years ago. A recent bout of influenza, he said, proved fatal. Mr. Turner was born in Baltimore, the son of Arthur Gordon Turner Sr. and Florence Brainerd Turner. He graduated from West Nottingham Academy in Colora in 1938 and attended Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia before joining the Army Air Corps in the early 1940s.

Stanley Cohen, a retired law books salesman, died of heart failure in his sleep Thursday at Atrium Village in Owings Mills. The Mondawmin area resident was 84. Born in Baltimore, he lived nearly all his life on Liberty Heights Avenue. He was a 1940 City College graduate and earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He served in the Navy during World War II. Mr. Cohen was a representative of McGraw-Hill's Shepard Law Books division and earlier held other sales positions.

Gene Ward Meekins Sr., a retired salesman and collector of military memorabilia, died of cancer Thursday at his Catonsville home. He was 81. Mr. Meekins was born in Baltimore and raised on Elm Ridge Road in Arbutus. After graduating from City College in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy. He served as a boatswain aboard the destroyer USS Duffy and participated in the Leyte Gulf, Mille and Maloelap Atoll campaigns. After the war, Mr. Meekins became a furniture salesman for Shaivitz. In 1970, he joined the old Hutzler's department store, where he worked in the rug department at Westview Shopping Center and later in Towson.