Bill McClellan

4 days ago | stltoday.com | Bill McClellan

“Read all about it!” Oliver Fischer used to shout. He was a newsboy, selling papers in front of the Baden Bank on North Broadway. He was 8 or 9 when he started. He was born in 1932, the ninth of 14 kids. His father was an ice and coal man. He delivered coal in the winter and ice in the summer to homes and businesses in North County. Oliver sometimes went along to help. The coal wasn’t too bad. Buildings had coal chutes in those days. But the ice sometimes had to be lugged up stairs.

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Bill McClellan

What if I were to tell you I believe that James Bond is alive and retired and living in the Central West End?”I see it as a positive. James Bond could live anywhere in the world, and he has chosen our town. Sadly, we cannot use his presence to promote St. Louis. The last thing an old spy wants is notoriety. In fact, I mentioned him in a column a couple of years ago, and he was not pleased, even though I had enough sense not to use his real name — if I even know his real name.

2 weeks ago | police1.com | Bill McClellan

By Bill McClellanSt. Louis Post-DispatchST. LOUIS — When a group of St. Louis police officers came up with the idea of a podcast revolving around cops and their stories, nobody figured that Paige Spears would someday be a featured guest. But one Thursday last month, in the basement of Columbo’s Cafe & Tavern on Manchester Avenue where the “Brighter Side of Blue” podcast is produced, Spears sipped a soft drink and kept himself collected.

2 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Bill McClellan

Spring cleaning takes on a certain urgency as a person gets older. If you don’t start throwing stuff away, who is going to want it? For instance, diplomas. Mary has one from the Washington University School of Dental Medicine. It represents an unlikely dream that she willed into reality. She started college at the University of Arizona where her dad was a physics professor.

3 weeks ago | officer.com | Bill McClellan

When a group of St. Louis police officers came up with the idea of a podcast revolving around cops and their stories, nobody figured that Paige Spears would someday be a featured guest. But one Thursday last month, in the basement of Colombo’s Cafe & Tavern on Manchester Avenue where the “Brighter Side of Blue” podcast is produced, Spears sipped a soft drink and kept himself collected. He had been released from prison days earlier, thanks largely to the podcast.