Dick Kerns was born in Camp Lejeune, N.C., the son of career Marine and
Fort Hill grad, Class of ’46, Bill Kerns, and Dorothy (Lancaster)
Kerns, Beall High Class of ’51. Raised in Thurmont, Dick has come to
the mountains all his life, visiting relatives and the Savage River
summer cabin where his heart resides.
A 1985 graduate of Frostburg
State, he completed journalism studies at the University of Maryland.
Dick’s journalism career began at the weekly Frostburg Journal in 1988.
In 1990 he began a three-year stint at the Frederick News-Post. He came
to the Cumberland Times-News as a reporter in 1993 and was elevated to
editorial page editor in 2000.
In the fall of 2005 Dick was the
liberal half of the point-counterpoint Sunday “Faceoff.” Owing to the
popularity of that feature, he began his own weekly column soon
thereafter.
After Faceoff was killed in 2006, Dick continued
writing his own column until the publisher spiked the feature in
August, 2007. One month later he was fired for nefarious reasons
documented at www.geocities.com/rkernsburg
E. William DuVall,
II was born in Cumberland, MD, the oldest of four children of Earl William
DuVall, Sr. and Mary Elaine DuVall.Due
to his father’s occupation as a construction worker and truck driver, Bill
attended several schools in the eastern United States.His family then moved to Keyser, WV, where
Bill graduated from Keyser High School in 1968 and Potomac State College.Bill graduated from Antioch University of
Ohio in 1986, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Labor Studies.
Bill joined the Carpenters Union in
1973 and completed the four-year apprenticeship program.
Bill is married to Darcy Evans
DuVall and they are the proud parents of three children: E. William, III, and
his wife, Julie; Joshua Ray, and Jennifer Lynn, and husband Rob Edmonds.They also thoroughly enjoy spoiling their two
grandsons, Elijah and Aidan DuVall, and granddaughter Abbey DuVall.
A native of Cumberland and have lived in the same house all my life. A 1969 graduate of Allegany High School, I attended Allegany Community College and began reviewing concerts for the Cumberland News, beginning with Guy Lombardo and the Grass Roots in 1971. My first review actually was Dawn in July of 1971; and my by-line was omitted, thank goodness! It was a fake "Dawn" and not the real group! Began writing Jack's Music in 1974, which appeared in the Cumberland Times-News from Oct. 5, 1974 until August, 2007.
