Dayton at Work and Play: Mary Lou Guizzo

November 26, 2018 By Bill Franz

A sketch of Oakwood’s Mary Lou Guizzo placed in one of her crossword puzzles. The sketch was drawn by Ben Kirchner as part of a New York Times article profiling Mary Lou, who regularly has her puzzles published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

My wife and I appreciate the cleverness of crossword constructors because we’ve started solving crosswords. We linger over breakfast (one of the great joys of retirement) and work on difficult puzzles that take us several days to complete.

We have our own rules. It’s illegal to find answers using the internet, but asking friends is fine. When family calls or when friends visit we might ask if they know the French word for autumn or the name of the Star Wars character who named Darth Vader.

We would probably solve our puzzles faster if we started calling Mary Lou Guizzo.

About Bill Franz

In retirement Bill Franz bought a camera, learned how to use it, and became a volunteer photographer. He has done photo projects for the Humane Society of Greater Dayton and for almost two dozen other local organizations.

In 2013 Bill started a project of his own – photographing people at work. Since then he has photographed hundreds of workers, from butchers and bakers and candy makers to clowns and sculptors and fire eaters. The photos have appeared in solo and group art exhibitions and also in less traditional venues such as hospitals, retail stores, nature centers and breweries. They have been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Profits from photo sales go to Dayton area nonprofits.