Local historian Jim Jablonski was born in Elyria and has lived most of his life in the city. A 1964 graduate of Elyria High School, he earned bachelor’s and graduate degrees in sociology from Ohio State, Duke and Bowling Green State University.

Jablonski served as a social services supervisor with Lorain County Job and Family Services and taught sociology for thirty years as an adjunct faculty member at LCCC. In addition, he found time to work for the Chronicle-Telegram as a part-time sportswriter for nearly two decades.

Upon turning 70, a year before the Elyria Bicentennial, he began writing his two-volume history of Elyria.

The first book, Elyria: The First Century, was a locally successful self-published work. The second volume, Elyria: The Second Century and Beyond, came out, as luck would have it, in mid-March 2020. It is still in print and can be purchased at the Elyria Arts Council.