One for the books Retired minister sets sights on three ripping

WALNUT SHADE, Mo. -- You've heard of letting your fingers do the walking. E.J. Charon wants to let his hands do the ripping.

Charon is the self-professed "King of Phone Book Ripping." He even had it spray-painted on his Volkswagen New Beetle and printed on his cap.

The retired minister from Southwest Missouri, known to friends as "Ed," plans to claim the title outright on his 67th birthday.

Charon will attempt to set a new world record for most telephone directories torn in three minutes by a man during a Tuesday appearance at a mall in nearby Branson.

Guinness World Records lists the current title holder as James P. Newland, who ripped in half 12 Ameritech telephone directories (1,034 pages each) in three minutes on June 7, 2001, in Willoughby, Ohio.

Charon's book of choice is the Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages. He plans to use books with 1,110 pages.

Five to 40 books a day

Charon keeps a stack of them in his living room and has been ripping apart five to 40 a day in preparation for his title run.

If Charon surpasses the 30-year-old Newland, he'll also create a new, second record for being the oldest man to complete the task.

But Charon doesn't plan to stop there.

He will have a total of 70 phone books on hand in hopes of creating a third record for endurance. Charon won't say how many he hopes to tear apart.

"That's the thing, I don't want to say too much because I want people to be curious," he said.

Charon does admit that he has set aside a 1,346-page Springfield-Branson Area directory from 1999-2000 for his grand finale.

The publishers of Guinness World Records, based in London, don't supervise such record attempts. Instead, they have mailed Charon guidelines for making his record authentic.

Charon has selected a group of witnesses --s including Branson's mayor and fire chief, as well as his doctor and minister -- to verify his feat.

"I'm pretty sure he can do it," said the Rev. Jim Cariker of First Church of the Nazarene in Branson where Charon is a member. "He's been working really hard."

Even if Charon breaks the three-minute record, he might not keep it for long.

"I wish him luck, but if he beats me I'll be right back with a challenge," Newland said.

Charon retired in 1993 as pastor of Umpqua Trinity Fellowship in Roseburg, Ore. He moved to the Ozarks shortly thereafter. In May 2000, he got a different calling.

"I saw a fella do one on TV," Charon said. "I thought to myself, 'I wonder if I could do that.' It took me about five minutes to tear my first one apart."

No trick to it

Charon has been preparing ever since to become the king of phone book ripping. He can now split a 2-inch phone directory into two neat pieces in seconds.

"I've got big, stubby fingers," said Charon, who wears a 16 1/2 ring. "I think that works to my benefit."

He's glad to amuse people with his talent -- something he proudly declares as a gift from God.

"I never drank, smoked or did drugs," Charon said. "I'm sure that's why I'm able to do this. I always tell children that, because who knows what would have become of me if I hadn't done that."

Charon -- who is 5-foot-8 and weighs 215 pounds -- also loves it when bigger men challenge him.

"They'll work on one for 10 or 15 minutes before they generally give up," Charon said. "A lot of people think there's a trick to it, but there ain't."

For those wanting to try it, you must rip the book from top to bottom for it to be considered "legal." Starting from the side "is the girl's way," Charon said.

Donated by motels

Motels in the resort town of Branson donate their outdated phone books to Charon. He also picks them up whenever he and his wife are traveling in their motor home.

More than 1,000 directories from Southwestern Bell, US West, Verizon and McLeod USA are stacked in his garage -- with an incinerator nearby.

"I don't really like McLeods," said Charon, holding a copy from the St. Charles, St. Peters, O'Fallon area in eastern Missouri. "They're really hard to tear. I think it's the paper."