The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 22

B6 SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2011 THE ENQUIRER HAVE A GOOD HISTORY LESSON? ContartBillCieslewiczatbillcQenquirer.com OUR HISTORY DO YOU REMEMBER: JOHM CGYf IE John Coyne and his tank made headlines in the 1970s. After squabbling with authorities over having the vehicle on his property, he finally moved it to courthouse grounds. BEYOND THE BLUSTER, HE ALWAYS HAD A POINT A swastika-painted truck got Coyne's point across when he parked it in front of the Clermont County Courthouse. More photos online: Check out a gallery of photos of John Coyne at Search: photos Cnvna ramnalcfnAH -et considered at- tacks on personal freedom, including the use of Social Security numbers, which he called "reminiscent of A' -4 Nazi Germany." Xlbna tooned with signs lampooning them. That's no idle threat.

Back in the 1970s, Clermont County and the city of Cincinnati were plastered with Coyne's bumper stickers decrying "Clermont County Woodpecker Justice" and calling a certain judge a "Bird Brain," along with another, unprintable name. In 2003, he filed to run for township trustee, leading to the amusing ruling that he could run, but could not serve if elected because of his conviction for a violent felony that could not be expunged. His 50-year high school reunion was last month, for which Coyne considered draping himself with sandwich boards that display his 1961 license tags. He also compiled his "magnum opus" for the event, a compilation of newspaper and magazine articles about his feats of derring-do. But dig down past all the grandstanding and name calling, all the colorful antics with vehicles of mass destruction, and sometimes Coyne had a point.

In 1980, he was arrested for mutilating his driver's license by cutting out the part that showed his Social Security number. "The Social Security number is a national ID number reminiscent of Nazi Germany," he said at the time. He didn't gain much traction with that defense, but some 25 years later, the state of Ohio ruled that displaying a Social Security number on licenses would no Ion- SITES WfimUlillillimiWBUr By Jim Rohrer jrohrerdenquirer.com New Richmond junk-yard dealer John Coyne has a new way to take the measure of his once-numerous opponents: Are they are still alive? Coyne is definitely still alive, though it's been nine years since his last public scrape with the law, 27 years since he went to prison and 10 years since he got out after fatally shooting one boy and wounding two others who were looting his Boot Hill Auto Graveyard. "I'm still incorrigible," says Coyne, now 68. "I don't know if I'll, make a comeback or not.

But I am planning my next offensive." When talking about all the people he's tangled with through the years, Coyne will sometimes pause, and say softly, "He died of a heart attack" or "He betrayed me, but he's gone now." Coyne staves off his own deterioration, he says, by working hard seven days a week. "I'm in great shape." There is no easy way to sum up the man. He's probably best known for his antics with a Sherman tank in the 1970s, first refusing to move it off his property, then parking it for months in front of the Clermont County courthouse. He still calls the police in his hometown "the New Richmond Gestapo," and claims Ohio Township Trustees live in fear because they are afraid he will erect a tower fes LOCAL HISTORIC Anderson Township History Room, 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays; a.m.

Tuesday, Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road. Area history through photos and exhibits. Anderson Township Historical Society. 513-688-8400. Behringer-Crawford Museum, 1600 Montague Road, Covington, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. $7, $6 ages 60 and up, $4 ages 3-17, free for members and ages 2 and under. 859-491-4003; www.bcmuseum.org. Blanchester Area Historical Society Museum, 206 W.

Main 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Free. 937-382-1965. Butler County Historical Society Museum, 327 N.

Second Hamilton. Benninghofen House, a restored 1866 Gilded Age mansion, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday or by appointment. $3, ages 11 and under free.

513-896-9930; www.be historicalsociety.com. 1 AW 4 shot three youths looting Boot Hill. One died; the others were convicted of juvenile theft Coyne was acquitted of murder, but convicted of felonious assault on the wounded survivors. He was sentenced to six to 30 years and began his sentence in 1984. When he finally got out in 2001, he had to start over.

If it wasn't for that tragic case, John Coyne could be viewed as merely a colorful eccentric who likes to invoke overheated language while tilting at windmills and careening around the countryside in tracked vehicles. His neighbors think highly of him, and a jury of Park Springhouse School, 2008 Law-renceburg Road, North Bend. Learn about early Ohio settlers. Free, vehicle permit required. 513-521-7275; www.greatparks.org.

Loveland Castle and MuseumChateau Laroche, 12025 Shore Road, Symmes Township, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. every day, weather permitting. $3. 513-683-4686; www.lo-velandcastle.com. Miller-Leuser Log House, 6550 Clough Pike, Anderson Township.

Open house and tours, 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Log house built c. 1796 and outbuildings. Open first and third Sundays, through October.

Free. 513-231-2114. Newport Gangster Walking Tour, 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. Saturday, Gangsters Dueling Piano Bar, 18 E. Fifth Newport.

Explore the streets where gangsters made millions, gamblers lost fortunes and lives, and ladies of the night earned reputations. $15. 859-491-8000; www.newportgangster5.com. ger be required. "Just another example of me being 25 years ahead of my time," Coyne concludes.

He still has a tank a 7-ton British Scorpion, festooned with "Homeland Security" markings, and a couple of Army vehicles. He once took this tank through a fast-food drive-thru. He survived the Lucasville prison riot of 1993. He The was in Lucasville was because he tred to escape from the. Marion Correctional Institution, earning him more prison time in a tougher place.

"They never broke me," he says. It was back in 1981 that Coyne More online See more at www.historic-greatercincinnati.org and furnishings. House tours begin 1, 2, 3, and 4 p.m. $5, $3 ages 60 and up, $2 ages 7-17, members and ages 6 and under free. 859-586-6117; www.dinsmorefarm.org.

Glendale Heritage Museum, 44 Village Square, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday and Saturday. Features the history of Glendale and its railroad past. Free. 513-771-4908; www.glen-dalemuseum.commuseum.html.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Walnut Hills, 10 a.m. -2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Family home of abolitionist author. Free.

513-751-0651; www.harrietbeecherstowe-house.org. History Alive, 2, 3, and 4 p.m. SundayJune26, Shawnee Lookout his peers refused to convict him of murder for fatally shooting one of those boys on his property. He did his time. Debt paid.

But, for all the kindness he has shown his neighbors (he's famous for lending helping hands and giving tank rides to kids), for all the hard work he has put in to reclaim his life, for all the amusing lunacy of some of his antics, it is unsettling to remember this: That boy is still dead. Have an idea for The Enquirer's Do You Remember column? Please contact Jim Rohrer at jrohrerenquirer-xom or 513-755-4157, Queen City Underground Tour, 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Saturday; 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. Sunday; noon and 3 p.m. Monday and Thursday, Cincy Haus Gift Shop, 1218 Vine Street, Over-the-Rhine.

Visit buildings that were home to over 130 saloons, beer gardens, and theaters. $20. 859-951-8560; www. queencityunderground.com. Tri-State Warbird Museum, 4021 Borman Drive, Batavia, 10 a.m.

-3 p.m. Saturday; 4-7 p.m. Wednesday. Historic aircraft. Honors World War II veterans.

$14; $7, students and veterans; free for World War II veterans and veterans in uniform. 513-735-4500; www.tri-statewarbird museum.org. William Howard Taft National Historic Site, 2038 Auburn Mount Auburn, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Memorial to nation's 27th president.

Tours every 30 minutes; last tour 3:30 p.m. Free. 513-684-3262; www.nps.govwiho. Cincinnati Fire Museum, 315 W. Court Downtown, noon-4 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. More than 200 years of firefighting history. $7, $6 seniors, $5 ages 6-17. 513-621-5553; www.cincyfiremuseum.com.

Cincinnati Railroad Club, Cincinnati Museum Center, fifth floor, noon-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 8-10 p.m. Thursday. 513-651-7245; www.cincinnatirrclub.org. Civil War Cincinnati: Heroes, Halls and Holy Places, 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Cincy Haus Gift Shop, 1218 Vine Street, Over-the-Rhine. Learn about the Black Brigade, the all-German regiment, Sister Mary Anthony O'Connell and explore Memorial Hall, the Emery Theater, Old St. Mary's Church and more. $15. Reservations recommended.

859-951-8560; www.civilwarcincinnati.com. Dinsmore Homestead, 5656 Burlington Pike, Burlington, 1-5 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, through Dec. 15. 1842 farmhouse i.