We
have distressing news tonight, 919 Gang. I received an email today from Elson
Irwin's wife, Joyce, saying Elson has asked to be removed from our mailing list
because he no longer uses a computer.
Elson
told us a few months ago that he was being treated for prostate cancer. Joyce
says the cancer is no longer responding to treatment and has spread. She said
Elson has asked to stay at home for his remaining months (or possibly weeks).
Elson
retired in 1992 after a career that included many newspapers, including the San
Diego Union and the Tribune.
Joyce
asked that I not publish their postal address but that I share it with people
who write me and ask. Not sure the reason for that request, but that's the way
we will handle it.
And
here's more bad news:
SHAMUS THORNTON writes:
Dad [Jimmy Thornton] had a fall and
was in the hospital for several days. He's now recuperating at Life Care Center
of Vista, 304 North Melrose Drive, Vista, CA 92083.
We're happy he went to our first
choice because it's so close to Brendon (my older brother) and his family, and
it's a very nice Skilled Nursing Facility. He doesn't have access to email or
his home phone messages, in case you haven't heard from him.
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REBER: A few nights ago, Michael Grant wrote that
while in Texas he heard of something called Bankhead Highway that terminated in
San Diego. Rick Smith wondered if that was old U.S. 80. Good call, Rick.
ROGER CONLEE writes:
That Bankhead Highway was the old U.S.
80, at least the section from Texas to San Diego was. When my folks moved us
from Fort Worth to San Diego way back when (before the Interstate system was
even a gleam in Dwight Eisenhower’s eye) my father drove us along that road. We
ran into the granddaddy of all sandstorms near Las Cruces, N.M. Ironically, my
sister, now a resident of Anson, Texas, lives on the old Bankhead Highway. It’s
not busy at all these days, Interstate 20 now carrying all the through traffic.
BERNIE HUNT writes:
This inexplicable chatter about the
long-forgotten but recently disinterred Bankhead Highway prompts reverie and
smiles about another Bankhead.
The highway was named for U.S. Sen.
John Hollis Bankhead, a member of a prominent Alabama Democratic family. But it
is stories about his legendary granddaughter that tickle my funny bones.
Tallulah Bankhead was a great 20th
century actress (actress, not necessarily film star, though she made several
movies) prodigious sexual athlete, and consummate wit.
There's an old parlor game that asks
participants whom they would invite to a dinner party if they could ask anyone,
living or dead. Among my choices would be Tallulah Bankhead. I know she would
hold her own with Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, King Harold
Godwinson, old Samuel Johnson and the others.
Tallulah was renowned for the
brilliance of her wit and the number and diversity of her sexual conquests --
men and women. She is said to have dispensed her sexual favors freely. It was
she who delivered the immortal line that she was "as pure as the driven
slush."
One story says Tallulah met Groucho
Marx's brother Chico at a party and he, with typical forthrightness, said:
"I'd like to f**** you."
She replied, said witnesses: "So
you shall, you delightfully old-fashioned boy."
Tallulah was at home on stages around
the world but was not a fan of Hollywood. She complained about it to producer
Irving Thalberg and said: "How does anyone ever get laid in this dreadful
place?"
"That shouldn't be a problem for
you," Thalberg said. "Just ask anyone."
A fitting epitaph for this remarkable
woman probably would be her own self-assessment: "If I had to live my life
over again, I'd make the same mistakes -- sooner."
You gotta love a woman whose last
words as she lay dying in New York in 1968 were: "Codeine ... bourbon."
The film stars Bruce Willis and Demi
Moore named one of their daughters Tallulah after Bankhead. The girl, now an
actress herself, is known as Lulah Willis.
------------------------------------------------------
ROD RIGGS writes:
Bob Laurence is right. I cannot
remember a day over a 45-year career in newspapering that I was not excited
about going to work. Cronkite was right: the joy of reporting is knowing
something others don't and then telling them about it. Sometimes I look back
and envy people who made a lot more money during their working years than I
did, but it doesn't last long when I recover and think about all the people I
met, interviewed (seven U.S. Presidents, for example) and worked with (you
guys).
REBER:
Note the contrast in these two news organizations:
TOM GABLE writes:
Coverage from the Atlantic. Check out
how the news flows from the reporter, to social media, to algorithms, to more.
With new means of measurement. And the photo of that company's workers at work
will stimulate fond visions of traditional news rooms, including the U-T of old
and of today.
A 919ER writes:
Concerning the survey that said
newspaper reporter was the worst job on the planet: There must be something to
the job, because there are so many journalist wannabes out there. Case in
point: Our little city paper well illustrates where we got the term “local rag”
– lots of puppy and toddler pictures, superficial coverage of government
agencies, embarrassingly bad writing. A woman in town got it in her head that
she wanted to be in newspapering – she had no real training or background, just
money – so she bought enough of a share in the paper that she could made
herself a business partner AND editorialist AND reporter, two or three
conflicts there that no doubt escape her. When a lawyer friend of mine asked me
why I found the whole thing so distasteful and dilettante-ish, I explained that
watching a person buy her way into journalism is just as insulting to trained
and experienced journalists as it would be for a trained, educated and
experienced lawyer to watch a person buy herself a law degree. That analogy
seems to make the point with friends who are committed to and knowledgeable
about their professions. The local paper remains poorly written and
superficial, but clearly its new owner imagines herself a real working
“journalist” – and no one intelligent enough to know better has the heart to
disabuse her of the notion. The whole thing reminds me of all the “citizen”
journalists out there – the ones who made it hard for the FBI to do its job on
the Boston bombings – who imagine themselves “reporters” and “writers” because
they’re snapping iPhone photos and posting insipid Tweets. Gag.
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LISA PETRILLO writes:
Love Welton Jones's war movie take,
because it made me realize we can now stop the debate. "Casablanca"
is the best war movie ever made. Made during the war makes it all the more
important, heroic themes, exotic locale (Burbank Airport!) lovely music.
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LOLA SHERMAN forwards:
SENIOR
HEALTHCARE WRITER
UCSD - Temp Services - Campus Human
Resources - San Diego - Old Town Area (Greater San Diego Area)
Position available through UCSD
Temporary Employment Services (TES). Employment through TES is an excellent way
to gain valuable UCSD experience and get your foot in the door for career
positions. TES employment includes medical coverage, paid vacation & sick
time, paid holidays, as well as training and development opportunities!
Overview:
Seeking a Sr. Healthcare Writer that
will research, write, edit, proof and
organize cross-media health content by understanding, applying, and disseminating
content best practices as part of a larger, cross-functional team. Writing will
focus on various clinical programs, such as, but not limited to cardiovascular,
cancer, women and infants, and surgery. The majority of writing will be for
corporate communications, internal communications, marketing creative
collateral such as print (flyers, brochures, newsletters), advertising,
audiovisual (PowerPoint; video
scripting), social media, e-mail and direct mail. This position will be
reporting to both the Senior Manager of Content Strategy and Director of
Internal Communications.
Pay Rate: $20.16 – $28.10 / hour
Expected Duration: 6 – 12 months +
Additional Information:
Apply now:
------------------------------------------
REBER:
Tonight it's Thomas Neumann's turn in the spotlight. Happy Birthday, May 1.
P.O.
Box 2239
Ramona,
CA 92065
U.S.A.
