Good
evening, 919 Gang. If there is a good time to be sick (and I doubt that) the
past few days might qualify. My cold has made physical labor unlikely, and
temperatures that keep nudging 100 degrees mean I wouldn't be working outside
very much anyway. A friend visiting Las Vegas said the temperature there was
115 today.
----------------------------------------------------
PRESTON
TUREGANO writes:
Fortune cookies at Mandarin House restaurant
in Middletown predicted good things Saturday afternoon when Valerie Scher and
David Elliott treated eight of their former Union-Tribune Arts/Feature
department co-workers to lunch, and bid the octet farewell before moving to
Oregon after 29 years in San Diego. Sometime next month, David and Valerie will
begin to call liberal, placid and scenic Eugene, Oregon, home. For most of
their San Diego years the Elliotts lived in University City just east of La
Jolla and north of Clairemont. By coincidence, they sold their home here to a
native of China who has become most Americanized. Valerie pointed out a major
difference between the two cities is that in San Diego their real estate agent
drove a Mercedes. In Eugene, their agent drives an old VW. Of course, a family
atmosphere prevailed as Valerie, David, Martin Zimmerman, Bob Laurence, Welton
Jones, Bob Pincus, Anne Marie Welsh, Arthur Salm, George Varga and yours truly
sat at a round table and shared traditional Chinese cuisine rotating on a
center platform. Unable to attend were Jim Hebert and Jennifer DePoyen. The
departing couple didn't leave MH without gifts. George Varga gave them a small
teapot, or as he put it, "A little pot," because of Oregon's liberal
marijuana-use laws. Yours truly gave them a framed December 1, 1992 Burl Stiff
column (enlarged to almost 30 inches in length) that documented David Copley's
lavish surprise 70th birthday party for his mother at Mille Fleurs (in
English, "thousands of flowers") restaurant in Rancho Santa Fe. Mandadrin
House it ain't. (When he invited the lunch guests, David Elliott jokingly said
his former co-workers should bring a favorite Burl Stiff column. Anyone with
archive privileges with U-T San Diego should look up the fawning,
treacle-dripping, name-dropping Stiff piece. For the party, David Copley flew
in thousands of flowers from France!) Valerie and David also received a copy of
the photo book "San Diego Then and Now," which each lunch guest
signed. For now, the former Arts/Feature staff reunion gatherings will never
again be what they were way back then (or when).
 |
| Front row, from left, Arthur Salm, Bob Laurence, Anne Marie Welch. Second row, Bob Pincus, Valerie Scher, George Varga, Preston Turegano. Back row, Welton Jones, David Elliott, Martin Zimmerman. |
REBER:
Best wishes to Valerie and David, and don't forget to advise me if you change
your email address.
-----------------------------------------------------
DANA
WILKIE writes:
Leslie Wolf Branscomb's recollection
of the push by conservative Christians to infiltrate local school boards and
city councils reminds me of my coverage of Connie somebody-or-other (maybe it
was Connie Young? Gads, it was so long ago). In any event, Connie was running
for public office, and I wrote a story about her public policy positions,
particularly on her crusade to outlaw abortion, which was her big cause. Apparently
her campaign didn't find the story flattering, because her spokesman called me
to Connie's campaign offices under the pretense of an interview. Someone
ushered me into a large room with a single chair smack in the middle and asked
me to sit down. No tables, no other chairs, no other furniture to speak of. I
sat there, and after some 20 minutes, in walked Connie's flak, who proceeded to
circle around me like a vulture and fire accusatory questions at me, much as an
FBI agent might interrogate and try to intimidate a suspected terrorist. I
remember -- because, you know, I was edgy and fearless back then -- firing back
at him until the whole thing devolved quite literally into a shouting match.
The next time I showed up at a Connie press conference, she came over to a
gaggle of six or seven reporters waiting to ask her more questions. She turned
to each of them, one by one, shook their hands warmly and introduced herself,
then got to me. I held out my hand and she stood for perhaps a full 30 seconds
looking at my hand, then looking at me. Finally, she reached out her hand and
said: "I forgive you." I think Connie somebody-or-other eventually
fell off the public's radar.
---------------------------------------------------
ELIZABETH GABRIEL writes:
I have an auto dealers story, too.
While I was at the Fresno Bee, I chose to run a wire story about dealers --
can't remember if it was used cars or new ones -- and had one of our great
artists do an illo that featured a fox (or was it a wolf?) in a chicken coop.
The story was out of St. Pete, Florida, so there were no local names mentioned.
As my failing synapses recall, ALL the dealerships pulled their ads for one
day. No one hassled me about it.
---------------------------------------------------
JERRY RIFE writes:
Just as I was getting ready to type
this message around midnight, today's edition of the Rebergram arrived in my
mailbox. It made me think of those times at 919 when I was alone in the
newsroom dropping prints on an editor's desk after he had left for the night.
Anyway, I wanted to say that these
pictures are from my new book "Street Scenes, San Miguel de Allende".
You can access the book on my website at http://streetshooter.shutterfly.com/pictures
Just click on the book and wait a minute
while it loads. It is best viewed full screen.
Hope some of you will drop by for a
peek.
---------------------------------------------------
DAVID
OGUL writes:
Leslie Wolf Branscomb mentioned my
good friend John Gilmore in passing yesterday, and it prompted me to write this
quick note. John is one of the most down-to-earth, humble persons I have ever
met. A devoted Christian who is guided by Christ daily -- but who never pushed
his beliefs on this devoted, Conservative Jew -- John truly was a pleasure to
work with. I miss the many conversations we had on our trolley rides to and
from work, along with the ribbing he always gave me when I was in training for
one of my marathons and gorging on health food. John, if you're reading this,
it's been too long. Let's get together and go to a ballgame. I'll even wear my
stupid Padres hat in your honor. Jack has my email, or connect with me via
Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.
----------------------------------------------------
REBER:
Joe Holly responds to a message last night.
JOE
HOLLY writes:
I dropped my head down in disgrace,
Accused of having a long face.
Then I saw a giraffe,
Which caused me to laugh.
Now, brother, that's a long face.
By the way, Jack, I liked your wild
turkey photo.
-----------------------------------------------------
CARL
LARSEN writes:
One of my heroes in the world of
journalism -- if a cynical newsman is allowed such a luxury -- is the BBC's
Andrew Marr, who jumped from newspapers to become one of Britain's best TV
interviewers. Along the way, he also has carved out a role as a historian,
producing several documentaries from the history of the world to the history of
modern Britain.
We almost lost Marr to a stroke six
months ago, at age 53. In retrospect, he says it was no surprise.
In Friday's Daily Mail he tells about
his ordeal, how it came on, and how he is convalescing. It's a must-read for
any journalist who regularly puts in 15-hour days, yet who thinks he or she is
doing all the right things in diet and exercise.
As he told the newspaper:
"I was a classic male, trying to
ignore the fact that I was getting older.
I was trying to do all the physical
things I could do when I was 20 years younger — refusing to accept I was now 53
years old."
Here's the link:
--------------------------------------------------------
JAY JOHNSON writes:
My answer to question "If you
could take only one book with you to a desert island, what would it be?"
Me: "The Thurber Carnival."
I've owned a copy for 40 years and have never tired of perusing it. (Ok, in
reality I'd take "Bear Grylls' Desert Island Survival Manual".)
Classic Thurber story: "I used to
see him at parties where he would play tricks with his glass eye,"
recalled cartoonist Al Hirschfeld, talking about James Thurber. "He had
lost an eye as a child. He had a collection of glass eyes, and as the evening
went on, he would change them, with each one becoming more bloodshot. At about
2 o'clock in the morning, he'd put one in, and it would be a little American
flag! It was a shocker. You'd look at him, and there's a little flag flying
there in his eye."
If I ever have a glass eye, the
ability to do this would be a significant consolation!
------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN
SWEENEY writes:
Hed viewed on U-T online site Saturday
night:
"San
Diegan exumes Gettysburg's long-dead, long-forgotten hero's remains"
---------------------------------------------------------------
DON
BAUDER forwards:
David Copley's yacht sold.
----------------------------------------------------------
TOM
BLAIR writes:
Just about any song Welton Jones's
heart desires -- words and music -- available at:
Reasonably priced and swift.
DANA
WILKIE writes:
On sheet music: There's a great
website called chordie.com. You can search
thousands of songs by name and find the lyrics and chords or notes. I use it
for guitar playing all the time, and it's terrific.
REBER: These are in response to Jerry Goodrum's request for suggestions on
places to find sheet music. Do the sheet-music messages we printed last night
and tonight seem to have a relevance to the news business? Yes, more and more
you're going to have to use the Internet to find what you want.
---------------------------------------------------------
REBER:
We've had a long spell with no birthdays. Mitch Weinstock breaks the streak
tonight. Happy Birthday (June 30), Mitch.
-------------------------------------------------------
REBER:
This is a remarkable story.
GENE
CIECHANOWSKI forwards:
Tootsie Rolls and the Korean War.
P.O.
Box 2239
Ramona,
CA 92065
U.S.A.
