Good evening, 919 Gang. Early deadline tonight because I’m
tuckered from playing Paul Bunyan today.
I’m sure you are tired of my nagging about the 919 Gang
Directory. Input has slowed, so I have started editing and formatting it. I’m
only up to page 65, so there still is time for you to supply or update a bio.
When I finish my job, I will distribute the directory.
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DAVID FARMER writes:
Preston
Turegano told how Fred Kinne carried out publisher Helen Copley's order to fire
an employee. That reminded me of a time when Fred probably should have fired an employee at
The Union but didn't. And I think the order not to terminate came from
editor Herb Klein. Who was the rapscallion in question? Yours truly.
In
addition to being a general assignment reporter, I was editor of the Youth
Page. This was no doubt because I was more youthful than the rest of the
newsroom. The page appeared in The Union on Saturdays. One week I decided to
run a story about how local teens didn't need to be protected from pornography
because they knew all about it already.
I
didn't consult with city editor Jerry Warren or night managing editor Fred
Kinne. I sent the story, art and layout to the copy desk separately to
camouflage the content and the prominent position it would hold.
I'm
going to stop right here and admit that it was a worse than idiotic idea. From
the perspective of 50 years later, I
would have fired me.
The
porn story ran in the street edition, and then all hell must have broken loose
in the newsroom. I got up Saturday morning, opened my home edition and turned
to the Youth Page. I wanted to see how a substantial story had got past the
people whose job it was to keep The Union boring.
Instead
of the story and picture, I saw a hodgepodge of overset stories and fillers, no
art. It looked like one of those buildings with windows carelessly bricked in.
I think I would have had a stroke on the spot if I hadn't been so youthful. I
spent the rest of the weekend worrying about what would happen on Monday.
When
the day came, I sneaked into the newsroom, wishing I were that comic strip
character who could glide around like a snake. I fearfully looked in my
mailbox, ready to find an envelope with that classy embossed The Union on the outside and a
terse "You're Fired!" on the inside. Instead, I extracted a short
note from Kinne, seemingly typed by himself to limit the number of people
involved.
Kinne
would obviously have discussed my misbehavior with Klein. The note from Fred
was written in the mildest of tones. It said something like, "I don't
think we need to have stories about pornography and sex on the Youth
Page." That was it, my escape from the firing squad. Of course, it had the
force of law: "You got away with it this time, kid, but don't try it
again." And I never did.
I
hope Mr. Reber will allow me a little more space. I have to fill out my Herb
Klein claim in the lede. Herb was always cordial, both before and after my
disaster with the porn story. He invited me and my wife, Hinda, to his home for
Christmas celebrations, but I assume that all Union employees got the same
invite.
I
began to get the feeling that Herb liked me when I was assigned to some
political stints. These included a week or two as Sacramento correspondent, and
an editorial board Q&A with Ronald Reagan. I fear I was a disappointment to
Herb because I never could think like a Republican. But he remained friendly.
Then,
long after I'd left The Union, I became the Los Angeles bureau chief of CNN.
Herb and I met at a couple of parties at the San Marino home of the
then-president of USC. I'd gone to that school and Herb was a major booster. I
think now that this was the catalyst of his liking for me.
And
finally. I know that Herb read this blog for a time before he died in 2009. It
was a good way to keep track of some of the hundreds of women and men who'd
worked for him across the decades. In one blog edition, I wrote somewhat
snarkily that I was never considered good enough to rise into Union management
(what a disaster that would have been.)
Soon
after, Herb sent me a note saying, "Dave, I always admired you."
Isn't that an odd verb? This man had headed a major newspaper and held other
executive positions for Copley publications. He'd worked in key jobs for a
President. He was a life trustee of USC. Obviously He was the one to be admired.
And
I did admire him despite our pronounced difference in politics. I'll remember
him as an invariably soft-spoken, crinkle-eyed fellow who could never be
mistaken as soft. And I'll remember him as the man who, I believe, opted not to
disrupt or even end my journalism career.
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RICK DAVIS writes:
Nick
Canepa mentioned starting in the Copley Training Program in 1973, after
spending time as a Tribune copy kid, then clerk for Action Line. That would
seem to indicate Nick's career with the Tribune/U-T began around 1970. Which
means he will complete his 50th year at the U-T late next year or shortly
thereafter. 50 years at the U-T seems quite an achievement (even 40 or 45 year
U-T careers seem notable). How many others, through the years, were at the
Union/Tribune/U-T for 50 years? (Somebody who came there in his/her early 20s
would have had to stay into his/her 70s.) Is it a club with few members? I'm
more familiar with sports-department folks. Possibilities: Jerry Magee for
sure, maybe Jack Reber, Ralph Honda (currently still at the U-T, I think), Jack
Williams (sports initially), Joe Hughes. To all of you -- whoever you are ...
well done.
REBER: At one
time, probably about 2001, a fellow in the pressroom had the longest U-T
career, just a notch ahead of Neil Morgan and Don Freeman. But there are other
ways of looking at it. Bill Center once said he had been working for the U-T
since 1955. He started as a paperboy, then became a high school stringer for
the Union, then a sports writer.
Rick, you may remember a printer named Bobby Cairns. Others
might recall his wife, Isabel, who worked (or managed) the credit union. About
1993 I was talking to Bobby (long retired) and he said he had been earning U-T
money all his life. He delivered papers, then worked in Composing and he was
drawing a pension when I talked to him. He was 81 at that time. I believe he
died two years later.
Can anyone think of other old-timers?
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JAMES GRIMALDI
writes:
I haven't seen "I, Tanya," yet. I love Allison
Janney, so I can't wait. However, I have read this compelling Oregonian column
about what really happened, and this commentator says the movie erroneously
exculpates Harding and her husband. So, in reference to "jerks and
morons," keep in mind that some think the movie wrongly places all of the
blame "on hapless 'bodyguard' Shawn Eckhardt, who, in actual life, is
conveniently dead."
REBER: Good point, I wonder
if the movie didn’t have to make some concessions to her and her ex-husband to
get their cooperation. But chief among villains (jerks, morons, whatever) in
that movie is Tonya Harding’s mother. The movie thoroughly trashes her.
Unbelievable. Now, I don’t know where the truth lies, but my point was that you
can’t do that to a living person unless they sign documents that remove the
threat of lawsuits. And I have to think signing brought her a big payday. If
she earned just $10 for every F-bomb, she’s rich today.
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KENT FREELAND writes:
The recent discussion of nepotism by publishers reminds me
of the late Paul Miller, former AP president and Gannett chairman who, when I
worked for Gannett some 45-50 years ago, employed one of his sons of -- um --
questionable talent at Gannett's then-flagship newspaper in Rochester, N.Y.
Paul was fond of saying
that a little nepotism is OK if you keep it in the family.
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BARRY BLOOM
writes:
Very
sad about the death of Kevin Towers. He was a great friend. I don’t think I’ll
ever have that kind of relationship with a baseball general manager again. I’d
known about his illness since last spring. He didn’t want me to write about it
so I didn’t until December after the news came at the World Series. Nobody did,
out of respect to him. It must have been a horrific 13 months for him battling
a disease he knew was 100 percent fatal. Off the 1998 Padres team that went to
the World Series, I developed lifelong friendships with K.T., Tony Gwynn,
Trevor Hoffman, Bruce Bochy and John Moores. Amazing. I can’t believe Tony and
K.T. died so young. Here’s my obit on K.T. :
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REBER: A pleasure tonight to wish Happy
Birthday, Feb. 1, to Arline Smith.
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
