Gratefulness

 

          Good evening, 919 Gang. If there were a prize for the message naming the most 919ers, Karen Pearlman would win by a landslide.

 

KAREN PEARLMAN writes:

Hi Jack and 919ers: Just some random thoughts and gratefulness I want to share.

          I wish all of my former colleagues love and luck as they traverse new paths away from The San Diego Union~Tribune or with its new ownership. If I can be of any assistance or support to anybody as they navigate, please email me karenpearlman@yahoo.com

          While at and leaving the La Jolla Open Aire Farmers Market today (7/30/2023) during a work/play visit (I shot photos for a story I'm covering for the San Diego Business Journal) I ran into friends/919ers and wonderful former Union~Tribune colleagues Susan Gembrowski and Cheryl Clark.

          I must share that it made my day seeing them! So so so so so happy to spend some time chatting with and listening to them.

          Both Susan and Cheryl, through the "magic" of social media, have followed my life with -- and now without -- my beloved  dog Chloe who died of congestive heart failure at age 14½ in April, and were so kind in their thoughts shared with me today about her life and my loss. That support just means so much.

          I want to put a shoutout of support to Jamie Reno that he should heal fully from what's happening to his body. He has done so much to advance public knowledge about cancer treatments -- and more -- for many, many years through his informative articles, and I know he will continue to do so for many more years ahead. He's beaten life-threatening illness before and he can do it again --  and he will.

          I also want to share my condolences to Ani Arambula on the loss of her beautiful dog, Starbuck. Ani has been instrumental in helping me with the loss of my dog/sidekick.

          Thank you to 919ers who continue to support me since my December 2021 departure from the U~T... Miriam Raftery, David Ogul, Doug Williams, Ken Stone, John Gastaldo, Janet Lavelle and Tanya Mannes Castaneda and my current colleague at the SDBJ, Ray Huard. So many others, too, have stood by me and helped me heal and move along.

I appreciate all of you more than I can say -- or write.

          Also, to you, Jack, a big thank you for putting together this nightly newsletter/email. Straight Outta Ramona!! I missed it for so many years because I just didn't know... until I was partnering with Linda Susan Dudley in something and she let me in on this 919 Gang thang, and I joined. (I miss her, too.)

          I'm so grateful for all the wonderful friends I made during my 25 years at the U~T.

          And about missing deadlines:

          I'm not sure I've missed any and I don't know how, after 40 years in the biz, but I don't think I have. It's a miracle of some sort in my life. I've had a lot of anxiety and stress about deadline stories, and many near misses, that's for sure.

          I also want to share this:

          No one was better than Jerry Magee for making deadlines under the most dire of circumstances, tightest pressure to fill that white space, and every imaginable hurdle in sending stories through whatever means we had back in the day.

          I could regale you for hours about how he would call in to the U-T sports department literally minutes before deadline and dictate a lengthy and compelling story, usually about boxing in Mexico (that would include about three different fights, but sometimes up to six) that I would type out for him in the office as he dictated the entire article from the top of his head.

          That's about all for now.

Thank you for reading!

 

(Photos: one was taken in La Jolla today at "Dog Rock" and the other is of Chloe

 

 

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          JOHN GIBBINS writes:

Two classics in one photo. They were friends from their days in LA at the Examiner and remained throughout their careers. Fred Kinne and Dick Desick. I believe Fred hired Dick when he was editor of the Union. No finer newsmen around. Photo is from about 1980, maybe at Fred’s retirement from The Tribune. Or was it still The Evening Tribune then?

 

          REBER: I never met Desick, but I’ve heard so many stories that I wish I had known him. Working for Fred was a pleasure. Frank Saldana always called him “Fred Kind.”

 

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TOM GABLE writes:

As reported earlier, Larry Thomas, 919 Gangster, died June 12. You can learn more in this fine obituary by John Wilkens:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/obituaries/sd-me-obit-thomas-20180612-story.html

          As a long-time family friend and wine-drinking co-conspirator, I thought I would provide a short report on the celebration of his life that was held Sunday, July 1, at the Fashion Island Hotel in Newport Center, not far from where Larry served as communications guru for Donald Bren and the many elements of the Irvine Company. The turnout of some 400 mirrored the amazing array of friends he had from among news, political, PR and community leaders from throughout California and beyond. The program included Pete Wilson, Bob White (who, as Pete's chief of staff, hired Larry), former colleagues in Sacramento and with the Irvine Company and his daughter, Leigh and her husband, Eric. The family put together a light-hearted slide show of Larry mostly drinking wine and in Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses, in the company of different leaders and connections from throughout his career, plus an array of attractive women.

I know many of the 919 Gang remember Larry, from his days working at 919 Second Avenue with UPI, Copley News Service and the Union before he was lured away to become press secretary for Mayor Pete Wilson (later Governor and Senator Wilson); then Governor George Deukmejian; a brief detour to Washington, D.C. as press secretary to Vice President George H.W. Bush, cut short by returning to California because of some family needs; and then into a memorable corporate PR career with the Irvine Company.

          Larry had beaten cancer of the tongue a decade ago. After his retirement and winning the first cancer battle, he set about enjoying all aspects of life, traveling and spending time with his three grandchildren in Costa Mesa. In October 2017, he was diagnosed with cancer of the throat. He made good early progress and seemed to have halted its progress in March, but the cancer advanced unchecked by the best treatments available.

          According to Larry's wishes, the celebration was dedicated to fun and connecting, which was Larry's style. Guests were told to wear Hawaiian shirts and be prepared to enjoy good wine, food and margaritas. The program wasn't quite a roast but humor dominated, including an anecdote media and PR people might find amusing, or not. Donald Bren was launching a huge new development and wanted media coverage, in the days when PR relied on faxes, mail, courier services and phone calls to pitch a story. Larry set the stage. He had rented a big tent, the program was packed with luminaries and they had a fact-filled story of future community benefits. Still, Bren asked Larry how he was going to get the media to attend in the wilds of Orange County.

          "Shrimp," Larry answered.

Bren balked but Larry carried out his plan. He called the media a few days in advance and alerted them to the menu and array of beverages. Results: the biggest and most costly bowls of shrimp Bren had ever seen, followed by big-time coverage in media all over the southland.

          Pete Wilson shared stories of Larry taking him to editorial board meetings with the San Francisco Chronicle and L.A. Times during a re-election campaign and Wilson was down by 24 points, with daily hit pieces in both papers. Wilson was beyond skeptical. Opinions turned. Wilson won.

          More stories were shared, including at the reception among some of the San Diegans from the news, related businesses and SDSU who came to toast LT (or El Tee, as he put on the signature to his email). Lacking the abilities of the late Burl Stiff to chronicle gatherings, I have an incomplete report. Familiar names and faces included Bob White and Mike Madigan and Laurie Madigan (Mike was one of the early Wilson gang), Ben Haddad, Karin Winner, former SDSU Deans (Joyce Gattas, Glen with Betty Broom), Tim Chelling, Mike Sund (Tribune circa 1970, then later PR in San Diego), Adrienne Alpert (former San Diegan now at ABC7 in Los Angeles), and former San Diego Union and, more recently, L.A. Times legend, Beverly Beyette.

          LT was at peace with his situation as he faded, comforted by his faith. Several speakers, including the reverend who married his daughter Leigh and baptized his three grandchildren, said the party would please Larry. Larry would be giving communications advice to St. Peter as soon as he entered the pearly gates, then would sit back, smile with a glass of wine or two and watch the celebration. He would be pleased with the many reconnections made among people who haven't talked in years and new connections made over good food, wine and sharing stories -- an LT concept with a little carousing thrown in as needed. As his connecting plans always seemed to work, this did, too. The LT spirit lives on. And we are better for it. Cheers, LT!

 

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RICK SMITH writes:

I know the young man you were referring to, Reber.  I think this took place more in the early 'sixties.  He went on to a long career as a teacher and, last I knew, still subbed in the Sweetwater school district.  I think he was unfairly overmatched when Gregston assigned him to make that trip.

 

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BILL CALLAHAN writes:

Our 919 and sports treasure Nick Canepa included this in his Sunday column:

“It appears Snapdragon has serious transportation constipation. And it doesn’t figure all the unconscionable new housing in Mission Valley is going to provide much of a traffic laxative.”

          What’s happened is the city hall ham and eggers (as Nick tags them) in forcing bike baths down our necks in neighborhoods where they’re not really needed have intensified the traffic flow problem that existed before Snapdragon when the, uh, Chargers were here. I live on the north bluff overlooking the Mission Valley site and Mission Village Drive, which winds down to Friars Road, is normally crowded during rush hours from motorists trying to avoid the I-15 bottleneck. When there are stadium events – and Snapdragon is steeping up the frequency of concerts, soccer matches, etc. – the situation worsens. Okay, I signed up for that when we bought our house.

          Just recently the ham and eggers  -- or buffoons, as I call them – decided to convert the four lanes of traffic on Mission Village Drive into two lanes in order to install bike lanes and barriers. We raised a ruckus and had a community meeting with Councilman Campillo and were told the bike lanes would encourage people to get out of their cars, pedestrian and traffic safety would be enhanced and that reducing the number of lanes would also reduce the amount of traffic. You can imagine the response from disgruntled neighbors now facing being unable to get to and from their residences. No one volunteered to sell their car and buy a bike. It is unimaginable that anyone with any common sense would think this a good idea. I know a lot of people are going to blame San Diego State but the real target should be city hall.

 

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          REBER: Let’s start August with a Happy Birthday (Aug. 1) party for Bobbi Ignelzi and Don Kohlbauer.

 

 

Jack J. Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065-0938

United States

Unfinished business

 

          Good evening, 919 Gang. I invited members to tell about great (or not so great) excuses for blowing a deadline. I think a lot more people could contribute.

 

          NICK CANEPA writes:

Brian Brown, who I believe was covering a Sockers game, missed the Union deadline following a game. The next morning, sports editor Bob Wright called Brian into his office and asked why he missed deadline. "I wasn't finished." Nothing better than that.

 

JAMES GRIMALDI writes:

          One of my favorite quotes:

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” -- Douglas Adams

 

          PRESTON TUREGANO writes:

I never missed a deadline during my many years as a Tribune or Union-Tribune writer. On one occasion, I begged out of an assignment: to do a story about the local chapter of the NRA. I told then-Tribune City Editor Todd Merriman I was the wrong staffer to write a story because I am anti-guns/pro strict control, and feared I might become a target if I went to a National Rifle Association gathering and made my sentiments known.

One of my Tribune colleagues was consistently a “not I” assignment reporter. She used to have temper tantrums and outright yell, “Why do we have a story about this?” “I’m not going!” ‘Don’t ask me again!” And with that she stayed in the office. As for a male colleague who often argued out of stories, he ended up being laid off at the time of the 1992 U-T merger.

 

          REBER: It was the late 1960s, and Tribune sports had an intern who was a student at San Diego State. One reason I remember this guy is that he had some sort of transportation problem, so sometimes I had to stop by his house and drive him to work in the morning.

          He did a good job and was a pleasant fellow to have around, so late in the summer I decided he deserved a reward. I would send him on a road trip, give him a taste of the big time in writing sports.

          So, I sent him to Ontario, Calif., where a San Diego team was playing an American Legion baseball tournament. (Okay,okay, I know Ontario isn’t truly the big time, but we’re talking about an intern.)

          I let him make his own arrangements (my mistake). I was a bit put out on the first day when he didn’t check in to tell us where was staying. I was more than put out the next day when he did not report on the first day’s ball games. This was before cell phones, and I didn’t know which hotel he was in.

          And I was considerably put out the next day when he provided no story on the second, final, day of the tournament.

          The next day he was back in the office, and I asked why no stories. He said, “The coach told me to never mind. He would call it in.”

          I can tell you that young man had a career in the newspaper business, but no Pulitzers.

 

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          REBER: We have been discussing who was the Union’s city hall reporter before Otto Bos.

 

          GINA LUBRANO writes:

I can't shed any light on whether Lew Scarr covered City Hall in the 1960s. If he did, he did not talk with me about it.

I checked with Dick Weber about who might have been the city hall reporter for The Union before Larry Thomas. Dick tells me that Frank Exarhos was on the beat in the 1960s as was George Storey. I did not know either one--I arrived at The Union on Sept. 1, 1969. By that time, I believe both men had gone on to work for the city. Also, I wouldn't swear to this, but I think Nancy Ray covered City Hall at some point. Talk about a murky memory. Perhaps Mike Richmond remembers...

 

JOHN KERN writes:

          Many thanks for the possible IDs on City reporter before Otto Bos. I got there after Pete Wilson took office and Larry Thomas was his press secretary so I am pretty sure it was not Larry. And Lew Scarr, if memory serves, was doing columns. I keep thinking maybe Ray Kipp? And I will keep thinking!!

 

RON HUTCHERSON writes:

Regarding Larry Thomas: After five cub years with UPI in Phoenix I grabbed a staff opening in San Diego in 1966. I worked as the early morning UPI man in the U-T‘s old off-Broadway quarters, and bureau chief Ray Means arranged to have San Diego State student Larry intern with us. My recall is that Larry’s dad Ed, another UPI product, played a part. I got to know Larry and liked him well, and I was a little disappointed when he opted against a Unipresser start in news.

I don’t recall the year that Larry interned, but it must have been 1969, give or take. That’s the extent of my flawed memory on Larry’s UPI tenure. Now this that I turned up looking for more about Larry, from the July 26, 1990, San Diego Reader edition (if I read the Internet coding correctly), an article called “Plotting Pete”:

“A month after his 1971 election, Wilson hired his first press secretary, Larry Thomas, then a 24-year-old San Diego Union politics writer, who had covered the Wilson mayoral campaign. Thomas wasn’t just another Union hack. His father Ed had been editor of the Union from 1968 to ‘70. And before joining the Union, the younger Thomas had worked at KPBS-TV with Peter Kaye, who had helped run Wilson’s successful mayoral campaign.”

After Larry came Otto Bos in Wilson’s PR. I believe, subject to correction, that Larry went on to work in PR for the giant defense contractor Bechtel Group, where he worked for or was close to George Shultz, a man of notable accomplishments in the Nixon and Reagan administrations and a Bechtel exec. (see his Wikipedia bio for details).

From those who knew Larry better than I, I think that after Bechtel he enjoyed peace and quiet. I’m told he died a few years ago.

 

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          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

Jamie Reno certainly does not deserve this news he received regarding cancer. It would seem that the folks dealing with layoffs have it easy in comparison. Jamie, I am wishing you all the good fortune you deserve. Let us hope your oncologist will be able to help you in your latest health issue. Please keep us informed, as much as you feel you want to, regarding your treatment and how you are doing. All the best!

 

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REBER: Two fine gentlemen own our last birthdays of the month. Happy Birthday, July 30, to Joe Holly and Kelly Murphy.

 

 

Jack J. Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065-0938

United States