Good evening, 919 Gang.
JOHN MARTIN writes:
As 919ers know so well, getting public figures to comment on important issues when they don’t want to talk is among our most vital and sometimes difficult tasks.
When the deposed and fatally ill Shah of Iran fled to Panama from the United States in 1979, Henry Kissinger issued a brief statement to the Associated Press and turned down all requests from network television. Undaunted, my ABC News editor assigned me to try to persuade Kissinger to at least repeat his AP comments to our camera.
William Hyland, Kissinger’s contact, turned me down at first, then said Kissinger would talk to me after all, then called back as I was walking out the door to say Kissinger had changed his mind and would not see me.
“Just go over there and persuade him,” my editor said. I decided to play on Kissinger’s presumed ego. From my office cubicle bookshelf, I pulled down “White House Years,” his 1,521-page description of his extraordinary simultaneous work as Richard Nixon’s National Security Adviser and Secretary of State. It weighs about 10 pounds
When we pulled up outside his luxury apartment building on New York’s East Side, Kissinger was stepping into a limousine drawn up inside a front door courtyard. “Dr. Kissinger,” I shouted, “your book!” I held it up as I walked toward him. My camera crew trailed me. Kissinger got out of the limo, took the book from me, and dug out a pen.
“What is the name?” he said.
“John Martin,” I said.
“But I told them I would not talk to you,” he said.
“I know,” I said, smiling, “but I thought if I came here and brought the book, perhaps…”
Kissinger wrote on the inside front page, closed the cover, handed it back to me, and got into the limousine.
As he rode away, I looked at his inscription: “To John Martin, Every good wish, Henry A. Kissinger.”
As we drove back to our office, our two-way radio crackled: “Wow! What was in that interview?” said a voice. “When you get back, call Roone Arledge immediately.”
When we walked into the office, we learned that Henry Kissinger had called the president of the news division and demanded that I be fired.
Intended lesson: Don’t mess with Henry the K.
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THANE McINTOSH writes:
This is a Union-Tribune Christmas gathering at the San Diego Zoo. What I like about the picture is the big turnout. I remember that they had to throw a lot of apples in the pond to keep the elephants there.
FRONT ROW Rick McCarthy, Dan Tichonchuk, Jerry Windle, Joe Flynn, Bob Redding, Ed Neil, Charlie Sick.
SEATED: Al Sund, Stan Griffin, Roger Wrenn, John Godwin, Dennis Huls, Thane McIntosh.
BACK ROW: George Smith, John Price, Ted Winfield, Tim Wilson, Jerry Rife, John Greensmith, Joe Holly, Dave Copley, Fred Gate, Phil McMahan.
Now, here’s the photo Thane sent me today. Can you see the difference?
Thane’s example is the original photo. But before the 1970 Christmas card was distributed, the Black photog at far right was removed. My assumption is that he was fired between the printing of these two photos. One day when he was on assignment, he lipped off to a Navy admiral and was fired.
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GINA LUBRANO writes:
The other day, the late Cliff Smith’s adult kids, Sue and Mark Smith, stopped by to say hello. Mark showed me a booklet they had found while going through their father’s files.
Not one person of color can be seen in any of the 16 pages of the booklet.
One of the pages explained what the training program meant to the Copley organization: “Here’s What We Gained
“These Are the 16 Promising Training Program Graduates Who Enrich our Staffs.” Below the 16 photos and in smaller print: “And Here’s a New Generation Now in Training.”
REBER:” These are from the Copley training program, and I know some of our members went through that program. What did you do? How long was the program? Was it worthwhile?
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JERRY WINDLE writes:
And now for something different. There was a request for a new, not so serious topic. I submit the following; for your consideration:
ENTREPRENEURS: In 1975, fellow photographer and 919 member Tim Wilson and I joined to form a company we called “Mime Ltd”. I don’t recall why we felt the need to do so but we did. It could have been the desire to have our own photo studio. We rented space in a building in the Sports Arena area and set up for business.
It had a front office and a separate large back room with lots of light. Perfect for a photo studio.
One of the things we figured we could do was create a line of “feel good” greeting cards. At the time, there a mime in San Diego that was well known throughout the town. Kind of like the San Diego (KGB) chicken. I don’t recall his name. We figured we could get him to work with us. But it didn’t work out.
Tim said he could do it and proceeded to get a derby, suspenders., shirt and makeup. After a photo shoot, we had several good photos we could use. We chose six and had them printed. I had the envelopes embossed with a heart on the flap.
(The picture here shows the six cards with what was written in them.
Then reality raised its ugly head. With no sales experience, we discovered we had to discount them 50% or more for the card shops to buy them. I did manage to sell a few of the cards to shops but it didn’t last. I’m definitely not a salesman.
At least we had fun. It was a “learning experience.”
This story was prompted by the recent discovery of several boxes of cards and envelopes I found in the attic boxed up in 1979! I hope you enjoyed this diversion.
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TERRY RODGERS writes:
Once again, I'm offering the gang a chance to purchase my annual photo calendar (for 2024) for no profit on my part for $18.50. A couple of folks bought it last year, so I thought I'd offer it again. For those of you who don't know, photography has been my passion for several years. I post the photos regularly on my Facebook page.
REBER: Terry’s photos are great. I’ve been following him on Facebook a long time. His bird photos are amazing.
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TIM WILSON writes:
Ernie Cowan nailed it when addressing the green bin problem.
We got our green bin from the city about a month ago and have yet to put it out as it is basically empty.
We pretty much eat everything and have very little food waste. Maybe a couple of egg shells or skins from various fruits is all we put in the bin.
And any food stuffs we put into it, we first put into recyclable plastic bags because it can get pretty stinky, plus we don’t want to have to clean the bin each week of food scrap slime.
Even worse, storing the green bin with the other two (blue and grey) is a challenge due to limited space on our side yard.
On trash day I see very few green bins out on the street. Very few. I think our neighborhood is sending a message…
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PRESTON TUREGANO writes:
When American diplomat Henry Kissinger came to San Diego in the late 1970s, I was a night GA at The Tribune and sent to the nearby Town & Country Hotel, where Kissinger was going to have a press conference. Yes, at night! Reporters waited for local TV news cameras to arrive so the conference could start. At the time, San Diego’s own wonderkid star news anchor Harold Greene strolled in to take charge. His makeup was so caked on his face, he looked like a mummy. He sported coat-and-tie, but from his waist down he was in blue denim trousers. Now 79 and a graduate of San Diego’s Kearney High School, Greene eventually became the grooming inspiration for fictitious 2004 San Diego-set movie “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” starring Will Ferrell. No one at the T&C press conference seemed interested in asking Kissinger about international diplomacy. The press wanted to know if TV actress/comedian Carol Burnett had really gotten into a hated exchange with Kissinger in a Washington, D.C., restaurant, as reported by The National Enquirer. The birdcage liner had reported Burnett was drunk when she encountered Kissinger. ”No, not true,” Mr. K said. “Nothing of the sort happened.” Citing Burnett’s libel lawsuit against the Enquirer, I think Kissinger probably wanted to talk about his efforts to decide what shape a conference table should be for U.S-North Vietnam peace talks in Paris. Burnett eventually was awarded $200,000 by a judge. Ever a jetsetter, a few years later I saw a droll Kissinger blush on the 1980s prime-time TV soap opera, “Dynasty,” when “slutty/gorgeous” Alexis Carrington (played by Joan Collins) told Kissinger, “Henry, so nice to see you! We missed you last summer in (Italian Riviera cliffside enclave for the rich) Portafino! Hope you can make it next summer.” No reply from Kissinger.
