Watch What You Start

My newspaper began during a strike; the guys and gals who walked out started their own paper for the six or so months it would take to settle their differences with the city’s gazette. (Now a U.S. slang word for a newspaper, it’s from the 16th century in English and came from the Italian. Aren’t you glad you asked?) It was a struggling existence when it started, and stayed that way for a while.

Anyway, that was thirty years ago and it’s still going strong, with no signs of stopping.

When I was a student here, in my senior year, I put together a project in communications for what looked to be an easy nine credits. Read the newspaper over the radio for people who are visually impaired or homebound. A nine-month run would be great and I did get the three A’s I wanted. It wasn’t a piece of cake, but it was a lot easier than taking three classes where there would be required attendance and tests.

That was thirty-four years ago. Again, going strong.

While I was working as arts critic for the newspaper, they started a new section and needed another column to fill some empty space. Someone asked me if I could do a piece every week. “Sure,” I said, and called a friend to see if he wanted to do a big band music column. “Couple of years,” I told him, “until we run out of material.”

In January, it will be twenty-eight years’ worth of material.