The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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With no apologies to author Monica Dickens, whose amusing autobiographical account of life on a weekly newspaper, "My Turn to Make the Tea," is largely to blame for my foray into local journalism.
Looking back, I can't decide which was more temperamental, the photocopier or the publisher. There were differences, though, which can be summed up as follows:
· the copier's moods were quieter, if equally intransigent;
· the copier was more politically neutral;
· the copier wasn't quite as good at mislaying vital pieces of paper, and bore no responsibility for the disappearance of essential photos, floppy disks, incoming mail etc.;
· no one ever came to repair Corrin.
I can say in Corrin's favor, however, that despite our diametrically opposed political and philosophical views, he never refused to publish what I wrote nor even altered its substance.
Of course, the same goes for the copier, with which I didn't have to argue to get my way.
My Clarion experience was molded not just by Corrin, but by all the people who pulled it together, and most of them belonged to the human race:
Editor Georgia Mullen who worked wonders on my writing skills and became a dear friend in the process; production technology wizard Hal Legg, whose friendship I also still value, despite his predilection for loud, grating alternative rock on press days; and Muff Hollinger, whose multiple skills and cheerful demeanor I tried to emulate.
There are those there still: the prolific reporter/editor Howard Appell, also alternative but of the 1960s hippy variety; Terry Proctor, the kindhearted chauvinist and anglophile; and Vera, who wisely hides her light under a bushel while holding the place together.
There are others too, not forgotten, but too numerous, and in some cases too fleeting, to mention.
My Clarion experience was late nights, sometimes early mornings, lots of coffee and junk food; the excitement and horror of press day, more pressing than ever the week we pulled it forward to break the news of Akzo's withdrawal from the Hampton Corners project. Heady moments, indeed.
It had highs and it had lows. And when I took the job in 1995 -searched it out, in fact - I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. It's just as well, because I might well not have done it, and that would have been a shame.
Looking back, I wouldn' t have missed it for the world.
Jo Kirk
Nunda, N.Y.
(Clarion reporter, photographer, assistant editor, layout assistant, sales rep, delivery girl, resident liberal, and substitute receptionist and photocopier, 1995-97).
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