Posted by Smith Corona typewriters and all, the Front Page days lasted for decades at the Lorain Journal, now the Morning Journal but once an evening paper. I can still smell the old paste bottles and remember my fear of impalement on a copy spike, or the time a neighbor of the director of the local public housing agency almost shot me. Meanwhile enjoy this memorable video, a tribute to now-Chicago Tribune editor Greg Stricharchuck from his son, Nick. Imagine a gang-that-couldn’t-shoot-straight bothering to churn out fake quarters, “the first counterfeit quarter ring since the Civil War,” as Greg recalls.
If you’re an old news hand and have a similar YouTube to share, drop me a line and I may spotlight it here.
Suggestion for friends of The Journal: Flesh out the skimpy Wikipedia entry about the daily, also a starting place for such alumni as J. Ross Baughman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, and playwright Margaret (Peggy) Engel, co-author of Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins. Starring Kathleen Turner, RHP will be coming to Washington’s Arena Stage later this year, boosted by a rave in Entertainment Weekly. Peggy worked at the Journal during the Iving Leibowitz and John Cole eras.
David Rothman at Large 