After 40 years of corporate life followed by a retirement growing an abundance of tomatoes and zucchini my neighbors didn’t want, I had to find something else to do became I was only 70 years old. Having written numerous corporate pieces, I was ready for journalism on a part-time basis in retirement.
One evening after I made a presentation to the Los Altos Hills City Council, a reporter from the Palo Alto Times Tribune asked if she could use my notes. I consented, and in 1991 was asked if I wanted to work for the Cupertino Courier on Blaney Avenue.
After a couple of years at the Courier as a reporter, the suit-and-tie bosses at the Times Tribune asked if I could transfer to the Los Altos Town Crier and work with Editor Anne Chappell. Anne was a wonderful editor to work for as a general reporter, and I enjoyed helping her with Saturday morning production in Palo Alto, even though I was a volunteer employee.
When the Palo Alto Times Tribune closed its doors in 1993, it affected the entire chain of weekly papers. When we arrived at the Town Crier around 8:30 a.m. the morning after the sale, we were given a cardboard box, told to put all our belongings in the box and get our butts out. “This joint is kaput.”
After plenty of behind-the-scenes events, Anne asked me to return because a new owner was taking over the paper. The new owners were Paul and Liz Nyberg, who had experience with numerous print and magazine publications. With a bit of overtime drudgery and additional people from the defunct Times Tribune, the Town Crier never missed an edition.
Working with a new owner and new people to put the paper together as it is today was gratifying work. Paul accepted me as a $1 dollar a year employee and business editor, and everything was working great for me in “retirement.” The paper still occupied the first floor at 134 Main St., and my desk was where the waffle machine occupies space today for Main Street Cafe & Books.
When Paul purchased the building and had it renovated, the Town Crier moved into the space where Maltby’s Restaurant recently expanded. The quarters were small but the paper became larger with a new editor, Bruce Barton. Anne returned to graduate school.
My 12 years with the Town Crier were memorable because of two controversial conflicts I covered – the El Camino Hospital District versus Camino Health Care and the Toni Casey influence at the Los Altos Hills City Council. There were always two sides to every issue, and this reporter was always wrong on at least one by being neutral. After many of the meetings, long after midnight, I listened to revelations and opinions followed quickly by the disclaimer, “Don’t you print in the paper what I’m going to tell you, but …”
My other beat – finding out how a community college works and what it does for the community – had none of the contentious arguments at the podium like my other two beats. Covering the Foothill-De Anza Community College District can be a treat for any reporter.
As business editor, I remember compiling the Town Crier stock index at Chuck and Edwina Comiso’s Thanksgiving dinner with two other local CEOs (Tandem and Rational Software). We determined which CEOs lived in the area to include their companies in the index. We came up with 20, and later it expanded to its present total of 50.
There are many “Side of Clyde’s” still floating around on the Internet that made fun of the community. Editor Bruce Barton encouraged me to take liberty with some of the foibles of the community without hurting anyone. It was also a journalistic treat to do the Sidewalk Interviews for more than eight years – interesting to learn what people think of their community.
There comes a time as you become older (86) when you recall the good things that happened to you in your lifetime. Working for the Town Crier was a joyful experience.
Working with Paul and Liz Nyberg, as publishers, was a happy and nourishing experience. They allow you to exercise your own thinking and creativity as long as it enhances the Town Crier. Working with Bruce Barton and his editorial staff during the last 12 years has also been enjoyable and fulfilling, because working for the newspaper, I really got to know the community and who and what keeps it together.
