. Gary reasoned, unlike the spoken word, the written word is indelible, for an articulate to obtain an analogous caliber, a person of some intellect must be the directive. Expressive journalism only requires the transformation of thoughts to paper, no personality involvement, and Mister Christensen’s publication’s class opened varied paths of opportunity. With Gordon Reitman’s graduation, Gary was promoted to sports editor of the 25 hundred plus circulation Castlemont High School, Yee Castle Crier newspaper and was ready for the challenge, Chris asking if he would accept an added position of Staff Photographer.
. Hesitant at first, his thought being a lack of qualifications, his only camera experience with was with his parents ancient Anasco box camera, but soon discovering that photography was more than just taking pictures, but in reality, an art form. Once accepting this premise, he approached the task adapting and capitalized on flavoring the anomalous, not just the subject. Promulgating the papers sports page forum, continuing his interviewer’s role in the traditional school sports column, ” The Athlete of the Week”. The weekly bio column providing him access to all the sports coaches and team members. Gary made a concerted effort to attend every games he reported on, and was endowed with the respect of the coaches and team members, and was privileged to join them on the team bus when traveling out of town.
. On occasion he was asked to participate in officiating, in charge of the down marker at a football game or as the school’s official team statistician. He developed a rapport with the sports desk at the Oakland Tribune, after a game, phoning in the results, highlighting players and performances, their names to appear in the Tribunes high school sports page the next day. With the Giants major league baseball team having recently moved from New York City to San Francisco, interest was thriving in their new home at Seals Stadium. Gary now a senior, deciding to add an additional column, “Following the Giants With Mike”, resorting to his shortened middle name used in elementary school, concluding, because of already writing most of the sport page, he deemed it best not to give that appearance. Chris was surprised at the notoriety of Gary’s opinionated ‘Following the Giants’ column, the school publication receiving correspondence from sports editors on many of the bay-area school papers that were on the circulation departments mailing list.
. The student body of Castlemont had little knowledge of the Yee Castle Criers preparation, except that it was available to the student body every Friday afternoon. A typical agenda for a reporter would entail, receiving a subject assignment, the copy submitted on typed forms to the Page Editor, the article edited for content and column length, and a cap (title) with the final approval coming from Chris, the class instructor who read and graded everything printed. Each article having two grades, the first was for grammar, sentence structure, as the news and publication classes were english curriculum substitutes, and the second was for news worthiness, or content presentation. The accumulation of the four Crier pages of copy and pictures, were ready to be processed and printed at the Laney Trade School Print shop. Twice a month, alternating with other editors, Gary’s as Sports editor would be able to leave school mid-morning, travel to Laney Trade, located on 7th Street downtown metropolitan Oakland for the assemblage of the Castlemont Yee Castle Crier newspaper.
. It was at Laney Trade Print shop, the Teen was able to attained the important aspects of the mechanical attributes involved to providing a finished product. He watched as the copy handed to a linotype operator sitting at the keyboard controls of these purveyors of indelible conduction, spewing forth the embossed hot lead alloy. The molded lines of typesetting traversing into a collection area, placed in a page galley for espousing a proof, the inserting the photos, known as cuts, into their proper place in the galley. The sports editor developing a skill to read the backward print, checking for misplaced slugs, (blank spacer), then finally inking the galley, a proof reading being made, making a final assay of the proof before according the printers. The experience of Laney giving Gary another perspective of the world of journalism, with an insight to the mechanical aspects behind this profession, and the hidden participation makeup of others.
. Gary having dwelled on subject analogy, coming to recognize there was a corollary between Mister Christensen’s Journalism class, and Mister Charrington’s Trigonometry class, although the subject matter were totally estranged, they shared much in common. In trig, you are given the final solution, but have to determine the perplexity and structure that gives you those results. When composing a written itinerary, it is much the same, one had determined the contingency, but it’s the perplexity, structure and how you tincture the words that determines the intellection. The hands on introduction to the school newspaper printing was the last stop on a journalistic road, from conception to publishing. Gary having discovered the world of journalism, was another entryway, into life’s arena.
Inquisitive Quest 
Leave a comment