Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Page 7
AFFAIRS OF STATE (Column)
Embarking on a New Adventure With Idealism, Fond Memories
By DAVID KLINE
After writing the “Affairs of State” column for 12 years, I report today on a new, somewhat sad state of affairs. Today I say goodbye to this business of writing columns, editing newspapers and being part of a proud tradition of the (Sacramento) Spectrum.
After many years of writing about the government from the outside, I have decided it is time to move to the inside, to try to effect change as a player rather than an observer.
Instead of writing about government flaws and inefficiencies and hoping that a reader somewhere will take up the cause, I will be in a position to take more concrete action and hopefully to do more good.
Idealistic? Perhaps. But there’s nothing sadder than someone who enters the political arena without some degree of idealism about changing the world for the better. So even with full knowledge of “how things really work” in state politics, I enter the fray with the highest of hopes.
Still, leaving this keyboard is not an easy task. Journalism isn’t just an occupation, it’s a way of life. There is indescribable excitement in starting each week with a stack of blank pages and filling them with ink that has meaning and impact.
Since the minute I started in the newspaper business, every event, every person has been viewed as a potential subject, source or contributing writer. It’s impossible to go a day without thinking about the next story that needs to be told. Turning in my reporter’s notebook and trading in my soapbox cold turkey will not be easy.
My ego will miss the brushes with celebrity, like attending Christmas parties at the governor’s house, interviewing Dr. Jack Kevorkian and discussing music with Artie Shaw.
I’ll miss the letters like the one from the late California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk saying he was “flattered to be on the cover,” or the thank-you note from the renter whose pending eviction was overturned after I contacted a government agency while preparing a column.
Heck, I’ll even miss the hate mail like the recent letter comparing me to Hitler and hoping God will do me in. That letter, incidentally, was scrawled on purple teddy bear stationery. A true keepsake.
I’ll miss the e-mails and letters from “Moose,” “Mouse” and all the other regulars, and the weekly discussions with Ted Ruhig, who remains a friend despite our vast political differences.
I’ll miss the honor of working with Stan Gilliam, a master of his craft who did not become Sacramento’s most popular columnist by accident. (I admit to being biased, for it was in Gilliam’s column that my name first appeared in newsprint. In a Nov. 17, 1978 column for The Sacramento Bee, he noted that after watching President Jimmy Carter speak in Sacramento, I told my father, “It was all right, but personally I’d rather have seen Steve Garvey.” Stan may not remember this, but I do—and I think I’d still choose Garvey!)
I’ll miss Roger Grace, the boss who is a bit like Lou Grant from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”—a gruff and demanding newsman, but also an excellent teacher who will go to any length to protect the rights of his employees and the freedom of the press.
And I’ll especially miss all the people here at the office who have contributed friendship and fun to the experience even during late nights when we struggled to overcome computer crashes, power outages and other problems that slowed the paper but could not stop it.
Sure, there are things I will gladly leave behind. Things like getting scooped by the competition, or putting together a great paper that gets smudged on the printing press and delivered two weeks late by the post office. Things like writing obituaries for former colleagues.
But oh, those other days. The days when the people at the big publication across town were the ones wondering how they got scooped by the scrappy little paper for seniors. The days when the photos came out crystal clear, the delivery was a day early and all the typos were caught during the first proof. The days when a story put me in touch with people who would provide inspiration for the rest of my life.
May the person who takes over this desk enjoy those kinds of magical moments 365 days a year, and may the readers and advertisers continue to support this newspaper that has filled a vital role in the community for 33 years … and counting.
When I became editor of Spectrum six years ago, I made some changes in the paper. As I depart on my new adventure, I realize that the paper also made many changes in me, and I am thankful for the experience.
— Capitol News Service
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company