Because of some changes here at The Independent, I have been doing more reporting in the past few months than I have done in many years. Although the hours sometimes get a bit long, I enjoy doing this.
In fact, during my nearly 40 years as a professional journalist, the most “fun” I have had was when I was a reporter for the Daily News in Bowling Green. Fresh out of graduate school at Ohio University, I was young, idealistic and anxious to make a difference. How I loved that job. The pay was pitiful and the hours were crazy, but I always felt like I was doing something worthwhile.
However, in this industry, good reporters get promoted until they are doing less and less reporting. I was no different. I am enjoying again being a part-time reporter. It is as though I am ending my career like I began it. (No, I’m not on the verge of retiring, but at 60, I’m definitely in the twilight of my career.)
Just as my job responsibilities were changing, I moved into a different office for the first time in more than 20 years.
The move required that I clean out my desks (I have two of them, and use them both) and file cabinet.
As I was cleaning out the backs and bottoms of drawers where no hand or eyes had been for years, I uncovered five or six old notebooks. Since there were unused pages in these notebooks, I kept them. I figured I would use those old notebooks to take information for stories I am doing now. And that’s what I have been doing.
However, one day I began looking in those old notebooks at notes I had taken many years ago. It proved to be a rather interesting review of both my career and of what many young people would consider to be ancient history.
For example, in one notebook I found my notes from the editorial board interviews of gubernatorial candidates Paul Patton and Larry Forgy in 1995. That was the closest gubernatorial race in modern history, and the only one in which public financing of the two candidates’ campaigns played a role. Because both Forgy and Patton pledged to limit their campaign spending, they saved money by making frequent campaign appearances together. I thought that was great, but after that one year, we returned to the days when candidates had to be either wealthy or raise millions of dollars to run for governor.
I also found notes from an interview I had had with Gov. Brereton Jones at the Governor’s Mansion in Frankfort. By chance, I had gotten an exclusive interview with the governor. I had arrived a bit early for a meeting the governor was having with editors from across the state, and he and I chatted in a sitting room while we waited for the others to arrive. He shared with me how the helicopter crash had given him a new perspective on life, and to this day I believe Jones’ four years as governor can be divided into two distinct parts: Before the crash and after the crash.
There were notes from a meeting of the Ashland Community College Advisory Board from who knows when. However, Bob Goodpaster was still the director, and Charles Wethington attended that meeting. That was when Wethington was head of UK’s community colleges, before he became president of the university. Bill Vice also was an important part of that meeting.
I also found notes from an interview with the late Bob McCowan of Ashland Inc., who at the time was chairman of the UK Board of Trustees. Bob also lived across the street from me on Forest Avenue.
These old notes are worthless. Who cares about a meeting or an interview that was 20 years ago? Nevertheless, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane those old notes took me on.
And just as I am looking forward to writing more stories from new interviews and new meetings, I find value in reflecting on where I have been.
I admit that I’m a pack rat who seldom throws anything away. That’s not necessarily a good trait, but sometimes you can learn something new from the old.
JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2649.
