I went to the city today to see a couple of photo exhibits. On the way in, I was standing on the platform in Jamaica, where I change trains. Suddenly this person was two feet away from my face, staring at me. My first reaction was: "Man, who IS this?" Well it took me perhaps fifteen seconds, and then I finally recognized him. I think it had to do with context - why would this person be in this spot? So this is my friend and former colleague Paul, who was a writer at the paper I worked for. Not only is he a great writer, but a wonderful, thoughtful person. We worked on some interesting stories together before he became a columnist. He is now a writer at another big newspaper in the city. So we had some time to catch up during the second part of the train trip. It was so good to reconnect! So naturally I had to get out the toy camera, and memorialize our meeting. You would think I could take a better picture of myself than this!
The people at witness protection are not going to be pleased that people are recognizing you.
ReplyDeleteI love Photodude's comment - hahahah! bsk
ReplyDeleteAh. A blast from the past. For those who have not worked at Newsday, these dudes contributed to some of the finest work that appeared on the pages of the paper. Ken Spencer's photography was second to none; exquisite images of people, places and things. Paul Vitello's stories, presented in his column, were so well written, you didn't want them to end. Alas, both men have moved on to other things, but the publication was all the better for having their incredible talent during some very creative years under very different circumstances. The people who are at Newsday now do try their hardest to put out a daily paper they can be proud of, but it was a lot easier in the "good old days" when there were many more staffers to pitch in and everyone could take time to polish their work. You can't go back in time, but we can appreciate the time we had. Deep-pocket days that allowed for bloated staffs and lots of time around the water cooler exchanging gossip and ideas are gone forever. But we were priviledged to be part of that period at Newsday, when we were given the time to be our very best (and we were well-paid, too). I think there are a lot of us who wouldn't be able to keep up the current pace and workload staffers have to deal with on a daily basis now. Credit where credit is due. Not everyone who has left feels kindly toward Newsday because of they way they had to leave, and they are a very bitter bunch who have been unable to move on to other things in life. That's a shame, but it's nice to see these two talented guys together again.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you "Anonymous!" What a wonderful tribute. I feel so very fortunate to have had the career I had, and the pleasure of working with so many great writers, editors and photographers. Now I am wondering who you are... :-)
ReplyDelete