Section 1: Q: Jane, can you give me your name, address,
the dates, your position with the Register
when you retired and...
A: The whole long name?
Q: Yes. We will set it off like that.
A: My full name is Jane Margaret Truesdale
Palmer Canady Edgington, which sounds
terribly long. I have always gone by Jane
Palmer. Then I married Mr. Earl Canady and I
became Jane Canady. Then Mr. Canady died and
I married Mr. Edgington. Then I became Jane
Canady Edgington.
Q: The date today is Saturday, May 15, 1999.
Your address?
A: I live at 6916 Sunset Terrace.
Q: That is where we are talking to you.
A: That is in Windsor Heights, a suburb of
Des Moines, Iowa.
Q: This may sound like an odd question for
you, but I would like you to elaborate, from
the time that we started back in 1958 at the
Register, give us a feel for what that
newsroom looked like. Describe it, beginning
where you worked and where things were.
Linotype machines were still there. That type
of thing.
Q: They were downstairs. The newsroom was on
the fourth floor. I suppose it still is. Has
always been. I knew a few people there. I
knew John Zug and I had talked to him. He
told me to come down. He was sure there was
an opening in the women's department.
Q: The women's department in the newsroom?
A: Yes. The newsroom was all open. The
[barriers] didn't come up very high - the
barriers that kept the different departments
apart. I think mostly those were just drawers
[metal filing cabinets]. I think that is what
the divisions were for the most part. In the
center, there was a place where the Tribune
boys sat. Because it has been so long since I
was there, I have forgotten what you call
that where the main editors sat.
Q: Was it the rim?
A: I suppose it was the rim. They sat around
the rim. The Tribune was on one side. The
Register seemed to be on the other. You sent
your stories down [to the composing room] in
a pneumatic tube.
Q: Who did you send it to?
A: Down to the linotype to be set into galley
sheets, which were then sent back up to us by
the pneumatic tube. Interestingly enough, my
great-great grandfather invented the
pneumatic tube. But he found out that
somebody else had invented the pneumatic
tube. That is just an aside. I went up there
to see Russ Schoch, the head of the women's
department. They told me to talk to Russ and
he would probably hire me. Well, he said,
"When can you start?" He seemed to be sort
of busy. I had my car parked. I ended up by
getting a ticket for overparking because it
took me so long. But it was worth it. I guess
I paid a dollar fine or something. And I did
get the job. He asked me when I could start
and I said that I could start on Monday, I
guessed. This was Friday, I think. He put me
to work.
The newsroom was very interesting because
people were very friendly. You really got
acquainted with a lot of people that way.
People were busy. They did what they had to
do. Our department was right next to the
sports department and the sports department
people were very busy. The Tribune people
were there in the morning and then they left.
About the time we were going home, the
Register people came in because they were
going to put out the morning paper. We had a
nice crew working.
Q: Did you socialize outside with some of
those people?
A: After a while. After I got to know them.
They were always very nice people. Jean
Tallman was the [Tribune] food editor. She
had a party and invited my husband and me
toward the first part of my working down
there. I realized that you had to be
accurate. The first time I had a mistake that
really shattered me was when I went in one
Monday morning and I was writing weddings. I
discovered that there was a call and that
somehow I had married the bride to her
father-in-law instead of to her husband. I
don't know what I did. But I did it that way.
I said at one time, I told Russ I was a very
responsible person and he could depend on me,
and I found out that that's right. After
about a week or two, any mistakes that were
made, I was responsible for them. That helped
me get to the point where I was so accurate,
I really became, Mrs. Accuracy because people
came to me all the time to have me read their
galley sheets and see how things were going.
I didn't let a name, if the name were Brown,
I would look it up and see if it had an "e"
on the end. Even Smith, I would look up the
spelling of Smith. I see in the paper these
days there are lots of corrections on [the
spelling of] names and I think that is
because people don't look them up.
Q: Different standards, I guess.
A: I think so. If someone says, "My name is
Carl," you write down "Carl," and don't ask
him, you could find out the next day that it
is supposed to be a "k" or something of the
kind.
Q: You didn't make any assumptions?
A: I got so I didn't. I did at first. I think
the one that almost finished me off, as far
as I was concerned, although it didn't
reverberate too much, was when I had the
Cowles' wedding. It was the John Cowles'
wedding. He was part of the Cowles family and
lived in the Minneapolis area. The wedding
had something to do with Hopkins but they
also had some Florida in there. At that
point, I didn't know there was a Hopkins,
Minnesota. So, I called it Hopkins, Florida.
And I heard about that the next day. But the
Cowles were very nice and let me go by. --
Section 2: Q: Let me pursue another subject here. In
1958, it was before the women's movement.
What was it like for a woman working at the
Register in 1958 and through the 60s? Did
you feel you were treated fairly? Pay?
Assignments you got? Did you think there was
a glass ceiling?
A: I think we were underpaid and I think I
ended up... I am sure I didn't get the pay
that... I started at $60 a week. Mr. [Frank]
Eyerly, who had hired me, said that if I
worked there about three months, they would
see how they liked me and how I liked them.
Then there would be a lot more. I worked
there for about six months or more and I
didn't see any signs of anything getting
going. Nobody said anything to me. Maybe I
should have mentioned it myself, but I
didn't. Finally, I just went out to Drake
University to see if they had a job out
there. I was hired. If I wanted the job, I
could put out the alumni paper. They were
anxious to have somebody for that. I told
them I would let them know. I went back and
told my boss, Russ Schoch, that I was going
to take this job with Drake because nobody
had said anything to me about a raise. He
said, "No. don't do that. Let me talk to Mr.
Eyerly." He called me in and said, "Yes. We
want you to stay." And they gave me a $10 a
week raise.
Q: Who called you in?
A: Mr. Schoch had me go in and see Mr.
Eyerly. And he said they wanted me to stay.
And there would be a $10 raise. I thought
that sounded pretty good. Maybe every six
months. And I don't believe that is the way
it was. Anyhow, I had the children's
education in mind. I had five of them that
were going to go to college. I wanted to help
even though my husband didn't want me to go
to work. I had studied journalism and I
wanted to go to work and help. I really
enjoyed my 22 years at the Register and
Tribune.
Q: Was there always that concern from your
husband that he didn't want you to work, even
after a while?
A: I think he got all right with it. I
handled the family in a way that I think he
thought it was fine. I made lists and my kids
happened to be the kind of children who did
their chores. There were older ones who
looked after the two younger children. [My
daughter Betty Ann was] in high school [and
she looked after the two younger ones]. Then
Terry [and Mike were] in high school and they
looked after them [the two younger ones, Mary
and Bob]. I would come home and we would all
have dinner together. I would get dinner and
everything would go along just fine. I think
he got so that he was happy I was working
because it did help him. --
Section 3: Q: Anything else about working at the
Register? Were they fair when they made
assignments to you?
A: Yes. I enjoyed the assignments. I can't
remember all of them. I worked there about
four years writing weddings. I had lived in
Des Moines most of my life, and I had known
who the people were in the part of society
that you would write about in those days. I
knew who they were, so it was possible for me
to get in touch with these people and write
about their parties or write about them. And
they would come to me, of course, with their
weddings and their engagements and so forth.
I would have to decide...this was, of course,
after about four years I became ... Suzette
Abbot Foster was the society editor. After I
had been there about four years, she retired.
I can't remember. '62 or '64. I was the one
[new society editor] that had to decide what
size picture of the bride or the engaged girl
would get. We did that on the basis of her
education. I don't know why that was set as
it, but I guess that is what they thought it
had to be. If she had gone to college,
finished college, or was of some particular
part of the make-up of society, and we
thought she should have a one-column picture,
she would get it. If she didn't, then she
would get a seven-and-a-half em picture,
which was the smaller one.
Q: How long did that go on?
A: That went on as long as I was there. I
retired in 1980 and I am sure that was still
going on. Of course, by that time, we had
gone from the old typewriter to the computer
then. Everybody was worrying about the
computer. I thought the computer was kind of
fun. Those typewriters were fast. You had
your little, you call them a mouse now, but
they were something else, that you could use
to correct things. That was wonderful.
Q: You knew a lot of the people that you were
reporting on. Did you feel that you were a
part of that society that you were writing
about?
A: I had been. I had grown up, when I was a
little girl, in that part of society because
my stepfather was a part of that society. He
was a pioneer businessman in Des Moines and
he seemed to be a part of... all those people
were his friends. So, I knew them. When my
mother died, then I went away to school. When
I came back and went to Roosevelt High
School, I decided I wanted to be with a
different group of people.
Q: Why?
A: I think I had gone to an Episcopal school
for girls and I wasn't fast enough, as they
used to say. "She is pretty fast." "She is
sort of fast."
Q: Meaning what?
A: Meaning she was racing around with the
boys a little too much. That was the... you
know, we were in the Roaring 20s then. I
started high school about 1925. I went into
ninth grade. Some of the things that were
going on, I hadn't been privy to some of this
excitement. It was a little more than I could
... I was sort of shy and I didn't enjoy what
was going on. I probably would have enjoyed
it if my father would have let me go, but he
was very strict with me. So, I had sort of
had a different group of friends. I got very
much interested in singing and art and things
of that kind. That is the reason. But I did
know a lot of these families.
Q: Were you ever concerned that there might
have been a conflict of interest or your
objectivity might have been compromised
because you were reporting on people that you
knew and their families?
A: No. I discovered while I was working there
that was exactly what they wanted me to do.
They wanted me to know. I don't know who said
this, or how it was put in my mind, but they
were glad that I knew who was who.
Q: You had contacts and sources.
A: Yes. I had contacts and sources. And I did
have some contacts. Because we lived next
door to the Grover Hubbells when I was a
little girl. When my mother died, Mrs.
Hubbell kind of took us under her wing for a
little while and then we went off to St.
Katherines [School in Davenport]. Because of
that, I had this feeling ... I wasn't in awe
of these people. They were just friends. But
I think it was a good thing that I knew who
they were because they would call me and tell
me what was going on. And then I could pass
this on. Either I could do the story or ask
about it or somebody could do a story about
it.
Q: You went to some of the functions, too?
The parties and get-togethers. Were you there
socializing with the guests and having
drinks?
A: I did not do that. When I was working for
the paper and I would go to the Junior League
ball or I would go to the Jewish community,
who always had nice parties and things of
that kind. When they wanted me to cover, it,
I would ask if they wanted it covered or they
would say to go, I would take a photographer
and we would go. The photographer would take
pictures that I wanted or groups that I
wanted. The people that I knew that maybe it
would be well to get these pictures. They
[the photographers] would get those pictures
or get them on their own. Then I would write
the story. The thing that I was always
thinking about, I didn't think about it at
the time, but I never got any overtime. I
wonder if people do now. I don't suppose they
do. If they are a reporter, they are on at a
certain time. But I worked from 8 in the
morning till 5 at night. If I covered a
party, I had to get dressed up, get myself
there. The photographer and I would meet. And
I would have to get myself home. And spend
the evening. I never did get any overtime. I
just thought that was the way it was done.
Q: You would stay the entire time?
A: Yes. I would stay as long as necessary,
depending on when they wanted to get it. If
we had to get it back. We usually didn't have
to have it for the next day because what we
covered was probably a layout for the Sunday
paper. It would be coming later. Not always,
but as a rule. Or it might be the Tribune
back page or something. --
Section 4: Q: You told a story in your letter that I
thought was kind of funny about reporting on
society people's trips out of town before
they left and then later on, you decided you
would report after they returned.
A: Apparently what they had been doing for
years was, if Mrs. Glutz was going someplace,
they would have it in the paper that she and
her husband and family were going to Europe
on a three-week trip. All the trips. They
would come home and find out their house had
been broken into. It became evident that the
people who were reading the society page were
the burglars. They were having a wonderful
time breaking into all these houses. It was
decided that we would have to have it when
they came home. Well, it got so there was a
time when nobody wanted anybody to know that
they were going anyplace. If they were
employers of people, they didn't necessarily,
considering I suppose what wages they were
getting, maybe they didn't want their
employees to know how big a deal that they
were going on a big trip. So, they wouldn't
want it in the paper. But we did have a way
of finding out. I would get the "starts" and
"stops" for the papers. I would look through
the "starts," you want your paper started
again because you are going to be back home
on such a day. I would get the "starts" and I
would look through and find the people that I
should call, that would be of interest
supposedly. Then I began to think, these
people maybe aren't the top cream of the
crop, but they are pretty average
middle-of-the-road people. Maybe we should
put a few things about them in. I would call
them, too. I began to try to get not just the
socialites, but some of the people who were
doing other things. Other business people or
people who have had ordinary businesses.
Things of that kind.
Q: Why was it important that you get the
other folks?
A: It was my idea. I thought it would be
rather nice to let Mr. and Mrs. Jones ...
there are probably some well-to-do and high
society Jones, but there might be a few Jones
in the middle society that should [be
called], if you get what I mean.
Q: This is kind of a sensitive question. As a
society editor covering party and club news,
some might suggest that the stories in the
women's department and in the home and family
sections were a kind of a fluff story. Even
describing them in a derogatory way. Not
measuring up to the hard news. How would you
respond to that?
A: At that time, I think people did want to.
I don't know how they feel about it now. But
I do feel that at that time, a lot of people
were very interested in putting in things
about their PTA meetings. We didn't print all
of the PTA meetings, but we did have some
that were in. If they elected officers and
they got it to us, we tried to print it.
People had music clubs and antique societies
and they were rather happy to have those. I
don't know whether they think that that is
unkind to put those in because somebody else
doesn't belong to that. I guess that is up to
the individual. I couldn't see that there was
anything wrong with that. And I still don't
think there is anything wrong with putting
those things in.
Q: Another part of the paper?
A: Yes. It was in that part. Now there really
isn't a women's department as such. Today, I
don't think a lot of women want to be
separated. They don't want that pointed out
that it is just women. But in those days, it
was something that they wanted and they were
unhappy if their story didn't get in. They
would come rushing in at the last minute just
before the deadline to get those stories in.
We would try to oblige them.
Q: Do you think we are missing something by
not having a women's department today?
A: I have had people say to me that the New
York papers even have society pages in them.
What is wrong with that? I think, I guess
maybe they do have. I don't take the New York
papers. But I understand they have had things
of that kind. But they are the very, very
well-to-do people whose stories are in. Now
the wedding [pictures are of ] the men and
the women. We didn't have any men in the
pictures. I think that is sort of nice when
the man gets in. The engagements. Shows the
fella as well as the bride. But we would have
been horrified if anybody wanted a man's
picture in back in those days. Why, I wonder?
I wonder why now? At that time, it was just a
matter of... I guess it is just the times. --
Section 5: Q: You have a background in journalism. Did
you ever write or report on hard or serious
news?
A: I can't say that I actually did hard news
as such. I did interviews, for instance, with
Arlene Dahl, the actress. I was sent over to
interview her. She was staying at the Fort
Des Moines Hotel. I don't know what she was
here for. She was very gracious. I came to
her suite. She was charming and gave me all
the information that I asked her and a
beautiful picture. I wish I could have dug
out some of the stories that I did because
they were interesting. There was one story I
did about a dollhouse. Would you like to hear
about that?
Q: I would.
A: Dr. [Robert] Updegraff's wife [Virginia]
and daughter [Margaret]. Mrs. Updegraff was
very crafty and did lots of crafts and
things. She made this beautiful dollhouse
[for Margaret]. It was probably five feet
tall and wide. Each room was decorated
beautifully. She made all these little
things. A chandelier was made out of a very
fancy dangling earring. All kinds of things.
After she did this, I heard about it through
a friend of mine. I called her and asked if I
could get pictures and do a story. And I did.
They ran a large page, I think it was
probably the Tribune; they used to do pages
with a lot of pictures and the story. Several
years later, some woman wrote that because of
this story, she wrote a wonderful book on
dollhouses. [Coleen Moore] was a famous
actress in the silent movie years. She had
taken her dollhouse all over the country. She
had that in there. And then she had
Virginia's dollhouse in there. And she sent
me a copy of her book because I had inspired
her to write this book. I was very pleased
with that. I tried to find the book to show
to you, but I couldn't find it.
Q: A reader who ran with your story.
A: Yes. --
Section 6: Q: You did a story about losing your husband
when he died in 1974. Could we talk a little
bit about that? Was it the editor who came to
you and asked you to do the story or did you
suggest it?
A: I don't exactly remember. I had gotten a
call about my husband's death while I was at
the office. It was about three o'clock in the
afternoon. My son called me and was crying on
the phone to tell me that his dad, you see.
They could tell all round me that something
had happened. So, I was taken... I wanted to
drive myself, of course. You lose your mind.
They wouldn't let me do that. They drove me
to the hospital. He died within 12 hours of
this stroke. Of course, I wasn't able to work
for a couple of weeks. I had to pull myself
together. They let me have a couple of weeks
off. I think what happened, that was in '74,
and the story was in '76. I think by that
time, I had healed sort of. But I evidently
was talking to the woman who had something to
do with pictures and stories in our
department. I think she thought it would make
a good story. She asked me to write it. I
think that is how that started.
Q: Did you have reservations about writing
it?
A: You know, I didn't. I remember it was
difficult to write. But I remember writing
it. They have told me that it was sold out.
That people bought other copies and that the
"YW" used it for a sort of a textbook for
widows and people who lost spouses. To have
them read it. It helped them. My picture
appeared at the top part. And then in the
lower part of the picture, there was a
picture of a Mrs. Goldberg. I talked about
her. And I had a friend call me and say, "I
certainly enjoyed your story, but I did think
that your story was better than Mrs.
Goldberg's." I didn't tell her, but I had
written both of them. She must have preferred
what she had read at the top more than the
lower part of the story. I have read it
several times and I cannot figure out what
was different about it.
Q: What was the message of the story?
A: It takes a while. You have to grieve for a
while. But that you do have to get back. If
you have a good job, you have to get back to
it and work. Working along is the important
thing. Also, that somehow, don't feel
surprised, at least I didn't, I wanted that
message to be that don't be surprised - there
is something about at first... for instance,
I directed a choir. At first, every hymn must
have been written for me. It was so sad that
I couldn't sing. All of these things,
everything was so sad. Then, after a while,
that seems to go away. You get to the place
where you can [cope]. [comments on a bug in
the room]
[recorder off briefly]
Q: We were talking about how you did get over
it. This was the message in your article.
A: I was happy that I had waited long enough
to write this story because I did discover
that, even thought I could burst into tears
right now if I didn't have control of myself,
by working and going on with life, I could
keep focused on what is going on in life,
rather than worrying about losing somebody.
You still love them and all that, but you
have to go on with life. From that, I was
able to help other people, I think, who read
the story because I did get lots of mail
about that. I believe that did help some
people.
Q: Talk about some of the people you worked
with at the Register. Did you have mentors
or close friends who were professional and
personal friends?
A: Yes. Jean Talmann was a very close friend
of mine. There was a Mrs. Cooney, Pat Cooney,
who was a writer. We lost her. She died. It
was very sad. She was a dear friend. Charlie
Nettles is still a longtime friend of mine.
He was my last boss when I was going to marry
my second husband. He let me have a couple of
weeks [off]. I asked if I could have a couple
of weeks off at a time that I wouldn't have
ordinarily. I wanted to elope because I
didn't want everybody knowing I was getting
married. We went to Colorado and got married.
He kept the secret. Then when I got back, he
introduced as Mrs. Edgington. He and his wife
and I are good friends.
Q: Was everybody surprised?
A: Everybody was surprised.
Q: The secret hadn't leaked out.
A: No, I don't believe it did. They knew I
was going with him because I was wearing a
ring. But nobody knew I was going to be
married. The same thing happened with Dorothy
Miller and Harold Yeglin. He worked in the
sports department and they eloped. When she
died of breast cancer, I gave the eulogy. I
think that was the hardest thing I ever did.
Giving the eulogy for Dorothy. She was
wonderful. I don't remember when that was. It
was before I retired. --
Section 7: Q: You were at work in the Register building
in 1963 when it came over the wires that John
F. Kennedy had been shot. Describe the scene
in the newsroom. What you remember about
that.
A: Jean Tallman and a couple of others and I
went up to the eighth floor where they had a
place where we could eat lunch. We went up
there and had lunch. We were standing in the
hallway waiting for the elevator to come and
take us back down. We were laughing about
something. Some joke. I have no idea what it
was. We were laughing and laughing. And the
doors opened and there was Maxine Perry, the
managing editors' secretary. She looked at us
and said, "Well, you obviously haven't heard
the news. President Kennedy has been shot."
We were just horrified. We went down to the
newsroom. It was a deathwatch. People were
doing nothing but waiting to see what was
happening. To hear whether he died or not.
Q: Radio or television?
A: They had a television. But Ken MacDonald
must have had some special way of finding
out, because pretty soon, he walked out [of
his office] - they were holding the presses
to get the Tribune out; it was just about one
and that was late for the Tribune - and I
heard him say, "I think we will go with it."
And then everything started moving. Everybody
moved. I thought, "It didn't say so on the
television. What was he doing? Wouldn't it be
awful to say he was dead when he wasn't?" I
just had this feeling of, "Oh, how awful."
Well, it turned out that he was right. Of
course, he knew.
Q: There was a question of whether he had
died?
A: There really was. Apparently he was dead
when he got to the hospital, when they took
him on that ride. The back of his head was
shot off. There was no doubt about it that he
was dead when he got there. But they were
trying to get everything together before
they... I think they were trying to get
somebody there to put [Vice President Lyndon
Baines] Johnson in right away.
Q: How was the Register getting their news?
A: I wonder if he [Ken MacDonald] didn't have
some direct line that he was talking to.
Parkland Hospital in Dallas. I don't know how
that works. I am not privy to that. But he
seemed to know that Kennedy was dead. That
was a terrible day.
Q: What was your role? Did you have to do
anything?
A: No. There was never anything that I did.
That I know of in our department. It was like
when we heard that Franklin Roosevelt was
dead. You know where you were. It is
horrifying.
Q: What do you remember about the [Nikita]
Khruschev visit? That was shortly after you
started.
A: He just was sort of a [short man]. There
was that farm family. [Mr. Garst] took him
around. He later on had to have his esophagus
removed. He used to come in. He was a big
farmer with some grain company. He brought
him through [the newsroom].
Tape One, Side Two
A: Khruschev went through the newsroom,
shaking everybody's hand. I shook his hand. I
just happened to be where he was coming by
and I thought I might as well shake his hand.
He was an interesting man, but I wasn't sure
what he was all about because I wasn't that
interested, basically. I didn't know I was
supposed to be as interested as I should have
been.
Q: What do you remember about him?
A: He was just a funny little man with a pug
nose and big ears and just was very jolly,
clapping people on the back. --
Section 8: Q: I want to go back to your work as society
editor. Tell me about what your work was like
and how you decided on stories. How the
stories came up or how you decided which
story was worth covering.
A: Lots of times, that was up to the editor.
I had one case where somebody called me.
Scott Smith called me. He was a pianist in
Des Moines. He said there was a wonderful new
singer by the name of Ann-Margret and he was
going to be playing for her. Maybe a drummer,
too. They were going to be appearing. She had
a hit record, "I Ain't Got Nobody." She
really did have a body. That she would be
coming to Des Moines. He sent me this picture
of the three of them and said I ought to get
in on this. "She is really going to be
something." I showed it to my boss and he
said, "Just do a story. Scott is the one we
know. Do a story about him." So, I just
wrote a little story and it didn't amount to
anything in particular, although he was
appreciative. And I mentioned the name. Of
course, it wasn't very long after that that
Ann-Margret became so popular. I think we
made a big mistake by not doing that. It is
just one of those things.
It is like the story about Terrace Hill and
Mrs. Hubbell. Mrs. Hubbell's home, Terrace
Hill, was going to be open. They had closed
it and her daughters were going to open it
for her 80th birthday. A friend of mine
called me and said it was going to be a big
deal. "Everybody in town is going to be
there." I said I would talk to the boss. I
told my boss about it and he said he would
send somebody out to get a spot picture. I
told him it was really a big deal. Well, he
didn't think so. So, I told Mary Bryson and
she got his ear and told him this ought to be
done. She was the home furnishings editor of
the paper. She had been there a long time.
Her husband, Bill Bryson [Sr.] was a sports
writer. She told him and he said, "Well,
maybe we should do something." So, he sent
George Mills, the well-known writer who has
written all about the Hubbells, and a
photographer out. They got all these
pictures. He was rushing to get a big layout
made. And Ken MacDonald, the editor, came by.
He looked at it and said it was going to be a
great layout. A good story. Then Russ, my
boss, said, "Yes, I am so glad I thought of
it." I thought, "I am, too." It was so
funny. I told Mary Bryson about it. She said,
"That is what happens."
Q: How did you feel about that?
A: I was glad that George Mills did the story
because he really knows the Hubbells. Way
back, he wrote the story [book] about old
F.M. Hubbell and the whole family. But it
would have been fun for me to do it from my
point of view. It wouldn't have been George's
story. It would have been my story. I think
it would have been all right. I am sure he
did a better story than I could have done. --
Section 9: Q: You were at the Register in the days of
the linotype machines and the typewriters.
The old uprights. And then computers. A
transitional time for the business of
journalism. Could you talk about how you and
others adjusted to those changes?
A: Yes. I personally enjoy something new.
There were some girls up there who didn't
like that new [computer] typewriter. I think
it was faster. They were just a little afraid
of it or something. I felt it was a good way
to go and I enjoyed it very much. Then, of
course, you had the printer that printed
everything off for you which was nice. You
didn't have to wait to send it [by the tube]
and your corrections were easy to make with
that little cursor that you could send
across. I think they call it a mouse now. It
had the cursor but not the mouse, then. With
the cursor, you could move letters and put
things in. I enjoyed that. I think that
basically I was tickled to death when we got
them. I think it was put out by Texas
Instrument. We had a paper that came out
everyday. It was called the TI. Dick Kline
put it out. He was the one who really got the
computer business going in the newsroom.
Q: What was his position?
A: He was in the newsroom. He was the fella
that actually ran the computer program for
us. Anything you didn't understand, you would
go to Dick. Dick was great. He ran the whole
thing. He put out TI. You read all kinds of
interesting things in it. As a matter of
fact, that was the only announcement of my
wedding that I had. Was in the TI. Something
about my being married. All kinds of chit
chat about the newsroom.
Q: An internal publication?
A: Yes, that is what it was.
Q: What are your impressions of the paper
now? Do you still get the paper?
A: I get it.
Q: What do you think?
A: I hate to say too much because I do get
the daily paper and the Sunday paper at a big
discount. I couldn't get along without the
paper because I am used to it. But I do
think, it is my understanding, that a lot of
people have left. They are unhappy for some
reason. I am horrified at the grammatical
errors. I am horrified at the lack of editing
that appears. I don't know who does the
editing. It doesn't look to me as if they
have read proof. Their editor is probably a
very nice person. I am not saying anything
against them individually. One of the things
I read, first thing, is the corrections.
Almost every day, there is a little place for
corrections. More times than not, I look to
see because if it is a meeting that I might
have to go to; I want to be sure that it is
something that I am interested in. I want to
be sure that I did get the right time and the
right date and so forth. And the spellings
and things, everyday there is something.
Q: You can expect that putting out such a
large paper that you would have those kinds
of corrections.
A: I don't think we had them that way. There
was a time when you had proofreading. That is
what people were hired for. They did
proofreading. And then you did your own
proofreading, too, of your own galley sheets.
And people came to me and asked me to read
them for them. I did save them a lot of
troubles because we did get things. I think
this business of saying, accuracy, accuracy,
accuracy, is true. You should be accurate. It
looks as if they are going [downhill].
Q: Who is accountable? The editor,
obviously. What are the reasons we are seeing
more of that than what you saw?
A: If you tie it all together, the way people
dress, the way their kids dress, the way ...
language they speak [referring to grammar].
You listen to them in school. Instead of
saying, "He said this," they say, "She goes,
I don't know, and she goes..." They use the
word "go" instead of "say." Their clothes are
sloppy. They are not allowed to be much
disciplined in the schools. I sound like I
have a soapbox or something, but I really
think that it all ties in that people don't
care anymore as much. I don't think they
care. There must be some reason at the basis
of the whole thing to just expound what they
want to say and let it go at that.
Q: With regard to the paper, you would think
the company would want to sell as many papers
as they can and so they would want to have a
finished product out there.
A: Have you ever looked at how many ads they
have? Don't you think that is bringing in
their money, maybe?
Q: Of course, that is the way it was before,
too.
A: Possibly. Possibly. It seems to me as if
there are more ads, and there are more ads
for these dating services and things. Pages
of those. Think of how much money that brings
in. But then, I don't know... who am I to
say? I worked for the company when it was
taken over by the company that runs it now.
There was a different publisher at the top.
She went back east. There was a lot of to-do
down there then. I don't know Mrs. Henry or
Miss Henry or whatever her name is. She is
probably doing the best she can, but I don't
know that it is... it isn't a newspaper with
something. You hear of something happening,
you look for it the next day in the paper and
you don't find it. I don't know why. I am not
one that knows exactly, but it isn't like the
old paper.
