What comes around, goes around

As many of you know, I grew up in Boulder City, moved away for more than 35 years and then returned in April of last year when offered the job of editor of the Review.

This is where I got my start in journalism. In fact, I’ve always looked upon Oct. 1 as my unofficial anniversary in the business. So, earlier this month began my 40th year as a professional journalist. And like Disney, I’m celebrating the year of a milestone and the year after the actual anniversary date but without the parades and giant mouse.

It was the beginning of my junior year at BCHS and, being that I had always enjoyed writing up until that point, I took the journalism class taught by Gail Lenning. While I knew how to write, journalism is often very different. I joined the class and said I’d like to write sports for the school paper.

About two months into that school year, I was told that the former Boulder City News had an opening for sports editor. I thought it couldn’t hurt to apply. At the time, I worked part time as the fry cook at Jack in the Box. I’m sure Woodward and Bernstein got their start the same way.

With the endorsement of Mrs. Lenning, I met with Editor Bill Harbour and he decided to give me a shot.

By the way, it just hit me that in March of this year, I wrote about getting my start here, so I will skip ahead in a bit. Don’t get old.

For two years I served as sports editor of the Boulder City News under the tutelage of Bill and Goldie Begley, who was like a second mom to many of us who knew her. At that time, the paper was owned by former two-term governor, Mike O’Callaghan. Sadly, all three are no longer with us.

After college in Reno, I worked for two years in Yerington and then four years in Fallon. It was in Fallon where I flew with the Navy’s Blue Angels, which was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.

Following a short stint in Kingman, I accepted a job with a daily paper in Kona, Hawaii. I know, that’s rough. I spent 12 years there and as you can imagine, it was paradise. Mostly because of my divorce, I decided to leave Hawaii and come back home for a bit to lick my wounds and decide on the next chapter of my life.

I worked at a paper in Big Bear, Calif. for a short time before realizing it wasn’t a good fit for me. Not long after, I accepted a job in Sedona (people have said I pick only pretty places to live). I was the assistant editor there for more than eight years before being offered a job with the city of Sedona in the communications department. While the staff was great, and I was happy to get a chance to try something new, at the end of the day, I realized that for better or worse, I’m a journalist. It’s what I have always been and what I will probably always be.

I took a job as editor of the newspaper in Wickenburg, Ariz. for a year before getting the call from the editors of the Review Journal, asking if I wanted this job.

So, that’s my career in 569 words.

Trust me, I have days when I wish I had taken a different career path. It’s often long hours, thankless work for not a lot of pay. But when I look at the big picture, I’ve been able to do some cool stuff and interview a lot of interesting people. There have been five governors, a handful of U.S. senators, not to mention athletes like Jerry Rice, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tony Gwynn and David Robinson. Or, musicians like Pat Benetar and bands such REO Speedwagon, Journey and the Temptations. While I continue to pick up names that I’ve dropped off the floor, there have been celebrities like Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Asner, almost Clint Eastwood (as I have written about), Rob Reiner and Mike Farrell to name just a few.

While talking with celebrities and pro athletes can be fun, I have always enjoyed interviewing the Average Joe, who often turn out to be far from average. Everyone has a story to tell, it’s our job as journalists to find it and do it justice. I’d like to think I’ve done just that.

War veterans have often led to some of my more memorable interviews. One that always comes to mind was a very reserved and soft-spoken World War II veteran who fought on Iwo Jima. He shared in great detail what it was like. I praised him for that seeing as how, at that time, it was nearly 60 years after the fact. I’m paraphrasing but he said, “Ron, I can’t tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday, but you never forget the sight of your buddy getting shot and killed, the sounds of young men crying out for their mother or the smell of burning flesh.” Very powerful stuff.

So, after the better part of 40 years in the business that’s included an estimated 10,000-11,000 articles, my career has come full circle. I’ve spoken to many high school journalism classes and civic organizations over the years and have often shared the same comment and that’s, “I will never become a millionaire doing what I do, but I’ve seen stuff, done things and interviewed people that most millionaires can only dream of.”