Nick Coleman says farewell in his last column with a sweeping picture of how newspapering has changed in 35 years (although management might not have changed all that much) — and why it might still matter.
I got an early lesson in how Minneapolis worked from the sly old
managing editor, Wally Allen, who wore a bow tie and told me I would
start on New Year's Day 1973. When he called back later to tell me New
Year's was a holiday and that I didn't have to show up until Jan. 2, it
was like a gift from a kind uncle. It took months before I figured out
Wally's "gift" meant I would not earn any paid vacation for 1973. I
hadn't worked a full calendar year.
Meanwhile, his "counterpart" metro columnist files her last column before the holidays and spends the next three weeks dithering over whether she'll be able to continue to blog on her blog. She also squeezes out a post based largely on excerpts from a "new book" published in 2006.
Why not?
— Robert Stephens, founder, The Geek Squad
Satisfied with her progress so far, Winnie prayed for individuals [...] By doing this she did not hope to actually heal or improve another life per se; neither did she presume to direct the attention of an absent-minded Being. She prayed in order to participate in the Activity of God, much like a daughter who dutifully cans vegetables — not because she likes vegetables or contributes significantly to the canning process, but because she wants her mother's company.
— David Rhodes, Driftless
For immigrant workers, as with so many of us in the suburbs, life boils down to the job, the bed and the travel between. But when you live in a landscape designed for cars, and you are poor, and it is too far to walk to work, and there’s no bus to take you there, the only option is two wheels. This is what is cheap and effective. It can also be deadly.
—Lawrence Downes, Men on Bicycles
The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."
[...]
Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.
—Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal
Provocative Geek Squad quote.
But the passage from David Rhodes was awesome, as in awe-inspiring. The book looks worth getting. And I should be more than a spectator when it comes to Milkweed Editions. My wife contributes donations to Milkweed.
One way:
http://www.milkweed.org/content/view/10/26/
Posted by: Hal Davis | January 11, 2009 at 09:43 PM