JUST SO NOBODY FORGETS...

This is a personal note to my scores of former colleagues who remember the date October 27, 2004, as an odd day in our careers at The Big Paper Downtown, not that odd days were unusual. 
You’re not forgotten, you are in the hearts of people who were there with you and people who remember your loyal work.
(I loyally dressed as a rabbit once for an event designed to help promote the integrity of the newspaper -- usually I edited and wrote, but not in the bunny suit. It was a rental.)
So this layoff was a BIG layoff. Lots of loyal employees. Some people went on to find other jobs in newspapers, some didn’t. The paper, like the industry, was in a convulsion and passing it on to the people who’d helped it grow.
I like to think that all affected found a happiness. (I'd found happiness in 1991-- wedding photo! -- with my Funspouse Martha, also an employee of The Big Paper until she left the next year, '92, to start a pet-sitting business because, she said to some bosses, “I’d rather work with animals.” All laughed. I’m told.)

Back to the Dark Day of the Layoff: Not sure the management team found happiness. I hope each person who had a vote has acquired an understanding of what happened that day and what their actions meant to lives and families.
Of course, “understanding” is not the equivalent of “comfort.”

(FYI, if you want to see how big the company was in those days, there’s a link below to a really positive news release from early in 2005.)
In the meantime, on Thursday the 25th in 2018, I bought two cups of coffee and paid $4.21. The stock price of The Big Paper Downtown, once magnificent, closed at $4.45 a share on Friday. That coffee was pretty good. I didn’t see the paper.
Well, why go on with lamentations? We’re happy The Big Paper Downtown continues to publish. America needs honest, aware, smart, stick-to-the-mission newspapers in print and online. It’s integral to freedom and democracy. Even in Dallas. 
That photo? That’s my late companion, Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas and our staff impersonator, giving us his impression of a dog who nodded off while looking out the front window and waiting for somebody to throw a newspaper into the yard. FYI: The paper hasn’t arrived outside that window since the morning of 10/27/2004. I excused myself about two minutes into managment's private "gee, we're sorry exit interview" with me to walk down to circulation and cancel my subscription. Seemed like the thing to do. Still does.

I can’t decide which Bob Dylan song to close with:

Selection A from Dylan’s Not Dark Yet

“Don't even hear the murmur of a prayer
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there.”


Selection B from Things Have Changed

“People are crazy and times are strange
“I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
“I used to care, but things have changed.”


Here’s that link to the 2005 vision of The Big Paper's company: CLICK HERE.
A lot of property mentioned is gone now. And, after reading that news release, maybe Things Have Changed is appropriate.

--- Thanks for indulging me. Offer advice, support or therapy by clicking on comment below or emailing [email protected]. ---