Union-Bulletin

I went to work for the Union-Bulletin on Sept. 1 of 1968, and my very first assignment was to interview Whitman College coach Roy Thompson at a practice field adjacent to Borleske Stadium for a story in the next day’s paper about the Missionaries’ football team.

A few days later, I met Felix Fletcher at the Wa-Hi campus and interviewed the legendary Blue Devils football coach for a preview story I wrote on that weekend’s game.

As I look back now after all of the years, I’m gratified to know that was a pretty impressive one-two punch to start out one’s daily newspaper journalism career.

With the exception of one hot summer spent in Phoenix, Ariz., in the early 1970s, I’ve worked for the Union-Bulletin ever since that first day of September in 1968. I’ve gone from part-timer to full-timer to sports editor and now, in my “Golden Years,” I’m once again on part-time status.

And enjoying every minute of it.

In this most recent — and last — role with the U-B, I get to write columns and feature stories on a regular basis, stories I never seemed to find the time to write as the lead person in the sports department. At the same time I am able to keep a hand in the daily operation of the paper by helping out whenever the staff is shorthanded or the workload is heavy.

My strength as a small-town sports journalist, as I see it, is that I know the territory. Sports traditions run deep in this valley, and I’ve been a first-hand observer over the past 45 years. I try to put this knowledge to good use whenever I can.

My wife Margaret and I have seven children, 20 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren who keep us busy. We also love to travel, which we are now able to do more often.

In my spare time, I’m a regular at the YMCA fitness center and a semi-regular on the golf course.