From our weekly issue dated September 24, 2008

Some of us are nostalgia nuts, and I am one, although many consider me simply nuts, nostalgia notwithstanding.

So it is that I am enjoying being a member of what I call the 919 Gang. It consists of us beat-up old newspaper reporters and the like who worked for the Union-Tribune Publishing Co. in Downtown San Diego. The Trib entrance was at 919 Second Ave. It was so well-known that when phoning for a cab, one only had to say 919, and the dispatcher, who hung out at nearby Horton Plaza, knew exactly where to send a taxi.

But the 919 Gang also includes other news types, who made the move to Mission Valley in 1973 to new quarters. So there’s lots of memories from them, crackling with nostalgia. I had left the institutional green-painted newsroom full of clacking typewriters at 919 in 1969 after working for the Trib some six years. Actually, I only worked in the newsroom for maybe half that time. Nine months were as a copy boy; then I got onto the reporters training program, subsequently working the day shift, and later, nightside.

As a copy boy I also wrote some youth page features, and covered some water sport events. After becoming a reporter, for a time I worked three days a week cityside; then two days for sports. I covered waterskiing; SK, sailing and unlimited hydroplane racing; surfing and SCUBA diving. In fact, I was made an honorary member of Windansea Surf Club, and became an active member and diver with Skindiving Unlimited. The latter will make a column of its own. Bet you can hardly wait.

After leaving 919 I helped start the U-T’s Escondido bureau. Also for a time I covered the Oceanside bureau, which included Camp Pendleton, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Cardiff and other coastal communities; worked in the El Cajon office covering the East County for not too long; and ended up as the Trib’s South Bay reporter (Chula Vista, National City, Bonita, Imperial Beach, Coronado, San Ysidro and the Mexico border crossing) from the Chula Vista bureau. Lots of memories; nostalgia oozing. From the Escondido office I covered San Marcos, Valley Center, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Julian and Ramona. It was a neat beat with plenty of breaking news and feature stories.

Sometimes my monthly mileage check was for more bucks than my weekly pay. I was questioned once (once) about the mileage: All I had to do was point to the stories and photos I submitted. No more questions.

Well, that’s about enough nostalgia for now. I get this way sometimes; it comes with the territory and being a member of the actual press (newspapers). I consider the news people with radio and TV as news media; they do not use presses as we old-timers do. Wow, that’s nostalgia. Or is it neuralgia in a really uncomfortable place?