Taking a Long Walk Down Nostalgia Lane

This weekend I am getting together with some old college classmates and unlike depictions I’ve seen in many movies I doubt it will be filled with angst.

It is the 50th anniversary of my university’s newspaper and to honor the event the Communications Department organized a reunion of all its former staffers.

I haven’t attended any school reunions. As for high school, that wouldn’t happen since I’m a high school drop-out. I seriously doubt that class reunions are organized for junior colleges. And my university was so big and fragmented that a class reunion would be very unlikely.

So a reunion of the university newspaper’s staffers on a historic anniversary is probably the closest things I’ll get to attend a real class reunion.

My class was the class of 1977. We actually had a pretty good class.

There are a number of my college classmates who went on to do some great things in journalism. More than a few ended up at major newspapers and news wire services around the country.

One classmate in particular I watched move from a major local daily newspaper to a national sports publication. He’s now with another major daily on the East Coast. Since I only just recently contacted him after a number of years he didn’t even know I had watched his career from afar.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t tracking him day after day. I’d just get curious from time to time and look him up on the internet and could always seem to find him.

Another classmate I have watched is a photographer who had an impressive portfolio even while we were still in college. He eventually landed at the Washington Post and also was White House press photographer of the year more than a few times.

And then there was the tragic news of another classmate who won’t be attending the reunion. We not only had been classmates but worked together for a few years at a little daily newspaper in Orange County.

We also were basketball buddies. Being a sports guy he seemed to know where all of the pick-up games were around our area. We’d travel all over the county on weekends to play.

He went on to have a great career at the Los Angeles Times as a sports writer and columnist. His death last November was shocking to me. I think he will be missed by many at the reunion.

While most of my journalism career was not quite as illustrious as some of my classmates, and I abandoned it several years ago, it was a fulfilling endeavor for more than 15 years.

I spent most of it with small daily newspapers. I did everything from working as a combination reporter and photo journalist, to running the news desk, serving as city editor and ultimately managing editor.

Later I landed at a major education publication and covered the White House and Congress. As part of my beat I covered the nation’s governors and state school chiefs/superintendents too. I also won a few national awards for some of my stories, which was nice recognition.

When people ask me about my reporting career, I tell them it was great. I got to meet people, go places and see events most people only get to read about.

I have no regrets that I didn’t do more with my journalism career. I also don’t envy my classmates who had more illustrious careers. I’m actually glad for them.

Sure, I ultimately went on to do something very different – a career in information technology. It also was fulfilling since much of it was working for a company with a primary goal of improving the lives of people with life threatening maladies. And my role was not insignificant since it involved the safety issues of the drugs the company developed and produced.

In addition, I also had a short career as a full-time musician, touring with a band on the East Coast for a few years that issued a couple of recordings from an independent label. Music has continued to be an avocation for me and I even had my own successful band for several years.

So I have no excuses or misgivings about my career choices.

I just think this coming weekend will be interesting. I’ll be seeing some of the people whose careers I’ve seen rise over the years. I also hope to see many other classmates that I lost track of so many years ago.

It’s just going to be a really nice weekend and I’m looking forward to it.