After 28 years of writing a city column three times week and two decades more of bringing San Diegans the news, it is time to turn off the computer — for now
For years, I have had the privilege of patrolling the Del Mar racetrack on opening day in pursuit of off-the-beaten-track stories as I capture the atmosphere of this annual San Diego ritual.
Initially I rotated from one beat to another as an intern answering to a string of beat reporters — covering news at the County Administration Center, San Diego City Hall, police station, city and county school districts, business community, regional bureaus, and more. A highlight of my early reporting days was my heart-to-heart talk with Theodor Geisel at his La Jolla home with its landmark tower.
VIPs, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dick Cheney, Don Coryell, Elizabeth Dole, Françoise Gilot, Hillary Clinton, Joan Lunden, Maria Shriver, Margaret Thatcher, Martha Stewart, Nancy Reagan, Ralph Nader, Richard Branson, Sarah Ferguson and Zandra Rhodes … to mention a few of the more memorable.I’ll never forget the amazing courage of Johan Otter, of Escondido, horribly mauled by a grizzly bear while hiking with his daughter in Glacier National Park.
There have been many highlights, including a trip to Uganda to track endangered mountain gorillas, and a few lowlights, throughout my decades as a journalist. After being one of the first San Diegans to publicize the devastating outbreak of COVID-19, vividly relayed to me by former San Diego journalist James Healy living in Beijing, I found myself relating my own COVID story of being placed on a ventilator. Then triumphantly leaving the hospital with the theme from “Rocky” echoing through the corridors of Scripps Memorial Hospital.
I publicized many deeds of kindness and spur-of-the-moment acts of heroism as I chronicled the daily scene, always trying to define what makes San Diego tick. This was still a new frontier and those who craved a seat at the development table and a voice in our future, could have their say. News is not just crime blotters, traffic accidents, government decrees, natural disasters and sunshine — or not.
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