RIP, Stan Glyde

I was saddened to learn today of this weekend's death of Stan Glyde, the British immigrant who introduced me to soccer and taught me how to play the drums. Most importantly, he taught me that I could accomplish things if I had the right focus and commitment.

Stan died in Fresno at age 76, and lived a long fruitful life as a musician, teacher and soccer coach. He inspired hundreds of kids to adopt the then strange game of soccer, taught drumming for decades and played regularly with local bands up until early this year.  I was school friends in Fresno with his sons David and Shawn, and our parents (including Stan's wife, Emily) remain close to this day.

I met Dave in third grade and soon thereafter was playing soccer on a Holland Elementary School team Stan had inspired and coached. He turned a bunch of misfits who had never played soccer into a championship team. More importantly, he taught us the value of hard work, with daily practices that focused on fitness, fundamental ball skills and teamwork.  We were called the Holland Hammers, named after the West Ham United Hammers, Stan's favorite British professional team. I can still visualize our purple and light blue uniforms, colors West Ham continues to use to this day.

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"I Want to be a News Reporter"

A family friend dropped off a children's book titled "I Want to be a News Reporter" that left me both laughing and wincing. It's an unintentionally hilarious story from 1958 that was part of an educational book series designed to 1) encourage reading at a beginning level and 2) help plant the seed in kids minds about the many exciting careers in their futures.

The book came from a local school library, and I can see why they figured it had served its time. The text and illustrations are dated in a bad way, and what passed for excitement back in 1958 would drive a kid back to the videogame or Club Penguin in about ... 3 seconds. 

Case in point is this exchange between Don, an impressionable kid, and Uncle Jack, a reporter at the City News:

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Two heavyweights leave The Californian

This has been a tough week in Bakersfield, as The Californian said goodbye to two supremely talented people who helped take our company to new heights.

Editor Mike Jenner left the paper today after nearly two decades in Bakersfield. He's taking a prime journalism teaching gig at his alma mater, the University of Missouri, one of the best journalism schools in the country. If there's paradise in a tumultuous business like ours, that might be it.

Mike started working with the paper as a design consultant 17 years ago, but soon was hired to fill a series of top newsroom and "new media" positions, including executive editor. I've never met anyone who had a better mix of news, design and technical skills. Some editors are great wordsmiths or managers but lack the knowledge or want to understand the processes and technology that can make or break good journalism. It's hard work to get "underneath the hood," but that knowledge is invaluable, and I've always marveled at Mike's thirst to understand exactly how things like press configurations worked so he could take full advantage in producing a newspaper every day.

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