Our most local reporter/columnist, John Horgan, almost slipped his 50th anniversary in the business past me. Right at the end of his weekend column he notes
On a personal note, 2012 marks your correspondent's 50th year writing for Peninsula newspapers, whether in print or online, beginning at the defunct Burlingame Advance-Star in 1963. Its Lorton Avenue address is now an upscale restaurant. From linotype machines to lentil soup, it was ever thus.
There's a website for almost everything including historic newspapers, so you can read a bit about the Advance-Star, nee The Advance here. Publisher George McQueen's son Mike still makes an occasional appearance in B'game for events. A bit more research yields the exact 1952 address on Lorton where the paper was located--number 310--which is now wedged between Meyer-Bunje and Patronik Designs. By 1963, when John Horgan started, it must have moved a couple of doors perhaps to where Ecco is now.
In any case, congrats to John for a wonderful career and may he keep fingers to keyboard for a long time.
John Horgan bookended his 50th year with this piece in his column today:
A HALF-CENTURY
As 2013 comes to a close, a personal note is in order: It's been a full 50 years since your humble servant began his writing career at Peninsula newspapers.
My stumbling debut in print was made in early November 1963 at the now-defunct Burlingame Advance-Star, part of a little chain that included lively sheets in Redwood City and Palo Alto.
At that time, President John F. Kennedy was still alive. He would be slain just a few weeks later in Texas. San Mateo County had two thriving horse racing tracks, work on Interstate 280 was just commencing, the Benjamin Franklin Hotel was still a San Mateo hot spot and a gallon of leaded regular gas was all of 35 cents. There was no Genentech, Oracle, Facebook or Virgin America.
A long stint at the San Mateo Times, then the San Mateo County Times, began in the summer of 1964; it lasted on a full-time basis from 1965 to 2008.
I've been a correspondent there, and a freelance writer elsewhere, since then. And the beat goes on.
Congrats again, John. May the beat indeed go on......
Posted by: Joe | December 26, 2013 at 12:28 PM
It's nice to see that John Horgan has landed a spot at the Daily Journal. Yesterday's edition was the first time I have seen him in the DJ. Four items made up the column: government agency doublespeak, Searsville Lake (closed to the public since 1975), Manheimer's challenges in Oakland and Brisbane finally waking up to what the High-cost rail maintenance yard would do to their other development plans. Not sure where the Brisbaners have been all these years?
Column is here for subscribers:
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/opinion/columnists/wordsmiths-have-been-having-a-field-day-lately/article_cd437a2e-f7b7-11ea-b94d-bf8ac767b539.html
Posted by: Joe | September 17, 2020 at 01:43 PM