When Jim Taylor and John Short are sitting across from you
at the dinner table, you’re in for a real treat. And, if you happen to be a
newspaper reporter like me, listening to two veterans spin stories about their
adventures is an unforgettable evening, laced with subtle lessons — just like
how they write.
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| …Jim |
Jim wrote over 7,500 sports columns for newspapers including
the Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province and Calgary Sun. John wrote sports for
the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Press, the Edmonton Journal and he is a colleague
of mine at the Edmonton Sun.
Jim was in town Thursday to be part a charity event. A few
weeks ago he suggested the three of us have dinner “and tell a few stories.”
I just listened. I may have been in the newspaper business
for over 30 years, but, frankly, I felt like a journalism student taking his
last class.
Jim and John met in the mid-1960’s, decades before the
Internet. They relied on notepads and manual typewriters to write their stories
and columns. But, more important: their reputation.
Jim gave a great example: he was writing a book with Wayne
Gretzky, and several days before Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles, Jim had the
story. But he had an agreement with Wayne: not to write anything in the
newspaper he discovered while writing the book.
And he didn’t.
I have to wonder if that would have happened in today’s
social media.
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| …John |
John says reporters and people they write about these days
don’t share time together like they used to — over dinner, or over a cup of
coffee. Building relationships are so very important in any business,
especially the media.
Funny thing happened, too. Nobody’s cell phone went off once
over dinner.
Mrs. Tait joined us and I’m glad she got a glimpse of
newspaper reporting years ago.
“I have never heard you so quiet over dinner in the 19 years
we’ve been married,” she said.
And that made me wonder if, perhaps, I don’t listen enough.
Twitter @camtait