Gazette readers... hark!

As long as Sespe Creek has been dry... you've waited for this. Your patience is hereby rewarded. I'm not talking about water flowing again in the creek, which is nice to see. No, instead, a new column here in the Gazette by yours truly to tickle your literary bones.

It's true. I recently caught the publisher by surprise and before he came to his senses, the contract was signed. You know, 10 years, six figures, the usual. My agent is the greatest.

My intention is to present all manner of things Fillmore. Special events, business grand openings, activities at various venues and the like. Occasionally weigh in on City Council happenings. And of course, discuss subjects of great importance to the Gazette readership and residents at large. Please note, that it's going to be a work in progress... evolving as the readership provides input about the column and your preferences.

Now the difficult part. Publisher Martin insisted that I present a little background info.

Back in the early 60s I joined the U. S. Air Force where I was promptly assigned to an airborne reconnaissance wing (spy planes) at Kadina AF base in Okinawa, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base. On leave to Japan, I bought my first camera, a Konika range finder. Konica's single lens reflex cameras pioneered auto-exposure in cameras with focal-plane shutters. For one, I could not resist shooting the 12,388 feet Mt. Fuji, aka “Fuji-san” as well as other Japanese iconic landmarks.

Upon my honorable discharge, I returned to civilian life in south Florida. Established a residence with my family outside of Miami. My first day job was with WTVJ, channel 4 Miami as video tape editor and operator.

During free time, I became an active explorer of the vast wilderness known as the Everglades and the great cypress tree swamp and upland range of Big Cypress. So much grandeur in all that wildness.

After leaving TV production, I held various jobs throughout the next 10 years or so, including, installation of electronic equipment in hotels for Totell Systems, Picker X-Ray and electronic tech for an aerospace contractor. These positions paid the bills for my growing family of three children but getting burned out on electronic work.
Moved to a small town outside of Ft. Lauderdale that didn't have a recreation department. Not good. With the city attorney, presented the city council with an ordinance establishing a Parks & Recreation Board which was seated by the city council by interested persons that I recommended. Those people, the P & R Board, saw the wisdom of hiring me as the city's first Parks & Recreation director. Funny how that works. Held the position for 12 years.

All the while, I continued to spend as much free time as available out in the Everglades and Big Cypress. I not only learned the territory, by observation I learned the ways and means of the varied wildlife of the area. Captured as much as I could but with a newer camera. Along with photos, I was keeping a journal of my observations. And also spent a good deal of time fishing. Why not, I learned where all the lunkers lurked!

Having acquired many photos of flora and fauna, I began, as a freelance photojournalist, to submit them to various publications around Florida. Many were published. In time, I was getting assignments. About this time, I again made another career move: joining the Florida Fish & Game Commission (as it was know back then) as a Reserve Officer. Besides routine patrols, I also served as the regional information officer.

Eventually, the hazards of the position wore on me. So, again time to rethink about what to do. Became a fishing guide... fresh and saltwater. In all the intervening years, I had not only knowledge of the Everglades, but of many of fisheries from Lake Okeechobee to the St. John's River. I also fished the offshore Gulfstream for all manner of saltwater fish. But first, obtained my Captain's license required by the Coast Guard when taking aboard paying customers. At this point, my photojournalism took a new turn based on boating and fishing.

Again, getting published was easy because the photos were fresh... of places not normally seen. And I began to write about such places, travel writer of sorts. I began to write short travel snippets about the location accompanied with photos. But as one might suspect, work as a fishing guide is weather dependent and to a large degree, seasonal. This can wreck havoc on one's budget.

All of my published work throughout Florida did not escape the notice of the Southern Star magazine publisher. One day, visiting the owner of a tackle store in Ft. Lauderdale, I was approached by the magazine editor with a proposition. I accepted his invitation to meet with the publisher... and in a blink, I was Associate Editor of the Southern Star fishing and boating section.

A steady job but a challenging one as well. For all intent and purposes, I was initiating a whole new section. The Editor, Vic, was only writing about sailing. It began with my writing just three articles for the first edition. But, I was busy. All the fishing magazines in FL wrote about fishing last month. Boring. I scoured the state and finally had a group of 9 professional anglers from all parts of the state. But not feeding me last months activities, instead, predicting the fishing to be expected in the NEXT month. Never been done before. It quickly became a huge success. If someone had a week off and wanted to fish Lake George on the St. Johns River, they'd know what to expect by reading my fearless fishing forecast. Or maybe they'd plan to go wherever the fishing looked the most promising. Magazine sales jumped from an average of 12,000/month to 178,000/month-give or take-in five months and increasing.

At the time magazine sales were increasing exponentially, I was writing 5 articles a month, covering tournaments all over south Florida and the Bahamas, the fearless fishing forecast and doing boat tests and writing about my reviews. Can you even imagine the challenge of writing and photographing all that every month? Deadlines were dreaded!!! And I lost weight!

Sad to say, unfortunate circumstances befell and the Southern Star and it closed. Not long after that, Hurricane Andrew displaced me. My daughter graduated UCLA the following June and upon coming out here for the graduation ceremony, her then boyfriend suggested that I fly back home, drive my 27 ft. class C motorhome back to California and because of his being a state park ranger, I'd be camp host at Leo Carillo. That was 1995, I think.

Exploring the territory as I like to do, I eventually discovered Fillmore, back when the green steel bridge spanned the Santa Clara river. Eventually I ended up in Fillmore, and discovered the Fillmore Gazette. And as many of you may remember, there was also the Fillmore Herald. I chose to begin as a Fillmore photojournalist with the Gazette simply because I immediately saw more professionalism in the Gazette publisher Martin Farrell. Been shooting for the Gazette now well over a decade.

Well, that's a snippit of my background over several decades. As you see, I have done a good deal of writing and photography the last four decades or so.

One more item! A weekly newspaper naturally can't afford (so I'm told) a full-time photojournalist so, to pay the bills, I needed some additional income. I discovered what was then A Street Self Storage. In exchange for providing customer service, I was able to park my 40ft 5th wheel RV on the property and work from it. Worked for A Street Storage for 12 years and many of you perhaps rented a storage unit from me or a place for your RV. Nova Storage bought the business and property in March of 2016 and retained me as their property manager. And that brings us to the present moment.

Besides this column, we'll also be introducing another new feature: “Photo of the Week.” Why not? I'll begin and eventually invite residents to submit an image. The only condition, for now, is that the photo must relate to Fillmore, Bardsdale, Piru and the immediate surrounding area. Landscapes, architecture, waterscapes, wildlife and the like. Please, no photos of little Johnny blowing out the candles on his 5th birthday. Or your Auntie Bertha modeling her new Easter bonnet. You get the idea.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, my writing style is colloquial... an informal conversational style without regard to strict set of rules. So, rather than take me to task for grammatical miscues (should there ever be one) or improper speling... er... spelling, remember: Compassion rules.

Last but no less important. A contest. I purposefully didn't name the column so that you, the readership, can submit your suggestion. If I ultimately select your suggestion, you will win, at my expense, a scoop of Baskin-Robbins ice cream at the new Fillmore B-R store. Deal? Now, what's your suggestion?

Cheers!