Bye-bye P-I: One man's -30-

A video of some of the staff's memories:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/video/bcplayer.asp?bcpid=1534576430&bctid=16577990001

It got awful dusty in my place near the end.

 

yeah, i notice i can't click a link and tell hearst to get fucked below that vid.

 

Best of luck to you, Dave, and all of the staff.

 

All the best to you and your colleagues, Dave... damn fine finale.

 

I'm trying to go to Cooperstown for induction weekend this year, so David, if you and BYH get a chance to come up, the first couple of rounds is on me.

 

I can't thank everyone enough for all the kind words and messages, and your incredibly generous contributions to last night's wake. It took a long time for the tab to run out, and then every time I went to the bar the bartenders said, "Don't worry about it -- someone just replenished the tab." I don't think much money was actually spent by staffers, so many thanks to those who kicked in.

It was a tough, yet strangely fun, night. Put a lot of people together who are already close, add copious amounts of alcohol and expose all the raw nerves by giving them nothing to lose, and it's something to see. Lots of laughs and lots of tears. I couldn't help but look around the room and think of all the talent and experience assembled there. Seems like you could make a hell of a newspaper out of that group.

Just took my first tour through the final edition that landed on the doorstep. Damn dusty in this house. I am very pleased that I got myself listed in the transactions: "placed on irrevocable waivers for the purposes of granting him his unconditional release." Now I just have to wait and see whether I clear waivers.

 

Wow that vid is a heartbreaker. And the thing that's the saddest is that just as newspapers have started to get really good at videos and the new world, the suits are pulling the plug. As usual, we're better at it than most of our TV brethren but in some places, you'll never get to see that develop.

 

There's some small justice but incredible defiant that in the last edition of the P-I AB (and I'm guessing some others) were listed in the transactions. That's something that would get you fired under normal circumstances but Monday night was definitely tuned to radio WGAF - Who Gives A Fuck.

 

Man, hearing Joe Copeland on that video ... I worked with him 30 years ago at my first job. A true pro.

 

Did that really happen? I'd love to see a scan

 

So, AB, can you give us a scan of the transactions? Or can you just copy-and-paste them onto a post here? Unless, of course, that might get you in any trouble with regard to whatever the severance package is. Your transaction was laugh-out-loud good -- incredible that you (and I'm sure others) can keep your sense of humor at such a difficult time. All the best to you and the rest of your peers from the P-I.

 

Just getting to this thread now, the whole idea with helping with the bar tab . . . it got dusty in here. OK, that's because I haven't cleaned up the apartment in about a month. But I was genuinely touched by the gesture on your parts, everyone.

A young friend of mine, straight out of journalism graduate school (yeah, yeah), got an internship on the P-I copydesk last summer and continued working for them on what she called the "extra board," their temp group of deskers. Standard story of a kid who really loves being in the newsroom, enjoys the camaraderie, is very good at what she does (and always improving), and is only reluctantly imagining doing anything else.

A message I received from her in January pretty much sums it up:

"I don't want to take off for a newspaper job in some town that I'll be leaving in two years. Maybe I can get hired elsewhere, but I'd much rather just stay in Seattle than bounce around the country to try and stay in such an unstable industry. I'm not sure why the fuck I ever thought doing this was a good idea."

Good luck to Arnold Babar, and all the veterans who just had the rug pulled out from under them. And good luck to all the youngsters who believed in what we do, but never had the chance to nurture a career-long passion for late nights, wordsmith elbow grease, and the satisfaction of a job well done justifying the paycheck.

RIP, P-I.