I suppose I've realized that I'm playing in the big leagues now. I'm no longer writing about car accidents and anthrax scares on a college campus. I'm writing about murders and murderers, about people whose lives have forever been changed. Coupled with that realization is the fact that I'm covering a case that's going to become just as big as the one that warranted an hour of national television coverage. >
> Ellmyruh

Your post really takes me back. It got me thinking about the big stories I covered when I worked for a daily newspaper back in the middle of the 20th century.

My big stories included an appearance of the Harlem Globetroters with Goose Tatham and Meadowlark Lemon. I also got to report real estate transfers, marrige licenses issued, and other big courthouse stories. I covered countless high school ball games, and checked the police blotter. Once I even got to write a story about an big increase in parking meter collections.

Car accidents were my forte. And I was always on the lookout for a good human interest story, like the one about the guy who stopped in at a local service station in a 1917 Model T Ford. He said he bought it new and drove it every chance he got. At the time, it was almost 38 years old.

The funniest thing I ever did was one day when the phone rang and the society editor wasn't there. I had to write up a wedding. Fortunately, the picture was already there on the society desk. Well, it struck *me* as funny.

I always dreaded interviews. One time there was a man who claimed to be the world's fattest man. At over 700 pounds, he was close enough. He set up his trailer on the courthouse square and was charging 50 cents just to walk in and see him. I went in and said, "I'm from the Daily News Journal." That was the last thing I needed to say. He talked non-stop for about 15 minutes and I had my interview. The editor even mentioned that it was good story.

I even got to cover a murder trial once. The accused didn't have any money, so it only lasted one day. He was an old man who plugged a guy who was trying to cheat him. As near as I can remember, he got off light.

I still have good memories of those days as a college student working part time as a reporter. I decided not to make it a career.
Howard