Tuesday, September 25, 2018

::The Sealy years By Howard McGowan

Legendary Gleaner Editor-in-Chief Theodore Sealy was equally known for his brilliance in journalism as he was for his tightfisted almost draconian management style. Under his watch bylines were not given out willy nilly as they are now. One had to earn that right. Senior reporters and naturally columnists were afforded bylines. Youngsters were granted credit lines, this at the end of the story if so warranted. Your full name if you were lucky or initials in most cases. That Sealy was feared would be a gross understatement. This included seasoned professionals and those like myself who were at start of their careers. So it was with hands trembling and knees knocking that I made my way into his office having been so summoned. Tastee, the new patty company which had taken over from Bruce's had a monthly patty eating contest as part of its promotion strategies. I was given the copy to edit and plan and came up with the headline "Music, fun galore at Tastee contest." When I arrived for my 11-7 shift as was customary when one was to be seen by the big man, I found the torn out article on my desk with a note indicating the Editor wished to see me. There I stood page in hand and the great man leaning back in his chair. "You wanted to see me Sir?" I said. He reached for the page looked at the article then dead at me and bellowed "You wrote this Headline?" As calmly as I could I replied "Yes Sir." "Young man, he retorted "galore is not a Gleaner word, never use it again". My, how things have changed.