All: This Is My Last Day - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down, thousands were killed when students protested on Tienanmen Square in Beijing, Alaska was blackened with the Exxon Valdez oil disaster, Pete Rose was banned from baseball for betting on games, Colin Powell was appointed Joint Chiefs of Staff and the world series was disrupted when an earthquake shook up San Francisco.

In 1990, East and West Germany were reunited, Margaret Thatcher resigned, Nelson Mandela was freed, Manuel Noriega turned himself in to the U.S. military to face drug trafficking charges and Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
The news never stopped, but UPI was facing manpower shortages and mounting financial losses. In an effort to resolve the money issues, management chose to fire more employees, close bureaus and cut wages.

The farewell messages were more than goodbyes from colleagues; they were
notice that we were losing the manpower to do the job and losing the bureaus
in states that depended on them. I had started the practice of starting my
day at 6 a.m. every day with an "All" message. It was my way of saying good
morning, usually with something that was light or funny or just weird. On
Sept. 21, 1990, I sent the following message:
all:
following msg crops up in the midst of today's farewell missives: "won't be
tracking down study. have no staff to do it. we'll just have to do without."
rosso-wa

It resulted in a reprimand from UPI Executive Vice President Pieter Van
Bennekom, who said my message was "completely gratuitous and unnecessary"
and "harmful to the interests of UPI." VanBennekom said the company had been
"leaning over backwards" to allow departing Unipressers to send farewell
messages and that my "All" message "completely crossed that line, jumping
into the middle of a normal businesslike message exchange between two other
colleagues that had nothing to do with you."

This note was to serve as the catalyst for my termination three years later.

Meanwhile, the layoff orgy continued, more bureaus closed and UPI was left
with fewer resources with which to do the job.

Unipressers
ok, it's my turn. i've rewritten this message a hundred times in the past
few weeks. what it comes down to is that no matter how many more
employees or clients the other outfits have, none ever have had or ever
will have a finer group of staffers. you are what has always made upi
a special company (and why i've quit twice before and come back).
whether you're staying with upi or leaving, the best of luck to you, to the
many friends i've made: if you ever head toward virginia, there'll always
be a light on and welcome mat out for you at our house. 73s
jill lai-waftus
09-21-90

unipressers
ouch! getting kicked off the upi rollercoaster smarts! and not knowing
where i'll land adds a little terror to the adventure. but when i jumped
off the radio merry-go-round 3-and-half years ago i knew the ride at
upi was getting rickety and i might lose my seat at any dip or turn. a
snickering hartford courant reporter asked me at the time how it felt to
jump onto a sinking ship and i told her i could swim. and swim i will. but
it's been a thrill to work with the legendary bruno vittorrio ranniello, who
gave me a new view of religion; mark dupuis, who gave me a new view of
politics; and dennis milewski, who gave me a chance to climb out of the
radio swill bucket and do some real news. and "young henry" (brown), of late on
the national desk, how could i forget you? well, your "big sister" is a "wib
wench" no longer. thanks for the memories guys, and if you hear of any jobs please
let me know. good luck to all who are left to continue the battle. and now i'm
off to pink slip heaven. amen.
chrs.
yost-bp (hf) (Bridgeport, Conn., Hartford, Conn.)
09-21-90

buros - i guess there are still a few left out there
hi im unemployed n yur not. but seriously, at whatever time i decide
to turn out the lights this afternoon, Frankfort will be officially downclosed n
i'll be heading to the unemployment line. as far as ky is concerned, sal-sv
is captain n crew. the last 13 months have been a great learning experience
for me, but learning experiences wont feed my kids next month. many tnks
are in order, especially to my boss n mentor sal-sv (Louisville) (the
italian stallion), keick and kreiter-hx (Chicago), cook and phola-pa, swenson-nxs (New York Sports) and king of the techs jim price in indianapolis. i hope upi survives this
latest downgrade but it dont luk gud.
who wud want to buy a wire service with only a handful of writers. my advice is
to start updating those resumes. and if you hve any baseball cards to give
away, msg me on pza. im going back on the show circuit to supplement my
non-existent income until a brighter day. thnks again to those who count. you know who
you are. danny-fy (Frankfort, Ky.)
09-21-90

unipressers
after more than nine years (this time around) my last day at upi has
finally come around. there were times i loved working here so much i would have paid
the company for the privileges. now, there's not enough money to keep me
here. for the longest time i've dreamed of ending my time at upi with a broadside
aimed at the fools and incompetents who have run this fine institution into
the ground, but now that my leave taking has arrived, i've found it doesn't
matter. my heart goes out to all the fine people who remain here and all those who
have preceded me. best wishes to all and godspeed.
reske-scotus (Washington, Supreme Court)
upi 09-21-90 12:55 ped

unipressers
as i climb into my state no-bid-contract lifeboat and row away from the
titantic spectacle of the s.s. upi, i can only salute the band members still
bravely playing away as the copycat, me-too wire sinks beneath the waves.
i'm leaving a cowering dwarf headed by privately-financed coatholders to (i
hope) one funded by the taxpayers. i can't complain. a routine layoff seems
rather mundane after once being fired for allegedly insulting a congressman in the
midst of a politically-inspired newsroom shakeup that would have put
"dallas" to shame. besides, upi had the confidence to take an unemployed medium-market
radio reporter from a dead-end job in a furniture factory and turn me loose in a
legislative playground for 16 months. very few people get the chance to work for a
legend. i did -- and they threw in a paper-laden filing cabinet of a bureau in illinois'
most beautiful office building to boot. i'll never forget eating pizza in the
house press box at four in the morning on the last day of the session or waiting expectantly
for those massive friday afternoon bill signings from the governor ("jumbo" jim
thompson). i only wish i could have put faces to all those wonderful, sardonic, enigmatic
names on the message wire. dulce et decorum est pro nupe mori.
ayers-gx (Springfield, Ill.)
09-21-90 01:43 ped

all mutants (pt. ii)
for all of u who responded, my heartfelt thx. u hv - no - idea how
painful, how much eye cried while writing tt msg, funny as it may be. eye
died the way eye lived here at upi, lurching from one crisis to the next,
entertaining myself when things got dicey or boring.
we hv tapped the keg here in big for saft's ceremony: taking everything off
of my door (whi is like 50 items tt hv been stuck up there thru the yrs et
now includes - every - one of yer beautiful msgs).
eye hv a "lovely parting gift" for each of u, in addition to the coupon,
see dsd6 thru dsd11. it's wot life was like here in the southwest division of upi.
tda's msg traffic wl be stored later, with sysid to folo.
eye personally guarantee eye wl hv one beer for each of u. u are worth tt
et more than wl ever know. thank you, et may some hier power bless each of u for
letting me be me.
73s
otto-bg (Baton Rouge)
upi 09-21-90 01:58 ped

witcher-ko, dias-nxf
especially for u:
there once were two guys on the wire;
whose antics kept all spirits higher;
but it's a sad day,
cuz i must go my way;
et i doubt i'll meet two guys much slyer.
ok, not my best et its absent of all sexual innuendo, but i just wanted to
let u kno u cheered me up on some pretty bad days. i'll miss u. ustedes estamos
en mi corazon, para siempre, gaussoin-fr (Santa Fe, N.M.)
09-21-90
all
(magers, wormser, franco, arters, stokes, ryan, stutzperson (were the
hell are u?), chap (in spirit), clausing, et al) well, i guess its my turn.
i've been reluctant to write my farewell msg cuz, well wot's there to say after
watsky? but clausing-us sez i have to. so ...
well, i made it out just before everything fell apart about five years ago
and nobody even had time for a farewell msg. ever hopeful, i waited it out
this time et i apptly waited too long. but i got to admit, i'm glad i did.
the saddest thing about leaving is the people, the worst thing is knowing
this could be the end of a wonderful, great tradition. there is nothing like
being a unipresser. thank god.
73s, gaussoin-(in forgotten but not gone) fr
09-21-90

gaussoin-fr (witcher-ko)
twas a pip, helen. eye hope u keep in touch. this hs bin a very bittersweet
last few months: eye'm wildly in love (the only way a weirdo liek me kin be, with
sumbody jes as strange as eye am), but it's very difficult to kno tt sum of
the finest peeps eye've ever encountered wl no longer be at the other end of the
fone or the "file" button. best of luk to u; eye'll keep u in my heart
always, too. vo ter saudades de voce
dias-nxf
upi 09-21-90 0:2:16 ped

unipressers
after two decades of helping to kick rox where it hurts the most -- the
logs -- it's time for this ol' cowboy to ride off into the sunset, saddlebag bulging
with clips and fond memories of sharing america's wire service with the greatest
wordsmiths around the globe. elitits we were indeed -- journalism's answer to the bronx bombers, the big red machine, doomsday defense, etc. when it came to speed, clarity and polisy, grandma's geeks were always gasping for breath. may tt spirit endure forever, as long as there's a nd to report the news. god bless and best wishes to all,
logging out in west virginia,
mannix (cw (Charleston)) porterfield
09-27-90

all (rv, br, ps, na, ms Richmond, Va., Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia,
Minneapolis) tdy is, indeed, my last official day at the helm of upi in west virginia. i
weep no tears for what is lost, for history will etch ouor names among those who
have fallen in battle for freedom of thought and expression. i am proud of my
association with upi -- the wire service of choice for the best talent in
the news industry. i leave now with light heart, knowing that the true spirit of upi
will be continued through the capable hands of hose-cw and those throughout the
country who remember...
chrs dudes
cw-simpson
09-27-90

unipressers
how many unipressers does it take to cover connecticut?
one less as of today.
eye'm not on the list on the way, but today is t-h-e day for me as well.
after 11 years of my life, it's time to get on with that life.
the pm cycle is gone, gone longer is the 5 am openings, and long gone is
the overnite. but the memories remain -- the memories of working with
the best and most dedicated group of journalists assembled.
i leave voluntarily (sort of) and head into uncharted waters. i mourn
those who have not gone voluntarily and wish the best to all who remain.
well, it's time to do some wibs ... (world in brief)
73s
dupuis hf (hfc) (Hartford)
upi 09-28-90 10:15 aed

all
all things considered it's probably good i was never bitten by whatever
airborne insect carries dreaded unipressitis ... that euphoric and
debilitating disease whose chief symptoms are clouded vision and a nasty tendency to
smash oneself into brick walls. of course it's tough to infect a moving
target. over the last 14 months i have been laid off, denied pay, relocated,
separated from my wife and two small children, resettled, and laid off again... all of
the while doing more with less and all in the name of ... can someone explain it
to me? i read some of your parting messages and i'm envious. the good days must
have been great. enduring the toughest of times must have done much to draw
people together. and of course there's upi's incredibly rich heritage and
that sensed of pride and passion underdog status always confers. but i missed all
that. i signed on for the thrill of the ride back up, as management
promised. instead things have only gotten worse and the "romance of the wire" never
was enough to overcome some particularly hard realities. and for the life of
me i could not master the alphabet soup of codes required to connect myself
with the rest of the world and become a smoothly functioning member of this
shrinking team. on the up side i went national a few times and put some polish on my
writing style. i also worked with some fine people. it seems unipressitis also
causes its victims to give their best and maintain high standards in the face of the
most frightening trends. i do believe i'm gonna miss this, but who knows why.
thank you all. i wish you well.
hyland-dv (Rochester, N.Y.)
upi 09-28-90 11:21 aed

264m
unipressers
yes, boys and girls...this is it. yet another goodbye message. today ends
my first and only year as upi state editor for sd (Springfield, Mass.). ever since
june 6, 1986 (yeah, i even remember the date) when i called in my first
story to upi as a college intern, i had wanted to be a unipresser. now i'm proud to say that i worked among the best and the brightest for 365 days. cupla thank u's; to ellen-hx for my chance
at one year in the spotlight (maybe mangan deserved the job after all!); the guys
at uc (Milwaukee) for their patience in answering my many questions (hey,
most of them made sense); and to everyone i had the great fortune to meet and work with over the past year. when i leave our basement home for the last time today i take with me a year of
valuable experience, many memories (some of them even good), and my personal copy of
monty python's "i bet they won't play this song on the radio". if any of you ever venture to the great state of south dakota (yeah, right...on purpose?), the door is always open and the bud is always cold. chrs. kelly collins-pr (Pierre, S.D.)
upi 09-28-90 11:24 aed
all
eye always swore eye wouldn't write one of those rambling, emotional
goodbye messages -- so eye won't. suffice it to say eye'm turning off the
lights here for the last time with, as lyndon johnson might have said, a
heavy heart. to those of you who are still left, hang in there. for the rest
of us, it's time to move on to new and -- hopefully -- greener pastures. 73s
bredice-vt (Montpelier, Vt.) (clarke, dillon, zentz-vt)
upi 09-28-90 6:36 ped

unipressers
my time at upi was brief but never fleeting. eye've learnt more in the
last 14 mos than any school could teach, et leave here respectful of
all ur talents, wits, kindness, et professional attitudes. eye've always
hated getting on roller coasters but love the exhilaration et this was no
exception. for those staying on, hope u can help the company in its quest
for mo' better news. as for me, eye've let go of the security bar et am
whooping all the way down the really steep part, knowing there's a whole
amusement park out there after this ride. chrs et adios to the best in the
biz. 73s.
hmieleski-kt (Albany, N.Y.)
upi 09-28-90 12:05 ped

unipressers:
After 19 years, five months and 22 days, it is time - as my wife puts
it - to get a real job. This is my final full day at UPI in a time span that
has gone by with incredible speed, yet was filled with incomparable
experiences and. more importantly, friendships that we will cherish always.
While UPI is on the threshhold of Fahrvergnugen (the ability to hold a
company-wide staff meeting in the back of a Volkswagen), keep your chins up
with the comfort and knowledge that the "p" in UPI has stood all these years
for "People" - something of which our new upper management has lost sight.
As of Monday, Sept. 24, I'll have traded quill for eyeshade, as city
editor of the Newport, Rhode Island, Daily News. The door is open for
downhold tales if you're in town.
Ken Franckling-bh (ri) (bt) (bf) (Boston, Providence, Buffalo)

307m
to all departing unipressers
i've bent elbows with a few of you, and wish i could have the rest.
you're a special breed of people. remember the good times. they'll make for
good laughs when next you cross paths.
haskell bh
upi 09-28-90 01:33 ped

unipressers
hello all. this is my last day with upi after 24 years and six months of
service. i would spare you my maudlin comments except to say it hurts
to say goodbye. i have so much to be grateful for -- the memories and
friendships of unipressers past and present. to those whom i have never
met personally, my best wishes for all your endeavors. to those i know,
simply stay well. i leave on an auspicious day, a day which honors
francis of assisi. i've asked him to use his influence with the almighty
to bless you all. 73's and 30.
bruno ranniello-hf (Hartford, Conn.)
10-04-90

unipressers
it's been 23-and-one-half years
of blood, sweat, laughter and tears
upi hired me off a stool in a saloon
back before man even walked on the moon
covered politics, fires, marches and trials
worked all shifts and drove many miles
witnessed indian uprisings and racial riots
ate plenty of junk food, never mind diets
did football, baseball and other sports
met zany, crazy news types of all sorts
became one of upr's broadcast editors
and continued one step ahead of my creditors
but the best thing i did one fine day
was to marry another unipresser, named kay
------
please accept my gratitude for being able to work with all of you these
many years. keep your heads up and keep on smilin'/
-30-
drolshagen-upi/upr (UPI Radio)
10-04-90

As the farewell messages poured in., we were greeted Oct. 5, 1990, by
another departure under tragic circumstances.

allpoints
(tweedale) i am very sad to advise all unipressers that doug tweedale,
the foreign slot person on the world desk and until a few months ago our
correspondent in managua, nicaragua, was killed last night in an accident
at his home. he was washing windows at his sixth floor apartment in
washington when a safety rope he had rigged broke and he fell to the
pavement. he was killed instantly.
we will advise you when we know about funeral arrangements.
we are all in shock here. doug was an outstanding professional. more
importantly, he was a fine human being and certainly one of the best
liked and most respected people in this organization.
edmiller-wa
10-05-90

buros
"dear friends, i write for money
with a kind heart and hand
i wish to make no enemies
throughout my native land
kind friends, now i close my rhyme
and lay my pen aside
between me and my critics
i leave you to decide.
it's been an incredible seven years. from bhola rhanda to chernobyl. three
owners and so many presidents and editors i forget. freeway shooters
and bowls of menudo, raisa and zsa zsa. a lot of friends and a few foes.
thanks, but i'm outta here. any of you lookin for freelance money or know
anyone else who might be, please contact me after 10-15-90 at xxxxxxxxxx in my new position as national and international news features editor at the advocate: the national gay (cq see stylebook pg. 68) and lesbian magazine. am looking for hard news stories pertinent to the community. We pay top dollar. also, anybody know experienced journalist in tokyo n london
interested in correspondent position. lemme know. we opening buros there n need someone. chrs n good luck to all. g. luther whitington.
10-05-90

unipressers
today is my last day with upi after about four-and-one-half years and i
think i got a little attached. first i want to say thank you. thanks for
making my job a tremendous treat -- one i have truly savored.
i'm one of the lucky ones. i was able to give notice to the company before
they could do it to me -- and i'm talking by four little days. i'll be a
state government reporter for a daily paper here in madison.
today, my capitol press room pals and i are holding a daylong funeral to
honor upi's wisconsin history. upi has had a madison buro since the 1940s,
but some estimate its presence may date to the 1910s.
i am the last in a long line of very distinguished and hard-working bureau
chiefs -- and i do consider it very much an honor to have been part of what
i hope history documents as one of the best news-gathering outfits that
ever lived.
i have great respect for admiration for those who have gone before me,
writing farewells that put littl cracks in my heart... those who will
follow me soon... and those who will remain.
i was continually impressed with the work done by all of you during my
stay here -- you're all the very best. your work has been a great source of
pride for me. we kicked rox's butt quite a few days, didn't we?
and that is what i hope you all remember. an employer can take away your
job -- but that is it! you keep the rest! you keep your pride, your
confidence, your great talents, your quality, your accomplishments, your history -- all
the good stuff is yours. you own that and never forget it!!!!
anger and bitterness does no good. remember the best revenge is living
well.
from the bottom of my heart, i wish you all lives that are very, very well.
you all are in my heart and in my backbone.
signed, your friend and fan -- joanne m. hass in the state capitol in
madison, wisconsin.
10-19-90

bureaus
my last trick is tomorrow, but eye wanted to message today to catch
as many of you as possible. the last nine years have been the most rewarding
of my life. for that, eye have all of you to thank. most particularly,
deepest thanks to everyone (many long since departed) in hx (Chicago), who taught me
the business and how to have fun while eye worked; in ia (Indianapolis), who
brought me along; in tr, trc, nk and nc (Trenton, Newark and Atlantic City), who drove
themselves so hard for me and for upi, under sometimes impossible
conditions; and here in wa, who welcomed me as a colleague and friend eye
intend to cherish the good memories (there are so many) and let the
others fade. eye'm going home to baltimore, but things have changed since
eye left so many years ago. now eye will always think of it as br, and of
myself as a unipresser.
when "'twas the night before christmas" runs on the message wire christmas
eve, will someone please fax me a copy?
tnx et chrs. -- o'shea-ntl
upi 10-19-90 10:37 aed

r v
buros: from michael v. uschan-uc (Milwaukee)
today i am writing "30" to my 20 years with united press international. i
started dec. 22, 1970, after taking my final exams at the university of
wisconsin-milwaukee and have been a "unipresser" ever since.
i'm one of the few left who can remember what it was like before computers
came on the scene and teletype operators like "steady eddie" panek put out
our copy; when we were still owned by scripps howard; and when we were battling
rox even-up and winning more than our share of the news wars against them.
it's been a wild ride and a memorable one -- both for the stories i
covered and, more importantly, the wonderful people i worked with at upi in three
different decades.
whether they sat next to me banging out bulletins on a plane crash or a
presidential primary -- or just voices on the phones or names on message
wires from across the country -- it was like being part of a dedicated
brotherhood.
there were some "wild and crazy" upi types that helped make a difficult
day more bearable with some humorous asides ... or just a word of sympathy
because they knew what i was going through.
even my immediate bosses have been decent types and the last few years
about the only good thing about my job has been the people i worked with.
i've hated the string of good-bye messages the last few months. it's been
like an extended wake, not only for departing unipressers but for the upi
that once was.
when it came down t it, i wanted a chance to say "thanks" to all the
great people i've worked with -- and to remind them to take pride in the fact
that their dedication and hard work under increasingly trying circumstances
is the only reason upi is still around today.
now my only problem, besides finding a new job to carry me to retirement,
is what to do about my personalized license plate -- which reads "upi 1."
any suggestions. msg me on cin.
"30"
michael v. uschan - uc (for a few hours more)
upi 10-23-90 05:32 ped

all
"it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." dickens never worked
for upi, but after seeing the guillotine fall on several hundred people --
and having been forced to pull the lever on 8 people myself -- in the past five
years, one has to wonder.
like a lot of unipressers, i have had a child-like faith that upi would
somehow survive, but i decided six weeks ago to leave because i could no longer
accept the role of executioner of staffers whose management had failed them.
perhaps that smug bastard john morton was right when he wrote several
years ago in the washington journalism review that upi was destined to fail
because of marketplace dynamics.
i chose to believe differently and the fact that we are still here after
years of mismanagement tends to support my belief that upi could have been a
thriving concern if the company's top executives had done things
differently.
on balance, my 10 years here have been the best of times, mostly because of
the people with whom i worked, both as a staffer and a manager.
chrs for the last time. burnett/sm-tr-cz-sm (Cleveland, Trenton, Columbus,
Cleveland)
upi 10-24-90 11:01 aed

all
to cheer you up a little.
radio station wtvn, a biggest watt clear channel station in cz, has been
running a promo that starts off by listing all those biggie watt clear
channel stations in the midwest. wgn, whas, wlw, and on and on. says what
two things does wtvn have that those stations don't? call letters that stand
for "the voice of news" and the upi midwest news leader award. and it goes
on to tout its midwest award in the upi news contest.
but don't get your chest too blown up. this contest was on the 1989 news
stories, submitted in cz at the end of 1989, given state award in spring of
1990 and the regional award not too long ago. but in the meantime, the
station has dropped upi, however it keeps it for its fm side.
latimer-cz
upi 11-07-90 10:13 pes

all
before everyone gets out the door...
Party at Wieck's, Saturday, Nov. 10, weekend after the election. All invited
for chile (green et red), bbq et beer. ... Bring yer favorite war tale et
effigy. Pass it along to all the exes. Find yerself a Texas-bound freight and hop
aboard.
--wieck-da

unipressers:
wrote a sty today about near-death experiences. the psychologists
are skeptical about all the supernatural claims. but they say the
phenomena are powerful events that usually leave people who experience
them with a much better outlook on life. hope tt's true for our brush with
death. chrs.
stein-wa
upi 11-08-90 03:56 pes

all
it is with very mixed emotions that i bid upi farewell today. my five and
a half years with the company -- i joined a month before the april 1985
bankruptcy -- have been an amazing roller coaster ride, professionally,
financially and emotionally.
i'm leaving for a writing job with a small, independent publication.
i will miss most the support and comraderie of great colleagues show
shared the horror stories and triumphs in the ongoing struggle to survive,
compete and, more than ocassionally, beat the hell out of the other guys. i
hope i made a contribution to that effort.
i will also miss the chance to write about things that really matter --
like the 1988 presidential campaign and the budget battles the last two years --
for a national and international audience, albeit a steadily shrinking one.
and, i expect i will miss the crush of daily journalism and wire service
deadlines.
those with whom i've worked know who and what i will miss least.
if upi dies in the weeks or months ahead, i hope the last story on the wire
is not some fluffy enterprise piece but a hard news story that's better
written, better edited and move faster than ap's. that's what we did best in the
glory days and that should be our epitath, hopefully to remind editors what they
will be missing. best of luck to all of you. i hope you find a way out of the upi quicksand
before it sucks you under. i enjoyed sharing the roller coaster ride with
you, but it's time for me to get off. 73s
bud newman-wa
upi 11-30-90 11:30 aes

All: This is My Last Day - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3
During my early years at UPI I was a switchboard operator and dictationist. Dictionists sat at a typewriter and waited for a reporter to phone in a story. This was before cell phones and computers and laptops. I was not a trained typist. I had once considered taking a typing class while in high school, but my father, who began as a journalist, argued against the class, saying I would learn to type as time went on. So, my early days at UPI were fraught with tension, especially when an editor stood over me waiting to grab the copy out of the typewriter.
White House reporter Helen Thomas usually dictated on the run and she would dictate three or more stories at a time, usually with, "Sign that off, I have another one." Helen, like many of the reporters, would also dictate punctuation, telling the dictationists, "Comma, close quotes, he said, period. New sentence." One day, she dictated a story about David Eisenhower and she wanted to be sure I got the punctuation correctly. She said, "David's grandmother," But she dictated, "David's, possessive, grandmother." I dutifully typed, "David's possessive grandmother."
It was while I was on the switchboard that I first heard what was to become a very famous name, a name that would become synonymous with government corruption. I was still pretty new to Washington, D.C., and UPI when day editor Stan Hall shouted from the desk in his high Texan voice, "Get me the Watergate." It was 1971 and it was still just the Watergate complex. I said, "What's the Watergate?" Hall said, "Everybody knows what the Watergate is." A year later, while doing a stint on the Metro desk, I was told to call the District of Columbia police and match a story in The Washington Post that five men had been arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate. After that, everybody really did know what the Watergate was.
1988
In 1988, the Soviets left Afghanistan, Bobby McFerrin tried to get everybody to be happy and don't worry and the Iraq-Iran War ended. The anti-depressant Prozac was introduced.
But we at UPI were not lulled.
On Jan. 14, 1988, the Wire Service Guild posted a memo titled "The Body Count," which took the company to task.
"'Christopher Smith, a UPI spokesman, said no significant layoffs were
planned.' -- The New York Times, Nov. 20 1987. 'We're not going to be trying to compete with The AP in reporting every little fact and figure anymore.' - Christopher Smith, UPI public relations agent, Washington Post, Jan. 9, 1988.
"UPI, which for months flatly denied that a single employee would be fired, has terminated at least 104 employees since Nov. 1, when management instituted concessionary 'work rules.'
"At least 14 bureaus have been closed -- 13 by layoffs and the 14th by a transfer.
Most of the fired employees had passed probation; some of them were 15-year and 20-year UPI veterans. About 30 were temporary employees and a few were part-timers. Two were office aides and several were technicians or chief telephoto engineers.
"Listed below are the terminations the Guild is aware of to date.
"To help the union challenge all improper layoffs, please call the Guild office with any additional layoffs you are aware of."
The memo then listed three layoffs in Albany, one in Albuquerque, three in Atlanta, two in Baltimore, one in Birmingham, one in Bismark, one in Boise, six in Boston, one in Charleston, five in Chicago, one in Columbia, two in Concord, five in Dallas, three in Denver, two in Detroit, one in Frankfort, one in Harlingen, two in Hartford, one in Helena, one in Honolulu, one in Huntsville, one in Jackson, one in Kansas City, two in Lincoln, two in Little Rock, one in Los Angeles, two in Miami, two in Milwaukee, one in Minneapolis, two in Montgomery, two in Montpelier, one in Morgantown, one in Nashville, one in New Orleans, five in New York, three in Oklahoma City, one in Omaha, one in Philadelphia, two in Phoenix, one in Pierre, one in Pittsburgh, one in Portland, Maine, one in Providence, two in Raleigh, one in Reno, one in Rockford, Ill., four in Salt Lake City, one in St. Louis, one in Sioux Falls, one in Topeka, eight in Washington, D.C., one in West Palm Beach, one in Wichita.

Closed bureaus included Albuquerque, Bismark, Frankfort, Helena, Huntsville, Morgantown, Reno, Sioux Falls, West Palm Beach, Wichita, Portland, Maine, and Rockford, Ill.

On Jan., 22, 1988, I wrote a letter to a friend that set the stage for what was to come.
I was planning a vacation to the Amazon River while at the same time
wondering if I was going to have a job when I returned -- or even the next
day. Here is part of that letter:

"Life has been a roller coaster for the past few months with downs as deep
as the ups are high and both extremes sometimes coming in the same day. But
this isn't only my problem. I share it with many of my UPI colleagues --
those who are left.

"UPI has us all living under a gigantic question mark. We now have our fifth
or sixth set of bosses. They say they 'have a plan' to save UPI. But they
don't tell us what that plan is. Instead, we read about it in The Washington
Post, the New York Times, The Washington Times, Editor and Publisher and the
AP! We heard rumors of massive layoffs, denied. Yet three days before
Christmas our message wires contained such gems as: 'Hi, out there. Anybody
know where I can find a job three days before Christmas?' UPI veterans are
dropping like flies. Our internal message wires have been loaded with: 'All.
Today I file my last story after 15 years ...'; 'I am sad to say that after
18 years ...'; 'At the end of today's shift, I say good-bye to the finest
bunch of people I have ever worked with.'

"It's depressing. I told one colleague that I had requested vacation in
September for my grand adventure and she told me I was a fool. 'You better
move it up a few months. Nobody's going to be here in September.'

"Today we heard that Gary Hart admitted to questionable campaign funds and
said he would return them. We didn't have that. The bureau closest to Hart
at the time had been reduced to a one-man bureau. Others in the area have
been closed. The man who follows the candidates in that area was not
shadowing Hart at the time. It was impossible. We got the story. But we were
hours late.

"Today, one of our White House reporters messaged that at the end of his
work Saturday he will leave after 18 years. Last week one of our radio
reporters left after 19 years.

"Dave Anderson, our religion writer, used to be a dictationist like me. We
worked together during the anti-war demonstrations in the '70s. He wrote all
the abortion stories for me today and when I left I thanked him for his help
and he thanked me for my editing. Then he said, 'We've been doing this
together for a lot of years, haven't we?' Yeah. And that's what keeps me
here. And Dave and the others, few others, who have been around. There
aren't too many of us left.

"Despite the unknowns, despite the uncertainties, we continue to do our best
and we continue to care.
"And I work day to day and plan for September as though September and I and
UPI and all the other pieces will fit together and this dream vacation I'm
planning will come true."

all unipressers
this is my farewell and good luck message. i am voluntarily leaving at the
end of the day for hopefully greener pastures. i began my upi career as an
idealistic rookie back on jan. 6, 1967, in austin, then spent 3 years in
(New Orleans), before becoming a south texas fixture in san antonio and the
rio grande valley for the past 17 yrs.
though momentarily naked, as i was when i started, i am rich for having known
the finest bunch of real journalists left on earth. the only shame of my
career has been leaving for two and a half years to work for ... shudder ...
the bureaucratic, bloated and indolent rox (Associated Press).
adios and buena suerte. i'll be rooting for ya'll from the sidelines.
sisk-rg (Harlingen, Texas)
01-08-88

Science editor Al Rossiter had been promoted to executive editor and joined
a team of top editorial management that included former UPI broadcast chief
Billy Ferguson as managing editor and veteran foreign correspondent Leon
Daniel as foreign editor. Rossiter immediately attempted to calm tensions in
the newsroom with the following message to all staff:

re: restructuring
As you know, we are in the midst of a reorganization effort aimed at
reducing costs and designed to produce and develop services that will meet
the needs of clients and prospective clients. The goal is to get UPI out of
the red for the first time in two decades and assure the company's future as
a comprehensive news and information service.

The company's senior managers have endorsed plans we believe will put the
company on a successful track, and chairman Mario Vazquez Rana has them
under review. Once a reorganization plan has been approved, you will be
advised and asked to help in its implementation.

It is obvious, and our planning acknowledges this, that we should not
produce comprehensive state reports in a number of states where there is
little revenue or growth potential. The states in which our presence is
being reduced include: Wyoming, New Mexico, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Idaho, Mississippi, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, South
Carolina, Hawaii, Kentucky, Kansas and Arkansas. In those states, UPI will
continue to cover the most important news and news of interest to other
states. Bureaus will be maintained in all states.

As we already have announced, there have been a number of layoffs.
Additional staff cutbacks are necessary to help us stabilize the company.
These largely are being made along the framework of the service reductions
planned for the low-revenue states.

I know these reductions and the resulting uncertainties are of concern to
you. We will make every effort to keep you informed.
01-08-88

unipressers
frank eidge, who joined united press in november 1945, leaves today after a
42-year career with the company, all in the miami bureau. frank won't see
his farewell messages today; he's been hospitalized for gall bladder
surgery. we've been in touch, and will onpass any messages from him. chrs.
geimann-mh (Miami)
04-29-88

all
a fable (for which u must supply ur own moral):
about 3 1/2 years ago, when upi offered me a job in november, i asked college pal
bill harwood, then harwood-ca (Columbia, S.C.), if it would be stupid to
take it in light of all i'd heard about the company's financial condition.
sez he: "what the heck. it's a great experience and even if the company goes
bankrupt and u lose ur job in six months, it'll make a great resume entry."
as u no doubt recall, the company went bankrupt in five months. i have lost
my job (altho it took 3 years for tt to happen). people are impressed to see
"upi" on my resume, because they know the caliber of folks tt work here.
most importantly, it has been a fantastic experience. will miss uall, even
harwood, who denies now tt he ever sed tt. Gud luck and keep ur chins up.
u're far and away the best journalists, coworkers and friends i've ever
known. margaret lillard-ki (Knoxville, Tenn.)
04-29-88

all
when i became a unipresser 26 years ago, a car dealer named evan mecham was
fighting the establishment by running for a seat held by a man who had been
in congress 50 years. on the day i submitted my resignation, that same car
dealer -- now governor -- was convicted in his impeachment trial. which all
goes to show, i suppose, that the news never changes.
all this is my way of saying this is my last day at upi. i don't have
another job lined up yet, but i felt i had to make a move at this time
despite my intense loyalty to upi. when i leave here, i won't miss the lousy
hours, broadcast rewrites and weather transfers, but i will miss the
hard-working upi staff and the high that comes with a good log. thanks
especially to clafin-hc (Los Angeles) and to harriett hindman, a long-time
co-worker and my successor as ix (Phoenix, Ariz.) bureau manager.
good luck to all and my upi prosper.
hurlbert-ix
04-29-88

all-sports writers-deskers-state-eds
to the staff at upi:
so that this message does not ramble on through 25 takes and nightfall, i'm
leaving out all the blandishments about how wonderful you are and how hard
it is to say goodbye to 800 people one admires so deeply.
but, as your friend in the craft, i simply cannot leave without expressing
my warmest thanks for the hundreds of excellent stories you wrote, edited,
hunched, chased, badgered, cajoled, shook by the throat, harangued,
re-wrote, and brought back from the dead to keep the sports wire hammering
away for the past four years.
your millions of words made my job a delight. and, if you are ever in
trouble -- and you are, all of you, always in trouble -- remember that i am
part of the family and give me a call. what a privilege it has been to work
with you.
david tucker
04-29-88

from jeff shaine: this doesn't get any easier even when you've done it twice
before. again (april 28) is my last shift with the company, having received
the triple crown of upi layoffs in just 4 1/2 years.
as much as i won't miss the late nights and the track agate, what i will
miss are the outstanding professionals i've had a chance to work with, most
notably in the sports department, where i was somewhat adopted by david
tucker, fred mcmane, bill murray and the rest of the staff. a word of thanks
especially to dave hurlbert, who gave me the freedom to roam the ix sports
scene without too much resistance. also a moment of remembrance for dick
charnock, who first hired me here, and the late milt richman, who was among
the first to put his confidence in me.
i've had the chance to speak with several of you over the past few weeks,
and I appreciate your kind words. thanks for the encouragement.
should anybody be in the ix area in the future, pls give me a call and we'll
get together.
finally, if you're religious, you know how important faith is. the same
holds true for the future of upi. while it's true that a lot of editors have
been losing faith in the company over the past few years, upi will pull
through as long as management and the employees have faith that the company
will survive.
keep the faith. chrs.
shain-ix (Phoenix)
04-29-88

sw (southwest) buros
the time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things -- mainly
leaving -- or at least changing regions.
the problem is, words fail me ... no small concern for someone who's been
accused of doing 20 minutes every time the refrigerator light goes on.
i'd like to say the past six years have been fun, frantic and fulfilling.
i'd like to say tht, but i can't. well, one out of three ain't bad.
in all the good-bye messages i've seen, it occurs to me that proper homage
has not been paid to those who have gone before -- not to mention the few who
remain.
so, with no regard to billing, here's a list of people i wish (1) were still
here or, (2) were going to be where i wind up:
jay lewis -- "jaybubba" to his friends, who never failed to brighten the
early morning hours with outrageous messages and fine news judgment -- not to
mention terminal irreverence.
cheri chapman -- a delightful elf who, as far as i could tell, never said an
unkind word to anyone.
kandace powers -- a class act in "the big easy" and a helluva reporter.
elizabeth drake poteet braden -- a gentle soul who took on tulsa, the oil and
gas journal, kansas city and three last names.
vickie bowles -- the all-time queen of the message wire, a bawdy bodacious
broad whose "stop it or i'll cut your bells off" remains the best
argument-stopper i've ever known.
harry culver -- a man who knows more about state finances than the state
finance director, who had the remarkable good sense to hire culver so he
could have state finances explained to him.
paul english -- a muckraker in the best sense of the word and the only person
I know who has a tape recording of every interview he ever conducted -- much
to the chagrin of a large number of political types.
lori linenberger -- her departure takes the sun out of the land of
sunflowers, sunshine and s.o.b.'s.
mede nix -- i just met her, but every time i look at my 2-year-old, I think
of jessica in a well and mede crying in her hotel room.
mary schlangenstein -- the heart of houston and the only person i know who
could hold her own with bowles on the message wire.
john demers -- the justin wilson of haute cuisine, but i always wanted to ask
him one question: how do you edit food?
janet plume -- a rox (AP) refugee who speaks at least 17 languages, looks like
gloria steinam's twin and whose decision to battle a vindictive boss made
life a little bit easier for those who followed here at ko's (Oklahoma City)
rox buro.
bruce fisher -- a name you don't know, but one of the driving forces in my
journalistic career. how can you not like a guy who buys a jeep on the way
to work and forgets to tell his wife? he also kept a loaded .45-caliber
pistol under the driver's seat of said vehicle because "there are some
strange people out there." no kidding, fish.
barbara canetti -- a jewish-american princess with an improbable last name I
first met at the houston post. after coming to work for us, she batted her
big brown eyes and shelled rox covering the price daniels jr. murder trial.
bill inman -- another houston post refugee who got canned for writing what he
thought. rox opined they didn't need him and i suggested upi. we've enjoyed
the benefits of some of the best writing in the business ever since.
patti bond -- a co-worker and cohort who came to us at the tender age of 20,
took over the night desk and made it her personal domain. she was going
great guns right up until the time she fell in love. i keep telling her she
can get shots for that, but she won't listen.
david zizzo -- born with a hang glider on his back and the telephone manners
of a water buffalo with a gum boil, he's at least as apolitical as i am --
grrr -- writes a whole lot better.
jim wieck -- somebody goofed. how else do you explain a management type who
looks like a commune member and loves old motorcycles? the first time we saw
him in the ko buro, we thought he was the janitor -- and, in a sense, he's
cleaned up our messes.
john thompson -- the only man i know who's had both lungs removed and still
insists on smoking four packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day.
jerry witcher -- this is a tough one. i've known him for more than 12 years
and worked for him for six. if there's a better boss, i have no idea where
he/she might be found. among other things, he bent a few rules to allow me
to enjoy the first three months in the lives of my son and daughter. i'll
explain that to them one of these days and they will be indebted to him as i
am.
as it stands today, i appear to be headed to tallahassee, fla., to take over
the upi capitol buro. i'm trying fervently not to feel like a rat crawling
back on a sinking ship. i know there are names missing here - mason, pope,
lloyd-davies, yates, merriweather, duffy, sisk, kingham, flynn, lumen,
kelly, ryan, haines, stutzman and wormser, just to name a few.
all i can say is thanks -- to all of you. and 73s.
rgds.
rocky-ko (Oklahoma City)
04-29-88

all
the last 31 years have been very special to me -- they brought me upi and
ted majeski --- what a pair! and larry desantis to yell in my other ear.
thanks to all of you for making them wonderful. the only checks that will
bear my signature after today will be personal. love, marie majeski/wap
(Washington photos)

all (sw buros)
my last day is tomorrow, but i wanted to say goodbye to as many people as
possible tdy. to those of u remaining with upi, i hope the journey gets
easier cuz u deserve it. to those of u leaving as i am, i wish u the best in
the future. in particular, i will miss all of my good division friends. like
rocky-ko (Oklahoma City), when I see ur names i think of good times meeting
et working with u.
i also wanted to let u know i've had fun confusing all of u by changing my
name from drake. one of the best decisions i ever made was stealing
braden-ac(Topeka, Kan.) (tt's john, not me) from upi. if ur ever in the kp
(Kansas City, Mo.) area, my door is open et the light is on.
chrs.
braden-kp
04-29-88

to all of the departing in my 30 years with upi i have had a few bad days. today is the worst. i am
still here but will miss the class professionals that are leaving. my best to all of you. god speed. we surely miss you.
fisher/dap (Dallas photos)
04-29-88

all
this farewell business is turning out to be tougher than i thought. 21
years, 4 months and 9 days ago i reported for my first upi shift in
portland, ore., to face an ominous piece of machinery they called a teletype
machine. we had a tech in jo (Portland, Ore.) at the time who used to beat
teletypes with a metal ruler, insisting that such action "scattered the
ions.' it sounded good to me, so attacked the thing hourly. finally subdued
it, too, i'm proud to say.
since then i've seen upi duty in helena, san francisco and medford.
teletypes were replaced by vdt's, people came and went, upi was a-l-w-a-y-s
in a state of downhold, or worse, but through it all unipressers have
maintained a sense of feistiness and class that will never cease to amaze
me.
this outfit has been family to me and i learned more about the news business
here than i suspect i will ever learn anywhere again. you folks are a rare
and wonderful breed. it's been an honor to have been your colleague.
no, i don't know what i'll be doing in the future, but i plan to spend the
summer being a bum.
i have faith that this company will survive, and survive with style. upi is
the best. don't ever let anyone tell you anything else. hang in there, and
it times get rough, just beat on your vdt with a metal ruler.
always a unipresser,
susan tebbe-mo (Medford, Ore.)
04-29-88

In 1987, Paul Steinle, news director for FNN (Financial News Network),
became UPI's seventh president in seven years. On April 29, 1988, noting the
mood among Unipressers in the wake of numerous layoffs, Steinle sent the
following memo:

I want to take the opportunity to add my best wishes to those Unipressers
who are leaving the company today. We are losing excellent colleagues and their
loss will be felt.
I have received a number of serious and heartfelt messages from managers and
associates of the people who are departing, pleading their cases and
acknowledging the impact of their loss. I believe that virtually the same arguments could
be made for everyone who is departing this company: that he or she made an important
contribution and that their loss will hurt.
Having acknowledged that, I also think it's important to remember that none
of these decisions was taken lightly.
Given the company's losses, which matched its drop in revenue -- over $18
million in the last two years, and losses at the rate of $2 million a month for
1988 -- a staff reduction was inevitable. And given the fact that UPI was facing
liquidation just over two months ago, the alternative -- closing this business -- is the
only prospect worse than what is happening today.
The knowledge is of little solace to those who are departing, but I hope
the fact that we who remain have another chance to turn around this company will be a
source of inspiration to us. With a worldwide staff exceeding 800 editorial
Unipressers, UPI remains a formidable journalistic force and a news
organization we can be proud of.
In my travels in recent weeks, I have been the beneficiary of unceasing good
wishes for our turnaround goal. I have also been reminded time and again
everywhere I got of the service we provide and the importance of maintaining
a second competitive wire service report.
A number of people want to write us off because they don't want to confront
the agony this company has endured, or they represent others for whom
competition is anathema. They would rather stress the negatives than the strong possibility
for survival and growth that our new initiative presents.
But in the face of all that, I am convinced that UPI can succeed, fueled
with the energy and commitment you have demonstrated in the past. Like a swift
halfback darting for the goal line, we will have to swivel our hips to reach our
goal, but the goal line exists; it's now in sight and there are strong supporters
willing to cheer us on as we charge down the field.
You have demonstrated over and over that you have the staying power to
achieve the goals we have set forward in our business plan, so don't let anybody
convince you we can't.
Today, it's appropriate to mourn the loss of good colleagues and wish them
well, but, tomorrow the battle continues for the rest of us. It is worth the
effort. A turnaround is possible. Those are excellent reasons to push ahead with vigor
and confidence. Our mission simply stated is to re-establish UPI in a position
in journalism that it deserves -- as a profitable business in which the kind of
losses we are experiencing today will never be necessary again.
Paul Steinle

Steinle's swift halfback with the swiveling hips may have seen the goal
line, but his message was lost in a crush of messages from soon-to-be former
Unipressers who could only suffer the agony of defeat.

friends what's in and out for april 29:
in: new mayor of milwaukee
out: mayor of 28 years
in: new mayoral press secretary
out: opening milwaukee buo at 5:30 a.m.
in: wishing my unipresser colleagues the best always on and off the job
with special regards for their every-day humor and helpfulness to chris
mead-du (Detroit) .. ginny kosola, marcy kreiter, bob kieckhefer, tom and
kay, bob murphy, sal esposito-hx (Chicago)... bill brewer-nw (Des Moines) ... chuck
devevec-ms (Minneapolis) ... jim sielick-tl (Toledo) ... carol van dam-war
(Washington Radio)... and my uc (Milwaukee) brothers.
chrs, rosalind rouse-uc
04-29-88

old unipressers don't die, they just come to their senses. so in the
interest of achieving consciousness, today i'm stepping (being pushed, actually) off
the upi wagon for perhaps the last time. it's been quite a ride.
through my years here i feel i've moved from the child-restraint seat in the
back to having a hand on the wheel at times, although the windshield has
remained mostly fogged.
i hope you can keep the old thing chugging along, even if the road is rough
and full of rox. i want to say thanks to everyone along the way who smoothed the
bumps, gave directions and told me where to get off.
rgds, cheers and all that jazz.
zizzo-koc (Oklahoma City)
04-29-88

braden-kp
what can i say? i'll never forget the nite in mission when the tornadoes
struck. the building appeared to be on fire (was it actually on fire? i can't
remember) and i had to haul u off the fone. as i recall u were talking with some upi
honcho in nx (New York) to run down eight flights of stairs to the questionable safety of a
glass-walled lobby.
then we trudged back up the eight flights only to find the datanuz machine
smoking.
there we were, two novice unipressers armed with a fire extinguisher we
didn't know how to work. what a night. what a career. what a sad day. or maybe not.
sometimes i wonder if u mite be the lucky one getting out.
all the best and pls keep in touch. i know u'll land on ur feet.
chrs. digirolamo-nc (Atlantic City)
04-29-88

to those who go:
what can i say? my thoughts and love are with you -- witcher-ko
04-29-88

buos (last-day-unipressers)
on this last day for so many of you, a little note from rv (Richmond, Va.),
where we've been keeping what we call the bye bye board, a collection of farewell notes from
people who have left in the last five months.
we had to take the board down today becuz there was no more room.
it's a little symbol of a great big sadness and to all (to quote former po
(Cincinnati) tv newsman all schottelkotte) we say "good news to you."
gl-rv
04-29-88

dickinson-braden-keenan-kp
this ain't gonna be one of the great days in the annals of journalism. i
just want to wish you all the best and say "much tnx" for all the work you've done
these past few years. it's been a pleasure. lemme know if there's anything eye can do
to help down the road. 73.--wieck-da
04-29-88

unipressers:
many of you leave us today and the lengthening list of msgs from the
dearly departing is not fun to see. those of us staying will miss you, not
only professionally but personally as well.
since nearly everyone goes to disney world at one time or another, please
consider tallahassee a stopping point and place to always find friends. the
beer will always be cold so please stop when u come through.
i want my kids to know what dedicated and talented people look like.
walker-tar (Tallahassee radio)
04-29-88

to all:
since this is the waning moments of my stay here, i wud like to express to
everyone the warmest thanks for all the gud times -- especially to walt
frerck and gary edwards and co. ... who showed me the ropes when
i was the greenest of stringers in hsp (Houston photo)
good luck to everyone and in particular to david ake as he will be the only
oriential photog left in the division.
it's been a pleasure.
hom-kpp (Kansas City photos)
04-29-88

all
my last day isn't actually until tomorrow, but i didn't want to miss saying
goodbye to all of you who aren't blessed with a weekend shift.
when i arrived here fresh out of college almost three years ago, i had no
way of knowing how much the job and my co-workers would come to mean
to me. i leave here a little disillusioned, but, i hope, a whole lot wiser.
thanks to all of you for your friendship and guidance, especially those of
you in the old central division -- rod boshart-qa (Quad Cities-Rock Island,
Ill.), who taught me well during my first few months; bob murphy-hx (Chicago), who taught me to write a two-line skedline; the whole hx gendesk crew -- alan, marci et al; the guys in du
(Detroit) -- chris, bob (and joe-dup, for all the milkshakes and donuts during the
caucuses); lori-sr (Lincoln, Neb.) et kevin-wh (Omaha); chuck-ms
(Minneapolis); and everyone else i mite hv forgotten. i'll miss you all
terribly.
as for future plans, i'm going to spend the next three months fixing up a
nursery for my big event in august. then eye'm going to play mommy for a
few months until my husband's money runs out and i figure out where in the
world to go next.
finally, goodbye and best wishes to the nw crew -- bill brewer, who led us
well in the face of a lot of adversity; john peterson, who got us our
microwave; cornell fowler, who -- what does one say about cornell?
photographer extraordinaire dennis garrels -- and scott sonner, who got out
before the ax fell. you've been like family to me and i have no idea who's
going to keep the office clean now.
nominations for baby names being taken on czm (Columbus message wire) all
nite.
keep the faith and best wishes always, lisa-nw (Des Moines)
04-29-88

unipressers
i still hv almost four hours before the end of my eight years here (i was
hired by h.l. stevenson -- remember him?). if i wait till quitting time to
say goodbye, i'll miss all of you who are completing ur tenure right now.
plus, i'd hate it if i gave a dzm farewell party and nobody came.
i remember lots of things ... mafia trials, plane crashes, executions, rig
explosions, not to mention one super bowl and two championship fights.
upi has been a great meal ticket, and a great admission ticket as well. i
also remember announcing the births of my two children on the dzm, and
i plan to phone in the birth of my third sometime in may. i hope no one
ever bans those from the msg wire. i especially remember the past three
years as food editor, the best excuse i've ever heard of for putting on
weight. line of duty, you know.
well, i hope i will hear from many of you wonderful ple (the ones leaving
or the ones staying) in my new city, orlando. i will be joining the travel-
food public relations firm of robinson yesawich and pepperdine. so i trust
i'll find excuses to speak with many of you in the years ahead (and bill our
beers to the client).
for the last few years, i've read the wire's periodic odes to the best and
the brightest, the wise, gentle, committed, sometimes martyrlike staffers
of upi. all i can add is a quote from my favorite ancient philosopher. it
was the cowardly lion who uttered the single, oh-so-memorable phrase ... "ain't
it duh trut."
chrs
demers-ne (New Orleans)
04-29-88

buros
just thought you should know that we all missed "david zisso day" in
oklahoma thursday, honoring this eminent jobseeker. the modest boy
wonder of the ko (Oklahoma City) capitol buro kept it a secret. (david is
the one with the telephone manners of a water buffalo with a gum boil. The guv read all the
whereas' at his news conference yesterday. let's hear it for his 15 minutes
of fame ... clap, clap, etc.
chrs.
bond-ko
04-29-88

buros
my last day is satty, but the combination of my farewell msg and the
finality of forwarding the fones to da (Dallas) tmw would be too much. tis
better to split the devastating events of life into manageable pieces.
eye'll think of this instead as a thank-you note to all of you in the
division who have made my years as a united press international reporter
(gawd eye luv saying that) so incredible. hired on at the "tender age of
20," as rocky phrases it, eye was terribly intimidated by the wit and
wisdom ticking across the wires nitely. today eye'm still awed by the
talent of this crew. as well as thankful for your warm welcome and advice
on breathing exercises during prison riots, etc. a special thanks to cheri
and debbie,whose calm demeanor and sage advice halted more than one attempt
on the life of ntl desker.
finally,eye would like to refute my colleague's accusation that
eye stopped "going great guns" when eye fell in love. the only reason eye
ever went "great guns" was an embarrassing freshman crush that made me follow
him everywhere and learn a great deal ... and fall in love with this work.
there's nothing like it. thank you all for one hellava education.
73s
bond-ko
04-29-88

buros:
pardon me if I'm sentimental, but today eye take my leave of upi and a host
of friends and colleagues. it has been truly a labor of love for these past
three years with enough memories for a lifetime. As Lyndon Johnson said, eye leave with
a heavy heart. but eye can't go without a word of thanks to the folks in aj
(Atlanta), ra (Raleigh), ca (Columbia, S.C.), rv (Richmond, Va.), nv
(Nashville) and all the other buos who helped me over the months in the
shank of the evening when reads were hard to come by. eye will never forget
your dedication and your professionalism.
if you will indulge me, there are a couple of lines from an old song "The
minstrel show" that have haunted me for the past couple of weeks since eye got the big
overniter.
They go, "the money and the crowd ran out before we reached the next town,
"this old show has played its last run, and rung the curtain down,"
"Don't know where we'll go from here, come tonight I just don't care,
"maybe we'll go to a better place, and the minstrel show'll be there,
"Lay me down, Carolina, lay me down, don't wanna wake up in the morning no
more,
"sing me one slow, sad song for this one last old time before they close,
the minstrel show."
Now, as Sammy Davis Jr. would say, "We're going to take one more look at
the body, then we're going to close the lid."
Adios.
mauldin-ct (Charlotte, N.C.)
mauldin-ct
One never says goodbye to an old friend. say good bye only when it's
permanent. So, eye'll just say see you later. My best wishes for Mister
South Carolina. I wish only the best to you and your bride ... even tho she
is a clemson fan. doug, upi's been a good old fiddle, but i believe she's
playing her last tune ... as we know it. so mebbe it's best we're moving on
cause the lid's a closin. I appreciate all the help you've given me. real
unipressers land on their feet. eye know you will. See you satty. come
thirsty. jeffreys-ra

Unipressers:
I have been with United Press International for more than 5 years and
during those 2,059 days (give or take) it has been my great privilege to work with
some of the most gifted journalists in the business. UPI survived the past
couple of years on the grit, unwavering dedication and sheer talent of its
staffers - despite several idiotic managerial moves that made the job
increasingly difficult. I'll cherish my vivid memories of the good times and
wish only the best for those who remain.
Goodbye and God bless. rgds, chrs et 73s.
Steve Arters-da (Dallas)-cw (Charleston, W.Va.)

unipressers
i feel like young willie keefe, the last captain of the caine, as i take
upi's battered nk (Newark) buro into mothballs after 80-odd (very odd) years
in nj's largest city - now reduced to a "one-person outpost in a less populous
region." after today, the buro that covered the lindbergh kidnapping trial,
mayor frank "i am the law" hague and baby m will be gone, and so will i. my
5 years on the upi merry-go-round have been sometimes stomach-churning, but i
always knew i was working with a group of people who wud do anything that
wasn't immoral, unethical or fattening to get the job done. those of us in
the trenches know that we did our best. and, like tiny tim said, god help us
every one. chrs, burns-nk.

unipressers
as i prepare to walk out of upi-dx (Denver) for the last time today, one
day short of my 51st birthday, it's startling to realize tt nearly half of tt time has
been spent here. most of the past quarter century has been fulfilling and
rewarding, and i've had the extreme good fortune to work with the finest
wordsmiths in the world. to all those (too numerous to mention) who have
helped me thru the years, my heartfelt thanks. to those who remain, my most
sincere best wishes. pls keep the company afloat so the severance checks
continue. godspeed and slainte mhath (good health) to u all.
cannon-dx

to everyone leaving today
it has been MY pleasure to work with you lo these many years. i'm going to
miss the crazy messages, the dedication of you all out there trying to run
things down for ohio. but we all are survivors in one way or another. i wish
you all the best of luck, and most of all, keep in touch with someone still
here.
latimer (a.k.a sandlot) cz (Columbus, Ohio)

unipressers
25 years is a generation. I'm lucky. I leave still young, looking straight
ahead. I only regret there will be no more datelines signed By GERALD
KOPPLIN on the newspaper wires and no more GPK on broadcast. The best to all of you.
May this great outfit survive! 73'ers. kopplin-ms (Minneapolis)

unipressers
8 years, 3 months and 23 days of treading the boards for upi ends today and
i finally get the hook. There are too many people, present and past, to thank
by name so i'll thank u all en masse for allowing another madman into ur midst.
u don't have to be crazy to work for upi, but it helps, and i'm just crazy
enough that i'll miss u. if ur ever in ar, feel free to look me up -
************ or in the yellow pages under "Downholders." If ur in Amsterdam, go to
the Bulldog and ask for the loony amerikaner. ** user logged out of server
**.
let the living begin, marc mcfarland-ar (Seattle)

unipressers
I've rewritten this msg 20 times in my head the last two weeks. I've tried
variations on blasting the powers that be, schmaltzy recollections of the
tear-jerker moments, and allusions to the fragrance of sea air as the deck
chairs are rearranged and the band players Nearer My God to Thee. It's
difficult to choose which would be most appropriate.
The good things about UPI and its people strongly outweigh the bad,
however, and I will always remember it fondly and proudly claim the right to call
myself a Unipresser.
UPI lifted me from the trenches of obscure small dailies in obscure small
towns. It doubled the money I was making. It gave me the chance to cover
George Bush, Michael Dukakis, Jesse Jackson, Richard Nixon, Mike Tyson,
Donald Trump and more governors and legislators than eye can recall - all in three
years. UPI helped me make many friends, both among Unipressers and those I
covered.
There were moments I'll never forget: the time Paul Kern-NAP (Philadelphia
photos) (laid off last year) et eye tried to sell UPI to Donald Trump at a
Casino Control Commission meeting. "I'm a rich man. Do you seriously believe I got rich buying
companies like UPI?" Then there was the time Kern et eye were covering a riot in Perth
Amboy et kid pulled a gun on us. Kern slammed the guy against the wall,
screamed "You're busted!" and found the gun was plastic.
I could go on and on, but then UPI told me to wright tight, bright,
tonight.
But there's one parting thought to be shared by all of us who have left
before, who are leaving today, and will leave in the next few weeks and
months (if it lasts that long):
Yea though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no
evil. We have worked for UPI and lived to write about it.
Logging off. chrs et rgds. shearman-trc (Trenton)

unipressers
It's been a few days shy of a year between my first and last days at UPI.
But in recent Fridays the message wire has carried a glimpse of what United
Press International meant to so many people -- and what has been done to the
company. I carefully filled out my census form this year ... so I guess I'd
better contribute to an accurate farewell count here. Good luck to all and
thanks to anyone who corrected (thank God) and shortened (mostly) my copy.
I'll remember this year. cheers, and goodbye.
McGettigan-tr.

all new downholders
too many names, too little time. been a pleasure working with all of u et a
shame yer names will no longer grace the wires. best of luk to all of u.
73s.
debevec-ms-ws-cw-wb-fy-sv (Here is someone who moved -- Minneapolis, St.
Paul, Charleston, Morgantown, W.Va., Frankfort, Ky., Louisville, Ky.)

unipressers
Dear hearts: So many Unipressers are getting off this rollercoaster in the
next few days, and I am joining you.
Naturally, our last days here are occasioned by strong emotions. Some of us
are angry, some sad, some nostalgic.
As for me, I can find nothing but respect for UPI, for all of you who are
leaving and for those we leave behind.
Since 1907 Unipressers around the world have been fighting a righteous
battle. We've kept the rest of the media honest, pushed the opposition to
its limits. We were not just as good as Grandma (AP) -- we were a hell of a lot
better.
UPI has treated me exceedingly well. I got to cover wonderful stories and
interview great American heroes as well as absolute scalawags. Most of all I
am exceedingly proud to have worked with the best reporters, editors and
photographers in the world.
The pleasure was all mine.
preston-ct

preston-ct
momma. thnks for giving me a chance to ride the roller coaster. i wouldn't
trade it for anything in this world. i wouldn't even trade it for a job. the
job will come later. you gave me a chance to do something most news people
never a chance to do ... chase after the big ones. you gave me confidence
that i didn't kno i had and for tt i am forever gratreful, june. eye wish you the
best. may god bless you. jeffreys-ra
preston-ct
june: 'don't go ... we all love ya,' so said the lion with his new found
courage. keeping on the yellowbrick road motif, if you ever go looking for
your heart's desire and upi is still kicking come back and tape all those
sweet farewells to your tube. stay in touch et tnx fer everything. chr
cash/ra (Raleigh)

preston-ct
the upi training manual, if such a thing existed, could have been condensed
to one sentence: watch june preston and do what she does. eye have always
considered it a "priority assignment" to work with you, and upi will not be
the same without you. eye can only hope that our paths will cross again.
best wishes for the future.
newman-ca (Columbia, S.C.)

preston-ct
it was a pleasure working with you at the wheeling, w.va., news register, a
decade ago and a pleasure here at upi. good luck, june. rgds, mcnickle-ps
(Pittsburgh)

preston-ct
june, our paths dint cross much in my 10 yrs with u-p-i, but eye certainly
enjoyed reading ur jim-et-tammy stuff as well as ur other efforts. ur
farewell msg only underlines the classy reputation u maintained. knowing tt true pros
like urself exist makes this endeavor truly worthwhile. eye kin only wish u
the very best, ever.
saudades
dias-nxf (New York Financial)

preston-ct
farewell and good luck, june. you were and are a class act. don't let jesse
out of your sights. rosso-wa

preston-ct, thnx for all ur help, all ur hard work, all ur wry jokes.
wishing u the very best and that u'll stop in some time for a cold beer. stutzman-or
(Orlando, Fla.)

preston-ct
gud luk & best wishes, june. ur departure is one reason we detest upi's
black fridays. chrs, sielicki-tl (aka slick) (Toledo)

preston-ct
june, you are very much wrong on one point -- the last. a great deal of the
pleasure was ours, those of us who had a chance to work with you. you've
epitomized what's best about upi and you'll be sorely missed. chrs --
burnett/sm (Cleveland)

preston-ct
june, ur still my secret love, no matter how many lies eye may hv told in
the meantime, & regret only tt u never got to interview me in either category.
best wishes, et eye still hope to meet u some day. - witcher-ko (Oklahoma
City)

preston-ct
a fighting gentlewoman to the end. you never cease to amaze me.
lou carr-ntl (National)

preston-ct
a class farewell from a classy lady. u will be sorely missed. good luck in
whatever ur next endeavor may be, and god bless. one question, who gets
custody of jim and tammy?
ramsey-ft (Savannah, Ga.)

preston-ct
vaya con dios, chica.
trott-ntl

preston-ct
june, it saddens me to see your goodbye message. i know these have been
tough times in the carolinas, as elsewhere, and my heart is still with those of
you i worked with down there. as a veteran of the 'ptl campaign' and other
memorable carolina news events, i want to say it was rewarding working for
you. thanks for all you taught me in atlanta and columbia. i wish you good
luck and all the best in the future. cheers. craig-wa (by way of ca)
(Washington, D.C., by way of Columbia, S.C.)

Preston-CT
June, you are a class act. You always went the extra mile in news coverage,
client services and even in sales. Thanks for the contributions; too many to
recount and too many to repay. Good luck with the new work. cheers.<
Geimann-NX (New York)

preston-ct
you're going out with class, kid. you done real good and we're going to
miss you very much. love and kisses.
mullen-nx

preston-ct
although i never met you, ur name has bn one of the stalwarts of the wire.
best of luck in the future. abbott-wa

preston-ct
it's hard to say goodbye to so many good ppl. wish u all the best in the
future. 73s, milewski-hf (Hartford, Conn.)
preston-ct
won't be the same around her without you, june. i'll miss seeing ur byline
on stories and i'm sure the bakkers, those imps, will miss you too! much good
luck to you. silvassy-wasp (Washington features)

preston-ct
Eye'm sorry, but the pleasure was notnot all yours. There was a good deal
of it among those of us who worked with you. And eye'm sure as hell gonna miss
ya, even if you do misspell the same word tt eye do. Good luck et 73s.--wieck-da

all mutants
oh gawd, yet another one of these long good-bye msgs to clutter the wire et
bring tears to yer eyes.
well, forget it. no tears here bubbas et bubbettes, just miles of smiles.
upi et royal brightbill got me outta tt stinkhole known as radio et gave
me a real job 4 years ago. because of royal, eye got to act like a 12-yr-old
here in baton rouge for the past 2 years et 9 months, playing morning man to the
button-down state capitol crowd who were terrified of anybody who would
quote todd rundgren in a column et drive around in a car with .22-caliber
holes in the windshield.
folks, we've all got into this horrible disease. my first day with upi,
angie miller-dar went into labor while doing bcast briefs. she finished her trick.
people, tt is not normal. we're mutants. it's something the drones at rox wl
(will) never hv (have): life on the edge, on tt impossible deadline, at the world's
largest insolvent independent newsgathering organization. hunter thompson was right:
"when the going gets weird, the weird turns pro."
eye'm proud to say eye was a unipresser, even prouder to say eye was one
in louisiana, the weirdest third-world country in the united states of bush.
yeah people, the crew of brightbill, duffy, fuller, bermudez, reaves, demers,
power, gloster, plume, sisk, guerrera, mack, benic, lodriguss, finney, schwed,
schlangenstein, anderson, mearns, manguno, forman, et al were a little
different down here, but then we had to be. god played a cruel joke on louisiana, but
then the people don't notice. go figure, et we're glad we cud be of service
creating this aura of invincible irreverence.
pink slip in hand, eye'm getting on the elevator here in the house that
huey built et punching "23" -- going to work for the attorney general of the
state of louisiana, the man who owns antoine's down in the french quarter et
unknows wot an intrauterine device is. these mutually exclusive pieces of
information do matter a whole hellava lot to someone who did so much in his totally
misspent youth tt when synapses do connect, it's an f-dot on the put line et 10 bells
in yer ears.
two final thoughts:
it was david byrne of the talking heads who sang:
"if this is paradise, i wish i had a lawnmower."
and it was the late, lamented lowell george, he of little feat, who sang:
"gets it to me gently, well feets don't fail me now."
yo lowell, save me a seat on the train. we need to talk
c l i p a n d s a v e
good for one night of drunken revelry (at yer convenience). contact: steven
watsky,
73s,
steven (otto) watsky-bg-ne (Baton Rouge, New Orleans
watsky-bg
eye thot u had another week, mayes-x (St. Louis) has until next friday. this
place woan be the same without u. eye rmbr taking ur stringer calls back in 1985 (din u
call with the stri abt the president or some riverboat colliding with barge at bg,
all the rich folx in their fancy clothes hving to abandon ship?). how abt
the vicious msg exchanges with keenan-kp (Kansas City, Mo.) in the 86-87 era?
read martin, laid off in x last month, on his way to ne tdy for friend's
wedding. eye told him to stop in canal st. buo if he had time, doan know if he will. wish eye cld
attend ur farewell bash, promise if eye ever make it back to la.-land eye'll
look u up et buy u a dixie et some mudbugs. meanwhile, drink a few for me
tonite.
rgds--whitworth-x

watsky-bg
tnx for enlivening what promises to be a really depressing day. and many,
many tnx for the sometimes astonishing level of energy u put into ur efforts
on this company's behalf. all our best. chrs. - o'shea-ntl

watsky-bg-ne
u nailed it man. so long from this end of the mighty miss. chrs.
debevec-ms-cw-fy-sv-wb (Minneapolis, Charleston, Frankfort, Ky., Louisville,
Morgantown, W.Va.)

watsky-bg
can't even begin to match ur eccentric eloquence, but suffice it to say u
and all departing souls will be sorely missed. eye fear the rest of us may
have no audience when it comes time for the big g-bye. chrs.
kolberg-wasci (Washington Science)

watsky-be
hey, we cudda used you up in new eng, where zz top once reigned, where the
baz once roamed, where fighting the odds and stiffing rox brought smiles to
all, except rox. Good luck.
haskell bh (Boston)

watsky-bg-ne
steve, ur one of the best 12-year-old reporters I've ever worked with. glad
to see ur leaving with a smile - or more like some wild guffaws - and a job.
eyem sure ur old buddies at marine shale are thrilled to learn u gonna be
with attorney general. good luck.
lobsenz-wa

watsky-bg
congratulations! your farewell msg stands a good chance of surviving in upi
lore as the most bizarre, festive and unique of all time. good luck, my
friend. 73. - carmichael-wa

watsky-bg
best of everything and always remember what jack kerouac said the first
time he tried psilocybin: "Walking on water wasn't built in a day." -
mccormally-wa

watsky-bg
yep, that msg should go into the upi pantheon of famous goodbyes, right up
there with "hours too long, pay too little, life to short," (or something
like that) memorialized in "deadline every minute." all the best. reske-scotus
(Washington, Supreme Court).

watsky-bg-ne
for anyone who can make us laugh and wipe away the tears, you've got to be
the greatest. good luck to you and make sure you have addresses of all your
good upi friends. we should start planning reunions.
latimer (still alive in) cz (Columbus, Ohio)

watsky-bg-ne
eye haven't been at upi too many years et was not here for the last
mega-round of layoffs, but eye can't imagine a better goodbye msg. may the
force be with u. rgds.
nichols-ar (Seattle)

watsky-bg
And you were the one I was always told I had to meet (unless that was you
at the Chateau Motor Hotel bar seven drunks and a wrong turn on IH-10 ago).
Best of luck. That was one four-star farewell.
haines-al (San Antonio)

watsky-bg
u know this happening because all the infotech junque bonds are coming
due. jeffreys-ra (Raleigh)

watsky-ne
(goodbye) steve, donno whether i shud laugh or cry, so i'll do a bit of
both when i tip a cold one in southerly fashion. btw, ur cast notes forgot to
mention flowers by irene. chrs et gud luck, sielicki-tl aka slick-tl

watsky-bg
I agree with your wierd list of former La. unipressers, but could add a few
more including Trosclair, Harvey, Cocke and James -- the crew that handled
Jim Garrison's Kennedy killin. It was a boozed up Harvey who got fired after
telling Nx desk to stop bugging NE the nite Pixy broke Garrison story. LBA
just happened to be having their convention that satty nite. I was busy with
hs (high school) scores. Hate to see u go, but it ain't bad working for the
cat who owns the best little eatin place in the Crescent City. cheers.
james-jk (Jackson, Miss.)

UNIPRESSERS:
(Ever notice how the ledes on these msgs are always the same?)
This is my last day at UPI.
No tears, pls. One week to the day after learning of my termination, I got
another job with a big pay raise. I guess UPI should have fired me sooner.
But I guess this is the time for tears for UPI. The war is over. We lost.
I first walked into the Boston UPI bureau in 1965, on Boston's old
Newspaper Row. I was 18, a copy boy at a client paper. I was overwhelmed by the
racket from the teletypes and by the streams of blue-black carbon paper spilling
from the big metal wastebaskets. The place smelled like Chinese food and
photo chemicals. It was meyhem. I loved it. I still do.
I've worked twice for UPI. The first time was from 1969 until 1977, and
this second tour began in 1985. The spirit of the place has never changed, even
now when UPI is a frail shadow of what it once was.
UPI is the Elvis of the news business -- a wild, huge talent "repackaged"
and "repositioned" by a succession of Colonel Parkers.
Elvis died because they wouldn't let him rock 'n roll anymore. We're dying
for the same reason.
73s.
Frederick-me (Augusta, Maine)

All: This is My Last Day - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2
For 75 years United Press International was known as one of the world's leading news organizations. The wire service, which was founded in 1907 as United Press, gathered news from bureaus around the world and delivered it to a worldwide client base.
On June 3, 1982, Scripps-Howard sold UPI to Doug Ruhe and Bill Geissler for $1. At the time, Ruhe was 38 and Geissler 36 and practically unknown. They took over a news organization of more than 1,500 employees in more than 200 bureaus around the world.

A Wall Street Journal story that appeared in the Washington Star in 1979 bore the headline:
UPI, Its 17 Years of Losses Mounting, Banks on Scripps and Satellites.

The lead paragraph stated:
Jerry McGinn isn’t doing much traveling any more, but it has nothing to do with the gasoline crunch.
McGinn is the manager of the Spokane, Wash., bureau of United Press International, the second largest news service in the country. Over the last two years, he says, his travel budget has been cut 10 percent to 15 percent because “the company is losing money” and “we’re told to keep it down on spending.” So, he adds, he hasn’t “been out of Spokane in a year.”

According to the Wall Street Journal story, UPI had a deficit of $2.5 million in 1978 and had a total loss of $17 million since 1961, its most recent profitable year. While citing "some observers" who said UPI was struggling for survival, it said UPI officials insisted that they had remedies for their problems and that they were counting on continued support from the E.W. Scripps Co., which owned 95 percent of UPI.

Jerry expanded on the story with me:
Here's my story on this.
I remember that story very well. It was on page one, left column, of the Wall Street Journal. I was told later that was THE spot for THE lead story each day in that paper. One friend unfolded that story out of his wallet about 20 years ago and said, "Jerry, you are the only person I know whose name showed up in the Wall Street Journal. That's why I saved this." Yes, he was tipsy, but sincere.
The WSJ author called me at the UPI-Seattle bureau one day and said he had been given my name by a Unipresser in New York who said I would probably answer questions about the status of UPI when no one there would. He refused to tell me who had given him my name.
I said I'd give it a go. So we talked for about 10 minutes.
When the story broke, and the prominent spot in the WSJ sunk in, UPI brass went crazy. I was told later Scripps was pissed, too. They thought they had put a lid on the listing if not the sinking of UPI. They were wrong.
My favorite reaction was from my wife, Chris, when she saw it. She said: "Well, darlin', you've always wanted to see your name on page one of the WSJ. Now you are there."
The president of UPI, Rod Beaton, ordered me fired immediately, according to my immediate boss, state manager Marty Heerwald. I was told he was apoplectic that one of his reporters would talk to another member of the news media. I laughed out loud when Marty, a strong supporter, told me that.
I explained to Marty, and later in a letter to (UPI management), that that was what we do for a living: interview people. I had never turned down a client interview before and didn't think, since I had been recommended by New York, that I should blow this guy off, either. They then demanded to know who in New York had recommended I be called. I said honestly that I did not know. I still don't.
In any event, I apparently had supporters in New York (I was definitely on Editor-in-Chief H.L.Stevenson's good list because he offered to move me east if I so desired, a couple of different times) because it blew over. I was a member of the WSG (Wire Service Guild), too, and they stepped in and (guild officers Kevin Keane and Dan Carmichael) said they'd have a huge problem if the brass tried to can me. The guild would not stand for it.
Keane and Carmichael were gifts to us working stiffs.
The only real big dust-up that occurred after that was during an EdiCon in Portland, Ore., hosted by Billy Joe McFarland (Portland, Ore.), Marty Heerwald (Seattle), myself (Spokane) and which featured (Pacific Division Manager) Reeve Hennion, UPI President Bob Page, Bill Lyon, New York pictures editor, and H.L. Stevenson. Plus all the owners and editors of a dozen or more Washington and Oregon newspapers.
Bill Lyon, who fancied himself (I learned) as a tough guy (and a wise guy wannabe), was very icy around me after we were introduced. As we and our wives had cocktails and mingled before dinner and generally mixed with our Washington-Oregon editors, I could see he was itching to have a chat with me. He liked to stare and he assumed I was in fear. I knew he was angry but, frankly, had no idea what was up at that point.
Lyon was also getting pretty sloshed.
Finally, Lyon got his opening and he came over and basically called me a traitor to UPI and asked in front of a few standers-by how in hell I would dare talk to the WSJ the way I did. I told him what happened and it just made him madder.
He said something like, "In New York, you'd have your ass handed to you."
I'd had it by then and told him to go fuck himself. In front of HLS, Page, Hennion and some others. He leaned in and so did I. He suggested we go outside and I said I would be delighted. And at that point I would have been delighted.
Someone separated us and Lyon's last words to me were, "If you were in New York, I'd put a hit on you."
I said if his friends weren't holding him at that moment I'd kick the shit out of him and enjoy it immensely. He continued to try to stare me down the rest of the night.
But that was it.
Except the next day Lyon apologized and I accepted. I told him I was sorry, too, sorry that I didn't kick his ass when he threatened to get me killed. He smiled sheepishly but it was clear we were not going to be friends. Ever. Ironically, we wound up working on features and what used to be called (I think) national horizons packages and the artwork that went with them. Got along fine vis a vis the message wire.
I understand from others after that that he was a bit of bully in New York but was a damned good shooter (photographer). Photogs, I guess, respected him. But that was the end of our association, even though there was a bit of a buzz going around the EdiCon at the time.
Jerry was "invited" to leave UPI on April 26, 1985, a date that became known as the Friday Night Massacre. But he said he did not get the Western Union telegram telling him of his departure until Saturday morning. "I put a smiley face sticker on it, framed it and it was featured on the wall at my desk for several years thereafter."
Unipresser Ed Hart believes UPI's demise "was assured in the spring of 1984 with the sale, lease or whatever it was of the UPI Photo Library to Bettmann. Not only was this invaluable asset physically moved more than a mile away from our headquarters in the Daily News Building on Manhattan's East Side, its staff of professional researchers was dismissed. The replacements were young and inexperienced.”
Ed explained:
“These replacements had no knowledge of photography, no knowledge of the news business and were discouraged by their management from asking the one or two Unipressers in their office any questions about the library or the wire service itself.
“We were reminded daily that we (UPI employees) were Bettmann's ‘guests.’ An adversarial relationship developed even before I agreed to Ted Majeski's request to represent UPI in Bettmann's office on East 21st Street. That relationship and Bettmann's attitude as expressed by its two managers, was soon felt by our clients.
“’We don't make any money from UPI's clients,’ I was told repeatedly, and I was there, so I was to blame. Also, ‘You (UPI) order too many pictures.’
“For every picture we used from what had been ‘our’ file we paid Bettmann $35. Yes, we matched obits, sports, spot news with filers. I once asked a Bettmann manager to examine one of our fax rolls and tell me which of the pictures was ‘too much.’ Of course she didn't reply.
“I was in the position of trying to explain to our clients why they weren't getting their requests on time and why Bettmann's researchers couldn't find stuff our researchers had located within minutes and I was running out of excuses.
“Some of our clients were calling the AP photo library to ask our former librarians who had been hired by Grandma where to locate photos they knew we had but Bettmann couldn't find.
“Our clients voted with their money. They weren't getting what they paid for.
“In 1983, UPI had a million dollars from its Photo Library sales. And that was with what one ‘veteran’ has described as an ‘arcane filing system.’ Those sales were also achieved without cross-filing (cataloging), according to the same ‘veteran’ who never worked in or with our library when it was ours.
“I remember describing the Bettmann situation to one of our general deskers, someone I had worked with for years. ‘Wow,’ he commented, ‘They really screwed you.’ ‘No,’ I replied, ‘They screwed US!’
“Seven years later and 44 years after I started at Acme Newspictures I wrote my goodbye message. It was short. It read, ‘73 et 30.’ It was signed ‘eh/nxp’ (Ed Hart, New York photos).”
By the new millennium UPI was barely a whisper in the news community, a victim of years of incompetent and greedy owners, who in their attempts to climb out of debt only dug the hole deeper. In the process, they trashed hundreds of loyal, dedicated, talented print, broadcast and photography journalists. An excellent book has been published that details the grim details of how this once proud wire service was decimated and subjected to a slow and cruel death -- Down To The Wire, UPI's Fight for Survival, by Ronald E. Cohen, Washington bureau chief and managing editor, and Gregory Gordon, an 18-year veteran who headed UPI's investigative team.
This book does not attempt to duplicate what Ron and Greg accomplished.
Instead, it is dedicated to the hundreds of Unipressers who were yanked from
their jobs or who were forced to leave because of the uncertainty under
which they worked beginning in the mid-1980s. It is told in their words,
expressed in what had become a tradition at UPI -- the farewell messages.
Many of us had worked for years, sometimes decades, without meeting the
hundreds of colleagues stationed in bureaus around the nation and around the
world. We knew each other by our work and by our names. But, we became an
extended family and the farewell messages contained in this book were
good-byes to our brothers and sisters. Their messages were poignant, angry,
nostalgic, scared. And they carried a common theme: No matter their feelings
about why they were leaving, almost all of them expressed their love for the
work they did, the people they did it with and the logo under which they
worked -- UPI.

The messages are arranged chronologically and include the debate that raged
on the internal UPI message wires in 1990 over the company's second request
that Unipressers take a pay cut, this time of 35 percent of their pay.

On April 28, 1985, UPI filed for Chapter 11 and was officially bankrupt.
Although many owners in the subsequent years attempted to reverse the
downward spin, the company never recovered.
Mexican publisher Mario Vazquez-Rana purchased UPI in 1985. His money kept
the wire service alive, but the euphoria quickly disintegrated.

The messages usually were written all lower-case. I have for the most part
kept them in their original form as they were filed, including with many of
their message wire abbreviations and shorthand.

They begin with the farewell message posted by Cohen in 1986 after he was
fired.

To all Unipressers

Today is my last day with UPI. Since I no longer fit into the company's
plans, I finally must acknowledge my family's long-time question, "What do
you want to be when you grow up?"

Twenty-five years can be an eternity, or it can be an instant. To me, it
seems but a moment ago that I walked into UPI's Hartford bureau, was plunked
down into a sculpture of ancient metal and stuffing generously called a
chair, and learned I had five minutes to assemble, punch and begin
transmitting the 8:30 a.m. Connecticut news roundup. I never had seen a
teletype machine before. Welcome to UPI.

My three years as managing editor have been both tumultuous and surpassingly
gratifying. Most of the industry wrote our obit in April of 1985, but
Unipressers reached into deep reserves of enterprise and professionalism and
defiantly shouted, "Surrender, hell!"

Thumbing our noses at the external Cassandras and our internal turmoil, we
brilliantly covered such stories as the TWA and Achille Lauro hijackings;
the Tokyo, Dallas and Milwaukee plane crashes; the Mexico City earthquake;
the Challenger disaster.

Even while we crafted the magnificent, we uncomplainingly churned out the
mundane -- performing the vital but less glamorous tasks that told the world
we not only were alive and well, but kicking too.

I have said it many times, and I will say it again; Chapter 11 bespoke of
the guts and the talent of Unipressers more eloquently than any period in
our long and legendary past.

I am profoundly proud of what we accomplished together. Nobody can ever take
that away.
I know that, whatever happens, you will acquit yourselves with honor and
grace, and I am confident that, in UPI's continuing struggle for survival,
you will bear the torch proudly and high, and never quit reaching for the
dream -- always just beyond your fingertips.

I will miss UPI, but especially I will miss all of you.

It is an honor to have been your colleague, and a privilege to call you
friends.
73s, and 30.
Ron Cohen-wa
The "wa" was the call letters to designate the Washington, D.C., bureau.

Ron's message created a message wire orgy. Unipressers from around the world
flooded the message wire with notes of outrage, condolences, tearful
good-byes. They were collected and printed out and pasted on the walls
surrounding the door to what had been his office.

Another top management victim was Maxwell McCrohon, who had come to UPI from
The Chicago Tribune where he had been the newspaper's editor. But after
three years at UPI, McCrohon found himself at odds with Vazquez-Rana, who
had frozen him out of the decision-making process.

On Nov. 11, 1986, McCrohon filed his farewell message.

To all UPI staff

Working with you over the last three years has been a most rewarding
experience.

The respect I had for UPI even before I joined you has grown as I personally
encountered your professionalism all over the world. Frankly, I have never
seen such dedication to an institution and an ideal. Working together,
you're going to make it a success.

Print, pictures and graphics, broadcast and radio -- you're a bloody fine
outfit.

It has been a privilege.
Much good luck.
Sincerely,
Max McCrohon
1986, started with a bang -- literally. On Jan. 28, 1986, the U.S. spaceship Challenger exploded. The world's worst nuclear accident occurred in April in Chernobyl, the Soviet Union, and the Fox Network was launched in America. Vice President George Bush said, “I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli. Now look, this is the last statement I’m going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that’s coming in.” Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger married into a prominent Democratic family when he married Maria Shriver and Haley's Comet returned. The two incidents apparently were not related.

In 1987, Baby Jessica McClure fell down a well and was rescued, Margaret Thatcher was re-elected in London, the U.S. stock market plummeted 22 percent on Oct. 19 and condom commercials began to appear on television. The U.S. budget reached the trillion-dollar mark and Robert Bork of President Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre fame was denied a Supreme Court appointment. Gary Hart didn't fare much better. His political career was destroyed with his involvement with Donna Rice.

At UPI, the departures continued in 1987. But, first, there were arrivals. Toward the end of 1986, Milt Benjamin, a former UPI reporter in Boston and Washington, was lured from his job as foreign editor at the Washington Post. And early in 1987, Benjamin introduced UPI's new managing editors: Barry Sussman, who had directed the Post's Watergate coverage, Ben Cason, Washington Post assistant managing editor, and Kim Willenson, a Newsweek reporter who had covered the Vietnam War for UPI.

Their tenure did not last long. They immediately ran into conflicts with Vazquez-Rana, who had given Cason marching orders to cut 250 editorial jobs.

Nov 3, 1987
To: the staff and the subscribers of UPI
from: Ben Cason
Barry Sussman
Kim Willenson
With this letter the three of us announce our resignations from United Press International, effective Nov. 20, 1987.
We take this action with deep regret, but with the conviction that we can no longer assure the quality and integrity of the UPI report. It is not our desire to pursue these matters here or in any other public forum.
We came to UPI ten months ago with plans to improve the report, and feel we have helped to do so. We learned very quickly that there existed, long before we arrived, a talented, energetic, devoted staff that has made many sacrifices in the name of putting out a quality news report.
These men and women have performed superbly under adverse conditions. The staff of UPI is capable of setting a national standard for fast, accurate, thoughtful and enterprising coverage of the news. Its efforts deserve continued support from the nation’s news media.
That backing, in the months ahead, will be vital to the survival of strong competition in American reporting of national and international news.
We have arranged our departures, including the provision of advance notice of his announcement to the company’s present ownership, to allow successors to be located without a loss of editorial continuity. We wish the people of UPI every success, and ask UPI’s subscribers to give the new editorial management of UPI a chance to prove that the company remains deserving of their patronage.

Then it was time for the grunts of the wire service and the floodgates opened.

all
it is with sadness that today i end my 22-year career with upi, half of it
as national political writer. in a job that has taken me to virtually every
upi bureau in the nation, i have worked alongside the greatest crew of
professional journalists i will ever encounter, and in the process
i have made hundreds of friends i shall take along with me. 73's (Clay)
richards-wa
11-20-87

all
upi is such a rare place. there are people all over who i think of as
friends, and it comes as a start to realize how many i've never met -- over
the years the message wire starts to feel like real conversation.
in 11 years at this joint, from the deep onite to the luxurious dayside, the
one thing i've never been is bored. excited, angry, delighted or despairing,
yes. but bored, no. the work has always been meaningful -- journalism on the
guerrilla edge of the profession.
the official slogan used to be "around the world, around the clock with
upi." on the onite at upr (radio), we stuck by the more realistic "we may
doze, but we never close."
we've come too near to closing too many times in the past several years. but
once again we're pulling out of a crisis with upi's quality and integrity
intact. you're the people who make the wire run, and now the company's
editorial leaders are people who know that fact in their guts because
they've been in the trenches for decades.
i'll be rooting hard for all of you, my friends met and unmet.
73s, (Judy) dugan-upr (UPI Radio)-gendesk-waftus (features)
11-20-87

all
here i go quitting again after 8 1/2 years with upi. 5 years with a client,
then 3 more back at upi (returning rite after the pay cut). i sorta hate to
leave just when things are starting to get interesting (as in the old
Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times).
i reckon i'd still be here, come what may, if i hadn't fallen in love with
drake-kp (Kansas City, Mo.) the 60-plus miles between buros was unbearable,
and she's too special to let slip away. she becomes braden-kp on saturday.
spending nearly 10 years in the statehouse buo of an ap-stronghold
state -- face to face with the folks from the cooperative -- you become familiar
with the arrogance that comes from nearly unchallenged power. an ap-only
world is a frightening prospect.
from that vantage point, i offer an observation to u, u overworked,
often-unappreciated gang of ruffians.
u are among the few persons on the planet whose efforts truly could have an
influence on the future of this free people. seldom does an individual have
a chance to make a difference.
that and 40 cents will buy you a cup of coffee, but it also sets u apart
from the mundane mass of nine-to-fivers in their gray little world of
mortgages and manicured lawns.
keep smiling. it drives 'em crazy.
73s
braden-ac (Topeka, Kan.)
10-22-87

By the end of 1987, UPI had shrunk to less than 900 employees. Its 4,500 newspaper and broadcast clients numbered less than 2,400.

All: This is My Last Day - chapter 1

All: This Is My Last Day ...
By Henry David Rosso
CHAPTER 1

August 19, 1999, was a gut-wrenching day in the basement radio studio of United Press International. On that day, shortly after noon in Washington, D.C., UPI Radio sent the following to its radio clients:
One final story. This is the last broadcast from UPI Radio. United Press International is getting out of the radio business and has sold its contracts to Associated Press Radio. For those of us suddenly out of work, it has been fun. We feel UPI Radio has done its job well over all, even as we struggled with fewer and fewer resources. So, we sign off now with smiles, memories, a few tears, but no regrets. I’m Craig Smith.
Many believe that broadcast was the final nail in UPI’s coffin, closing the lid to a once-great news service that saw the likes of Walter Cronkite, Helen Thomas, Merriman Smith, Gail Collins, Joseph Galloway, Brit Hume and many, many more.
That year was also my last year with UPI after 27 years – almost every day of which I looked forward to going to work. I left UPI twice. Once I was invited to leave – abruptly. The second time I left – abruptly.
The year I left for good was also the year of the death of my father, who I believe passed journalistic fervor into my genes. When he was a 15-year-old Princeton High School student he interviewed Albert Einstein. When he was 17, he became the editor and reporter for the Princeton, N.J., Local Express.
When my father died, I found a letter he had written to me, "his son
who is just beginning his freshman year at Syracuse University."
He began by telling me what it was like at press time in the Gazette office
where he was working. "'Old Bill' is anxiously puttering over the forms
before he puts them to bed, Duke is busy picking up the mattrices that
'Betsy,' the linotype, has been spewing all over the floor, and I am
relaxing at your desk, a victim of that
'Thursday-afternoon-and-all-my-work-is-done' languor."
He took a moment to remember his days at Syracuse University. "Perhaps you
have felt, as I once did, that surge of printer's ink in your blood as you
walked through the Castle, and you have glanced with scorn at that towering
monstrosity, the Hall of Languages. All in all, you should be well adjusted
to college life and to the campus."
Then there was the college advice:
"Dave, you are not in college to absorb a lot of impractical knowledge; you
are there to gain wisdom. There is a difference. Knowledge can be found in
an encyclopedia. Wisdom is the effective and practical use of that
knowledge."
Finally, my dad's hopes came out:
"I can picture you when you return from Syracuse, Dave. It will be a
reflection of me when I graduated. What a reporter you will make! Instead of
describing a slight delay in the city council as such, you will refer to it
as 'unconscionable dilatoriness promulgated by a group of insignificant,
procrastinating octogenarians."
That letter had been written in 1946. I was 3 years old.
Fast forward to my real college days -- at Marin Junior College in Marin
County, across the bay from San Francisco. Much to my father's chagrin, I
was majoring in music.
"What are you going to do with a music major?" he asked.
"Teach music," I answered.
One day, my choir director and composition professor, Dr. Drummond S. Wolff,
approached me after class with one of my compositions. It was filled with
red circles, exclamation points and comments. He showed it to me, looked up
into my face, and said, "Why don't you go into journalism?"
I don't think it was a question.
I took a break from college in 1962 and traveled to Europe. I had seen an ad
in the school paper that offered: "Earn and learn in Europe." It promised to
set me up with a summer job in a country of my choice. I chose Germany and
went to work in a spool factory in the small town of Reutlingen. After a
month, I wrote the mayor of Munich, explained that I was a college student
working in Germany and did he have a job in Munich. He set me up with a job
at the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) factory there. At that time, in the '60s, many non-Germans worked in Germany’s factories. While in Germany, I wrote first person accounts of my
days in Europe, which stretched beyond the original summer job to nine
months. I wrote four articles for the Marin Independent Journal. I think the
remuneration was 11 cents an inch.
Fast forward to 1968. I was fresh out of the Air Force and attending
American University in Washington, D.C., and working at the Washington Daily
News, one of three dailies in Washington. The other two were The Washington
Post and The Washington Star. At the News I measured art for advertising.
Not exactly what I had in mind for a career, but it got me in the door and I
got to rub shoulders with reporters.

One day, I passed by the Associated Press offices and, out of curiosity, walked in.
I was amazed. I entered a room filled with teletype machines that made such
a racket I could barely hear the gentleman who was patiently answering my
questions. I knew nothing about wire services and was fascinated to learn
that those machines were sending news around the world.

It was not much later that I met Cyndy Cockrill at a party and started dating her.
She worked at United Press International and introduced me to Grant Dillman,
the Washington bureau chief. Dillman and I talked for a bit, he read some of
my writing and hired me with the words, "You'll never get rich in this
business."

I didn't, and I did.

I began my career with UPI in December 1969 as a switchboard operator and
dictationist. On the switchboard, I learned to manage the spaghetti of cords
that connected -- and oftentimes erroneously disconnected -- the incoming and outgoing
calls. Elsie Holecko taught me the ropes, so to speak, along with Susan
Fogg, whose father, Sam, was a correspondent for UPI. Elsie taught me who
was who and where they were. Susan taught me not to take any crap from
anybody.

While on the switchboard, I learned what a flash was -- or, more precisely,
was not. I answered the phone and a male voice on the other end said: "This
is the FBI. I've got a flash."
Dillman was walking by the switchboard as I pulled over the microphone and
announced, "FBI, flash."

Dillman stopped in his tracks and turned white, his lower jaw dropped open.
He grabbed the phone I had connected, talked for a while and then passed it
on to whoever was running the news desk. He then educated me. The call was
to inform us that the FBI had made an arrest for the murder of labor leader
Joseph "Jock" Yablonski and his family. This may have been an urgent, but
certainly not a flash. Flashes were for the death of a president or
declaration of war or something equally as momentous. I was no longer to
take the word of the FBI.

That night I was taught that there are flashes, which triggered 10 bells on teletype machines; bulletins, which sounded five bells, and urgents, three bells.

UPI was noisy what with the bells and the teletype machines and yelling reporters and editors.
The newsroom was open. No cubicles. And there was constant give and take of varying degrees of intensity. A television in the center of the room was always on.

But it was the teletype machines that were possibly responsible for the ringing I experience in my ears to this day. The room was filled with large black boxes that banged out the news on various wires -- A wire for primary national and world news, B wire for news of lesser importance and transcripts, financial wire, regional wire, local and state wire -- all banging at once. Occasionally, we would have a power outage and when all the machines stopped at once, the silence was deafening.