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Columns by Anne Louise Grimm
Grimmly Reflecting, a 600 word column published in Southwest Washington state
newspapers--most recently the SOUTH BEACH BULLETIN of Westport in Gray's Harbor
County--covering subjects from serious to whimsical. Sometimes expose reports never before in
print. See: Sample
Listed in the Editor and Publisher 71st Syndicate Directory, published August 1996
through the 78th for 2003/2004.
Now free internationally to online subscribers, emailed with release date of Friday each week.
Similar columns were previously published in 1983 and earlier as Of Shoes and Ships, in the daily STAR and HERALD of Panama. The STAR and HERALD -- founded in 1849 -- was the oldest English-language newspaper on the Pacific Coast of the Western Hemisphere, (including Canada and the United States as well as Hispanic America) until publication ceased October 1987. Picture below as used in STAR and HERALD.
Anne Louise Grimm
The STAR and HERALD, which, (as also La Estrella) had been for a time available in the capital cities of Central America and nearby South American countries, became one of the early casualties of the Panama Canal Treaties. A French edition of the same newspaper ceased publication long ago, but the Spanish-language La Estrella survives. Copies of the STAR and HERALD are available on microfiche from the Library of Congress. Picture above published with those first Of Shoes and Ships columns.
WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY, THE MICE WILL PLAY
Most of the production staff of the Star and Herald were Panamanian citizens; some spoke only Spanish. Even the completely bilingual did not, quite often,
understand the cultural differences of the English speaking, especially the Canal community . . . and that could be hilarious. Editor of the Society Page which carried many features -- and all but hard news, sports, and comics -- was for many years the widowed Anona Kirkland. Whenever the US-born Mrs. Kirkland went on vacation, tricks would be played on her replacement editor.
The wives of the canal pilots were a pretty cohesive bunch of friends, and playful, to the extent that when one of them was gone on vacation, another had a congratulatory announcement made on the 50th birthday of the absent one ... the joke being that she was barely past 40.
As background on another incident, there is an annual crab migration from the swamp to Margarita Bay for spawning purposes, and vehicles cannot but smash them onto the pavement they cross. Mornings before the roadway was swept, got pretty gross, as we couldn't hold our breath for the distance.
Once again, one year when Mrs. Kirkland was away visiting her children, some wag wrote a detailed story about The Crab Festival. Well, the Garlic Festival held on the Long Beach Peninsula in our Southwest Washington county -- with its garlic ice cream among other offerings -- may be for real ... but in the Canal community of Panama, the Crab Festival was certainly not!
There was one fictious column of mine, published April 1, about an incident concerning a Pacific Northwest Railroad. And another year a feature article by a student at the only Department of Defense college our country supported, named Canal Zone College and after the treaty signing, Panama Canal College. The article was about a ski resort with snow-machine produced slopes to be financed by Asian and European promoters, in the western mountains of Panama. But these were published while the editor was on duty and with her approval ... celebrating each time the first day of April.
The verse above the logo and at the very top of the Tiptoe Home page was written long ago by someone whose identity has been lost, and for many years published as a slogan beneath the name STAR and HERALD on the front page. With respect for that writer and since that newspaper is out of print -- lest the thought itself be lost -- it has been adopted here ... in the hope it will be taken up by future generations.
An even earlier -- anecdotal -- column, Hits and Mrs, appeared for eight years in an Oregon trade paper.
E-mail Anne
Member National Society of Newspaper columnists
URL: http://www.willapabay.org/~anne/cols.htm
Anne Louise Grimm
434 - 6th Street # 206
Raymond WA 98577-1804, USA
State Business License 600 560 787
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