In past columns I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve devoted much lineage to the way things used to be, to my childhood and the dogged determination of hundreds of boys who worked six days a week to earn a few bucks selling Optics.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made fleeting references to the Optic sellers and carriers who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d spend hours in an alcove at the rear of the building, waiting for an unreliable press to churn out 80 copies a minute, to be distributed first to the carriers with established routes, then to the more tenured street sellers, determined by money, age, size and bully-ness quotient.<\/p>\n
It was harrowing for us improperly dressed boys who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d remain on the streets from 2 p.m. (or whatever time the press run began) to 7 p.m. Five hours on some mid-winter days with temperatures like those we experienced three weeks ago, for a dozen sales and a quarter profit, including tips \u00e2\u20ac\u201d unless, however, Cristobal or Carlos jumped you and stole your papers and your day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s earnings.<\/p>\n
In those days, it seemed as if every kid in town had a paper route or sold on the street. But eventually, cars replaced bikes, and, as is the case today, our newspaper goes through the mail.<\/p>\n
I received an e-mail from a Linda Anderle, who wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As part of my work connected to the Plaza Hotel, I have been in contact with a James W. Fitch. In a recent e-mail, he stated: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcDuring my boyhood I was a delivery boy for the Daily Optic. The editor at that time, Walt Vivian, appointed me sports reporter for the paper and gave me a byline column for reporting (Las Vegas High School, now Robertson).\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
A paper boy and sportswriter older than I? My curiosity aroused, I phoned the almost-88-year-old gentleman at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., to ask about his experiences in Las Vegas. Fitch, a widower who raised five children, attended what is now Highlands University in the fall quarter of 1940, but wishing to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Jack, he soon joined the U.S. Navy. With the U.S.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entry into the war inevitable, James managed to get in to the military although quite young.<\/p>\n
Newspapers in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc40s contained little besides war coverage. Fitch has documented some of his experiences in a book, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Desert Sailor: Growing Up in the Pacific Fleet,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d available online.<\/p>\n
Our lengthy phone conversation covered some interesting recollections, among them:<\/p>\n
The young Fitch suffered injuries while stationed at Guadalcanal. Walter Vivian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daily column, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Along the Banks of the Gallinas,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d contained a comment about James Fitch, on Dec. 12, 1942:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sad and mad today.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This morning Frank Fitch showed us a telegram from the Navy … the Navy regrets …\u00e2\u20ac\u009d etc.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jimmy is wounded. Jimmy, the youngster of whom his brother Jack, just a kid himself, had written, had seen too much for a kid. Jimmy, the happy youngster who used a typewriter in the office just downstairs. The fellow who delivered Optics and had few complaints.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jimmy joined the Navy to be with Jack. They were brothers and pals in everything, you know. They were separated after training, but together in spirit. no longer boys but fighting men in a fighting navy.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A press dispatch from Washington tells of the price the navy is paying to blast the axis. Thousands dead, wounded, missing. Those are numbers that bring anguish into American homes everywhere, but to Las Vegans, generally they are remote figures. Now a Las Vegas boy is on the casualty list. And war is brought much closer to the community.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
About the injuries, Fitch said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When my ship was sunk my parents didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where I was. I was extensively burned and spent three months in the hospital. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use my hands. I gave a fellow sailor my girlfriend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s address, and she was the one who notified my parents.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
So interesting did I find Fitch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recollections that I urged him to pay another visit to the Meadow City this year. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s considering it.<\/p>\n
Besides, I too wrote sports while still in high school, and I had a newspaper route just east of his.<\/p>\n
Conscientious carriers always pick up and deliver, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the offer I made to my phone buddy, when and if he arrives at the Albuquerque Sunport this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In past columns I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve devoted much lineage to the way things used to be, to my childhood and the dogged determination of hundreds of boys who worked six days a week to earn a few bucks selling Optics. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made fleeting references to the Optic sellers and carriers who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d spend hours in an alcove at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":723,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}