There’s a saying about having one’s past come back to haunt. My long-ago years popped up this morning – in the newspaper, by all evidence. The article from the Broken Arrow Ledger had been clipped out and was hand delivered by a friend shortly after I unlocked the front door.
I had almost forgotten about the interview and picture-taking session with Mr. Dapron, the fellow who asked if he could chat with me about my sports background. Understanding that topic would make for a short conversation, I had agreed to it.
Wasn’t sure how that was going to work out.
Before Doug Quinn retired from the Ledger and was still manning their sports desk, we bumped into each other on several occasions and wound up talking sports and reporting. Mr. Quinn covered a lot of sports and – like the territory I covered during my tenure – it was mostly smaller towns (although Broken Arrow certainly is out of that category these days).
There was common ground that only someone covering small-town sports could understand, things like rickety football stadium press boxes and lavish hospitality offerings at college basketball arenas. (The Oral Roberts University staff used to set out some great food and sodas for the reporters back when I had a press pass.) Although plenty of people talk into microphones about high school sports across the state, it is still a small fraternity, and people wind up crossing paths.
I’m guessing Doug must have mentioned something about former sports reporters, or something. That’s where Duane Dapron comes in – armed with a notepad and a camera.
I appreciate his time and the fact that he was able to make me sound more interesting than I am. The publicity actually brought a couple of groups at lunchtime who hadn’t realized until reading the article that we offered food as well as books.
Even though I was caught off-guard this morning, I later had time to read the story and could appreciate Mr. Dapron’s efforts. He was very patient during the interview, despite the fact that we had to pause several times so I could run over to the front counter.
So, a big Thanks! to the Broken Arrow Ledger – and Duane Dapron in particular – for a nice article about the shop and the Old Days when the microphones were more than just shelf-top displays.
I’m just trying to figure out who the old man in the picture is.