Powell River News - darkroom technician

The call from the Powell River News city editor to my Vancouver rooming house a few days after bending elbows at the Vancouver Press Club was welcomed, but somewhere along the way wires got crossed without being corrected.

During my five-hour drive to Powell River, with two ferry trips along the way, I wondered if the 10,000-plus community on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast would be a good news town.

It was a scenic and rejuvenate late-fall drive after the long trek west and the two weeks of employment uncertainty. My funds were low and there was still one $150 payment to go on my 1965 Chevy.

Well, Al Dawson's lesson at the Globe and Mail to never "assume" came back to bite me in the butt. The job at the News was darkroom technician, not reporter.

Told the city editor about my Thomson reporting experience in Ontario, but he said they didn't need more reporters in the small coastal community. The reporters were young locals who didn't look like they would be quitting any time soon.

My basic darkroom training in Ontario qualified me for the job, but the urge was to write, not mix chemicals and spend my working days in a darkroom. Two weeks later, quit the job and headed back to Vancouver where the odds of landing a reporting job were better.

On my return trip to Vancouver, police stopped me for a faulty muffler, which had to be repaired ASAP. That depleted my bankroll. In Vancouver, I was down to sleeping in the front seat of my car and eating once a day when a Help Wanted ad for a reporter in nearby Ladner caught my eye

The ad included a telephone number for The Optimist. Made a quick call and set up an interview the next day with the owners, Edgar Dunning and Ernest Bexley. The vibes were good and they hired me on the spot. It was an early Christmas gift and the start of an interesting job.

Next blog: The Ladner Optimist - reporter etc.