The gift-giving season has passed and now we are in the resolution-making phase of the year. But why shouldn’t we just combine the two and resolve to remember the gifts we have been given, whether they are new or old?
I think about that a lot because so many of the gifts I have received were the lessons that have guided me throughout my adult life.
Oh, yes, there were some wonderful presents wrapped with a bow, material things that touched me deeply. Among them, my first bicycle, an 18-incher. The merry-go-round horse built in 1912 that my family gave me when I retired from McClatchy newspapers, granting a wish I held since my first ride. The station wagon that friends from Palm Beach County gave us when I left the Palm Beach Post. The family-crest ring from Bea, my wife. Anything from my granddaughter Melitta.
But the other gifts didn’t come in packages, but rather from everyday relationships, and they are the ones that have had the largest impact, personally and professionally.
The personal ones are most obvious: The day Bea said yes to my marriage proposal, the days our daughter, Monica, and our son, Jeff, and our granddaughter were born. And so many more.
The others, enough to fill Santa’s sleigh over and over again, are those that came from newsroom mentors and fellow journalists and they have shaped my career.
Here are some of those gifts I received and the givers, but not nearly all:
My first boss, at our family’s weekly, my dad, A.G. Favre: He taught me the joy of a generous spirit; that our differences are our strength and the more diverse we are the better we are; that if you persevere you can succeed; and when you give someone your word, you keep it. As a father, before he died when I was 16, he gave me a foundation on which to build my own future.
Stan Opotowsky, who left United Press in New York to buy our weekly after my dad’s death and who later went back to be managing editor of the New York Post and eventually director of news coverage at ABC: He gave me an undergraduate and post-graduate degree in reporting and writing when I was still a teenager, and a real-life tutorial on how to trust your instincts about people.
Ask yourself, how many gifts have you received that have left a positive mark on your life? Carl Walters and Jack Hairston, my sports editors at my first daily, in Jackson, Miss.: From them, I took away the value of dedication and determination and learned that while you may find yourself out-staffed you should never be out-hustled; getting a story first and getting it right is fun.
Furman Bisher, my sports editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who, in his mid 80s, still writes three times weekly: He insisted that no error was too small to be corrected; no reader too unimportant to be ignored; no competitor should be allowed easy passage into your end of the field. And he took a chance on a 22-year-old assistant sports editor.
Charles Weltner, then a United States Congressman from Atlanta, who was my boss for a brief period in Washington: In him, I witnessed a true profile in courage. He gave up his congressional seat rather than break an oath that he would support all of the Democratic party’s candidates. He couldn’t and wouldn’t bring himself to endorse segregationist Lester Maddox, the party’s candidate for governor.
Jim Fain, my editor at the Dayton Daily News: His style was to be iron-assed professionally, set standards and expect them to be met, but be as caring and giving as possible when dealing with those who work for you.
Jim Lynagh and Bill Ryan, my general managers at WPLG-TV in Miami: They gave me a textbook of knowledge about television news and the importance of doing public service journalism in the middle of one of the most highly competitive markets in the country, as well reinforcing the concept that strong newscasts, steeped in excellence, will eventually win.
Jim Hoge, my publisher at the Chicago Daily News and the Sun-Times: He didn’t hesitate to take risks on controversial investigative pieces that truly made a difference and showed us how to make sure all the ethical guidelines were followed when doing them. And few have his ability to recognize talented people and then nurture them until they fully blossom, or to listen to all opinions, cut through the rhetoric and summarize the important facts without disrespecting anyone.
C.K. McClatchy and Erwin Potts, my first two bosses at McClatchy: They shared an affection for the community in which they lived, as well as those other cities where we had newspapers, one that allows you to point out the good and the bad; they continued a culture built on the belief that newspapers share a sacred trust with their readers and the idea that good journalism is good business.
Gary Pruitt, my last McClatchy boss: He brought a commitment to the First Amendment and all that it represents, as well as a hunger for innovation and a deep belief in print.
Jim Naughton and Karen Dunlap, my bosses at Poynter: Jim taught us all that while we may be involved in a serious business it’s okay to have a sense of humor and fun while you work. Karen brings a love for teaching and learning and searching for solutions to difficult questions.
What a bountiful basket of lessons.
Along the way as an editor I also had the grand opportunity to work with five great managing editors, David Lawrence, Ray Mariotti, Tim McGuire, Peter Bhatia and Rick Rodriguez, and I collected incredible gifts of knowledge from each of them. Just as I did from the hundreds and hundreds of men and women who told the thousands and thousands of stories in words and images, who edited them, who supplied the needed staff support, and who made the stories look terrific in the next morning’s paper.
I also count the many negatives I encountered through the years as gifts because they taught me what not to do, how not to treat people, how not to disrespect your readers, how not to believe that making money is more important than making a difference.
Ask yourself, how many gifts have you received that have left a positive mark on your life?
If you are as lucky as I have been, count your blessings. And resolve to pass those gifts on to others.
