Thursday, May 1, 2014

Pflaum Co-Workers and Office Space


In my last three postings, I shared with you how I got a post-convent job in Dayton, Ohio. Today, I want to introduce you to my three co-workers, who helped me find my bearings in this new world.
         As I explained last week, I met Bob, my future boss, on Sunday, January 25, 1967, when he and his three young children picked me up at the Dayton Airport and drove me to my new “digs” at the Loretto Guild. Bob was the managing editor of Our Little Messenger.


         Most first and second graders in Catholic schools throughout the United States read this weekly publication each Friday. It was a four-page, 8 ½ x 11-inch, full-color weekly that always contained stories and features about animals, inventions, Catholic feast days, fun activities, and other things that might enthrall young children.
         Many children in the public grade schools got The Weekly Reader, which those of you who grew up in the United States may remember. The Catholic schools got the “messengers.” The Pflaum Publishing staff produced three of these a week: Grades 1-2, Our Little Messenger; Grades 3 through 5, Young Catholic Messenger; Grade 6 through 8, Junior Catholic Messenger. Each messenger had its own staff. The staff of Our Little Messenger consisted of Bob, Brian, Alice, and me. Each of us was responsible for one messenger page each week.
         These three co-workers taught me how to write captivating children’s stories that contained an element of surprise. They also taught me how to edit and introduced me to a book I’d never before encountered—The Chicago Manual of Style—which I learned was the “bible” of the publishing industry.


         As a senior editor, Alice had been in publishing the longest of my co-workers. She was my first real teacher in the art of line and copyediting. Alice spoke with surety about how young children learned and deeply appreciated their sense of wonder. A gifted writer, she completed her work within hours and then set to researching topics for future use in the messenger.
         Brian, a black-haired Irishman who spoke with a lilt, liked to tell stories. Thus, he kept me from thinking about my own inner anxieties. Getting to the core of a page topic took Brian at least two days each week because he saw so many details and possibilities. His slow pace helped me become patient with my own learning during those first weeks in the job. The truth is that Brian helped me relax.
         Bob was new to publishing and came to it as a writer who’d already had a well-received book published for young people aged 10 to 14. He had an abiding interest in all aspects of nature, and at our weekly meetings to discuss the next issue, he’d come up with intriguing topics—the song of whales, the antennae of insects, the butterfly’s return to San Juan Capistrano, the wing feathers of raptors.


         The four of us worked in a long rectangle of a room. On one long side were windows, one per office. The other long side was an empty wall, which stood as the right-hand side of the aisle that passed each of our left-hand offices.  Jutting out from the window wall were three partitions that divided the space into our four offices, each of which contained a desk, chair and file cabinet. At each of the short ends of the rectangle were doors.
         Alice occupied the first office; I, the second; Brian the third; and Bob the fourth. His was the largest space as he needed a table on which we could lay out the weekly stories and illustrations and assess each issue before its printing. During these sessions, he taught me about layout and design.
         These three co-workers set me on a career path as an editor and curriculum developer. They truly changed my life.

Note: One of the summer messengers is now for sale on e-Bay. As of Thursday, May 1, you can see it by clicking here.

Photographs from Wikipedia.

         

17 comments:

  1. This may be the ultimate mentoring story. I think back on all the mentors I had, who guided my thinking and some actions. Impulsiveness, for example; follow through, objectivity. I wonder if it still works this way.

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  2. What a great experience and colleagues. I moved to New York in 1975 and got a first job in publishing. I learned a lot of what not to do and that has kept me in good stead for many years.

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  3. They changed your life and, I am sure, you continued the tradition. And still do.

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  4. Special Friends!!!! Hope you are still in touch with them --or some of them... I have some friends in my past who were influential in many ways. So many of them are gone now ---or at least, nowhere to be found... Makes me wonder about them though. Facebook has helped me get in touch with some old friends I would never have caught up with any other way.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  5. Sounds like you learned a lot from them indeed. All kinds of ins and outs.

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  6. Ah, yes, the Chicago Manual of Style. How often I went to that, and now I no longer need to work and wonder, do people still use it like we did? Wonderful post about how you became an editor. :-)

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  7. What a great story. Are you still in touch with them?

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  8. Dear Dee,

    I remember that reading the Messenger was something that I looked forward to each week in school.

    When we look back to what shaped our lives and who was there when our courses were changed for the better, we remember those who stood beside us and helped us through the difficult times. How fortunate many of us are that good people crossed our paths when we needed them.

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  9. Mentoring seems to have gone out of fashion now - such a shame.

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  10. It is amazing, Dee, how some folks enter our lives just when we need them and in ways we don't often immediately realize. I have had quite a few such saviors in my life, and hope that somewhere along the way I have been of help to others as well. Your recall to details once again amazes me; the windows, the partitions, the special gifts of your co-workers. I enjoyed this immensely, Dee. I'll have to ask Tom if he remembers reading Our Little Messengers (and I remember reading My Weekly Reader).

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  11. The right people certainly came into your life at the right time. I know I loved my Weekly Reader. I will check out the link you sent to see what the Messenger was like.

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  12. I remember the Weekly Reader! I never gave it a thought as to who wrote these little newspapers. What a fun job! Sounds like a great place to learn, too, with good people. Can hardly wait to hear more. :)

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  13. What lovely co-workers - and you had such an interesting job!

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  14. I'm grateful that God sent these good people into your life, and sent you into their lives. I'm sure they needed you.

    Love,
    Janie

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  15. Truly, these wonderful people were part of your destiny. I love hearing about how they helped you focus your talents into something so worthwhile. I was a Weekly Reader addict in school, and I can only imagine how much your work inspired young minds.

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  16. I looked at the magazine for sale. It has such a friendly feel. I was a Weekly Reader reader. I'm glad you could be in the environment of writing for children; I'm sure you did a very good job.

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  17. Dee, I think you were truly fortunate in that first job and the people you worked with. To meet with such kind and helpful guidance which opened new doors for you really was a blessing at that difficult time of change in your life.

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