Remembering one of the old-time editors

A LONG-AGO FRIEND … Janet in Woodland kindly sent along a newspaper clipping from the Billings Gazette that featured the recent death of Joseph Richard White at the age of 72 in Absarokee, Mont. … after listing much of Joe White’s background, the obituary noted that “Joe became a journalist writing for the Placerville Mountain Democrat and Davis Enterprise in California.” … yes, this was our Joe White, my first editor at The Davis Enterprise and the first person on Earth to give me a paid writing job …

According to the Billings Gazette story, “His early writing demonstrates an impatience with conformity and a passion for the environment that continued throughout his life.” … yes, that would be the Joe White I came to know 40-some years ago … Joe was a loner who caught the journalism bug early and almost always could be found at his desk literally chewing newsprint torn from the massive rolls in the press room … I’m sure he slept at The Enterprise many nights … he was faithful and caring and a superb mentor to those of us who comprised what was then a very small newsroom staff, and he only really got upset if you misspelled someone’s name and it slipped into print …

At his going-away party several years after he hired me, I asked Joe what he had seen in this untried rookie who had never before worked for a newspaper of any kind … as I waited for him to say something soft and sentimental about a “sparkle in my eyes” or a “can do” attitude, he said very simply “You were the only applicant for the job.” …

The Montana obituary added that “Joe was a free spirit and lived a far less limited life than most people, despite the confines of his schizophrenia.” … he was a good man who treated those around him well, no matter the struggles he encountered in life … may his kind soul rest in peace …

THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE … an anonymous friend admits that loose garbage, including plastic bags, is the real problem here in Davis and notes that “The landfill has to come up with better ways to manage its flight-prone litter.” … “I understand other landfills erect very tall fences (like at a golf driving range) at their edges, and I think that has to be considered. I have also been told that Yolo County landfill staff do put giant tarps over the garbage to secure it overnight.” …

Again, the problem is unsecured garbage … the solution is secured garbage … maybe we could combine a couple of proposed ordinances into one … on days when the north wind exceeds 10 mph, burning wood in your fireplace is OK, but putting loose plastic bags in the garbage is not OK … in other words, ban bags, not burning … that’ll keep all that garbage from blowing back into town … and on days when the south wind blows, all that garbage will be heading north, so who cares? …

THE ANSWER MY FRIEND … John, who always has something intelligent to say about the issues of the day, has taken poetic license, apparently with Bob Dylan’s permission, to describe our latest controversy … writes John: “How many times can the City Council look down, And pretend they just don’t see the long slow grocery checkout lines if plastic bags are banned? How many times can a person put loose bags in the trash, And pretend that they just don’t know the wind will catch them?

“How much nonsense could we all avoid, If we just collect our plastic bags one inside the other (and maybe even put them in the grocery store recycling bin while we’re at it), The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, The answer is blowin’ in the wind.” … amen, Brother John … if we all showed both a little civic responsibility and a little civic pride in how we dispose of plastic bags, there would be no discussion at all of an outright ban …

— Entries to the Contest to Replace the Above Pictured Columnist are due by midnight Monday (yes, an extension has been granted to all procrastinators). Essays may be about any subject and should be between 400 and 800 words long. Entries should be emailed to bdunning@davisenterprise.net