THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES (#77): I had a very good meeting with Cliff Camp, General Manager of The St. Petersburg Times (Times). He sent my Resume to John O’Hearn, who was the Comptroller of the paper, and O’Hearn scheduled an interview and testing with Frank Walker, a Consulting Industrial Psychologist.
After the interview and testing, Walker sent O’Hearn a report and copied me. I kept my copy and it is interesting to reread the 41 year-old report. Evidently, I was smarter than I thought, testing in the top 97% of those in the age group of 27 to 34 years. In general, the report was a very positive executive assessment regarding the consideration of me as an attorney working for the General Manager.
Walker nailed me in two areas that I now find particularly interesting. “Instead of conveying that he is a shrewd person, he seems unpretentious and genuine, at times socially bold.” Also, “There are times when he does not communicate well on an emotional level, and he is wary of interpersonal situations where there may be a conflict in which he may be implicated.”
Everything looked positive, but this was a new position, and evidently these things can take time, a long time.
As Stephen Colbert says, “MEANWHILE”: Ted Wittner passed my Resume to Ira Mitlin and we had a meeting. I really liked Ira. He and his wife, Beverly, had moved from Manhattan for Ira to head Wittner’s growing real estate division. Ira had left a long time job with Joe Newman, a man he liked and trusted. I found out later that Ira had regretted his decision to work with Wittner as much as I regretted mine.
Ira recommended me to Wittner, and Wittner had me tested by Alden S. Gilmore. Gilmore never sent me a copy of his report. I think Wittner wanted it done on the cheap and just got a quick “yes” or “no” from Gilmore.
Then things sat for weeks. Was I going to be an attorney working for the General Manager of The St. Petersburg Times, or a real estate broker working with Ira Mitlin for Wittner?
Growing up in Gulfport, a small city west of St. Petersburg, I had taken the the Times for granted. When I went away to college I began to recognize that the Times was an exceptional newspaper, one of the best in the country. Nelson Poynter acquired all of the share of the Times Publishing Company (TPC), co-founded the Congressional Quarterly (CQ) with his wife, Henrietta, and established the Modern Media Institute (MMI). Upon his death in 1978, Pointer left all of the shares of the TPC and CQ to MMI, which was renamed the Poynter Institute.
The Poynter Institute is one of the top schools of Journalism in the nation, and Nelson Poynter’s generosity and foresight in leaving the shares of TPC to the Institute is one of the most important gifts in the history of St. Petersburg. His gift insures that St. Petersburg will always have one of the top, independently run newspapers in the country.
To extend its presence in the neighboring city of Tampa and compete with the Tampa Tribune (Tribune), the name of the paper was changed to The Tampa Bay Times on January 1, 2012. On May 3, 2016, The Tampa Bay Times announced that it had acquired the Tribune, and was combining the Times and Tribune’s operations, ending publication of the Tribune.
I found the operation of a newspaper to be fascinating and working in journalism to be one of the highest callings imaginable. I was hoping for the job with the Times. But, it was not to be.
After several months, I met with Wittner and he offered me the job of Vice President of Property Services of Wittner & Co. My boss would be Ira Mitlin, but as Ira and I soon discovered, Wittner was always the boss. Wittner and I shook hands, an act that meant more to me than to him, and I was to start work on Monday.
On Friday, Cliffton D. Camp, Jr., General Manager of The St. Petersburg Times called and offered me the job as his assistant, the exact title to be worked out when we got together. I still cannot believe I did such a naive thing, but I declined the job. “Thank you so much Mr. Camp, but two days ago I accepted a job with Ted Wittner. I start work Monday.” I still regret the decision now as much as I did then, and in the years to follow.
I always followed the Times with great interest. I was delighted when my friend from SPJC, Lennie Bennett, became the art critic for the Times in 2002. Even though I was long gone from the art scene in St. Petersburg by that time, I could keep up with what was happening through her thoughtful, in depth articles. Thank you Lennie.
When I worked with Joan Fry, who was hired by Wittner, I got to know her husband, Don, who was with the Poynter Institute. I could certainly use Don’s help now that I am seriously trying to write. I knew Andy Corty from our days as Sunshine City Jaycees.
After leaving Wittner, I met with Andy Barnes to see if there was any possibility of another chance with the Times. “Scott, I always thought you would make a good editor, but you need to write more first.” I became a correspondent for the Evening Independent, the afternoon paper owned by TPC. That shows you how old I am, there was still a morning and an afternoon paper.
I was paid for four articles. My byline was: By J. Scott Simmons, Independent Correspondent. Three articles were for the Friday Weekender, Section D, covering upcoming concerts: James Taylor; Donovan; and Air Supply. I was excited when James Taylor made the cover. The fourth was a human interest piece that I pursued after Mike Lazarra told me about his brother. Dr. Tony Lazarra gave up his position at Emory University and moved to Peru, where he founded Villa la Paz to care for poor an abandoned children.
When I took the job with the Dali Museum that was the end of my journalistic career, although I was on the receiving end of many articles. While with the Dali Museum, I got to know John O’Hearn, who was on the Board of Directors, and to some extent the Publisher of the Times, Jack Lake. Jack was one of three civic leaders from St. Petersburg who were responsible for seeing that the Dali Museum came to St. Petersburg.
Once I started to use Facebook, I made an effort to friend former columnists for the Times. Lucy Morgan was an early member of my group Americans Supporting Peaceful Protests. I look forward to Helen Huntly’s photo essays about St. Petersburg. Mark Albright often comments. Thank you all.
