Revisiting the California Job Case and The Special Gazette

When I was a journalism student at the University of Idaho back in the 60s, one of my instructors, in what then was called a graphics class, had us making paper, learning typefaces, and setting our business cards by hand using the California job case.  Less than a decade after that, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I helped start what my students say was the first regularly published newspaper (monthly) that included at least some Kinaray-a (in addition to English) articles.  That paper, The Special Gazette, lasted only a year after I had left the Philippines, a victim of high inflation among other problems.  Begun with a student staff, it persisted with a staff of fellow teachers at the high school.  It was printed at Pechueco’s, set by hand in a shop with museum-quality equipment.   

Some 40+ years later, on my visit, I revisited that shop—still operating with the same equipment, met with ViolettaPechueco, the owner still alive at age 80, and took some photos, which will follow.  They’re no longer printing a newspaper but exist on printing school forms and doing other local jobs that fit within their capabilities.  For my benefit, they put things into motion for a brief video I hope to include when I get a faster connection.  Ironically, several days earlier, some former students of mine from the PCV days, threw a party (complete with lechon---roasted pig, dinuguan—pork blood soup, and other dishes) at which they recalled working at my nipa house late into the night on the newspaper.  Apparently I used the phrase, “Expand on the lead,” more than once because it stuck in everyone’s memory.  My students, by the way, are now in their 50s, and it was a great delight revisiting those days and learning of their successes in life.  The hospitality everywhere has been abundant and appreciated greatly.