There
was a bar on Grand Avenue across
the
street from the Old Kansas City Star
Newspaper
Building. I worked briefly for
the
Star back in 1972 when newspapers
were
still a thriving entity across the country.
That
bar was a hangout for newsmen after
hours.
(Many drank their lunch hours away
in
that dim and musty place.) Back in the
day
no one cared as long as you showed
up
and got your work done on time. Re-
porters
on the beat and columnist inter-
viewing
newsworthy prospects made the
place
a mecca for the Who’s Who in the
news.
I’ve long since forgotten the name
name
of the joint. Since the Star moved
its
location in later years, and given the
slow
demise of print media and the general
decline
of businesses downtown, I’m pretty
sure
that bar is no longer there. I wasn’t a
real
newspaper man anyway. I sold display
advertising
to mom and pop shops in Jackson
County
for about six-months. My old boss, Dean
Lanning,
once told me once that newsprint ink
gets
into your blood. For me, however, it merely
rubbed
off onto my hands which I had to wash
several
times a day. I dropped into that bar a
few
times back in the day. I usually had just one
or
two drinks. My job required me to drive a lot.
Even
though they weren’t testing legal limits in
those
years, I’m pretty sure if pulled over, I may
have been considered
too intoxicated to operate
a motor vehicle.
Fortunately, I made it through
okay. In
any case, there was never any Headline
News in
Kansas City on account of me.
-30-
Chris
Hanch 4-25-2020
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