Joe Gelarden shared a story, as he often does, with me about his first writing job attempt in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, at The Indianapolis Star.
He had just returned from a tour in Vietnam and was hoping to find work. He had no writing experience and, not unlike yours truly, had not fared well in his five-year college activities. Which is to say, Joe didn’t have much to offer, but he wore his Marine uniform to the interview and was given a one-month probationary tryout.
At about this same time, Joe interacted with Don Fry, a writing coach associated with the Poynter Institute, based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Poynter Institute is a non-profit media institute and newsroom that provides factchecking, media literacy and journalism ethics training to citizens and journalism. Professor Fry made an impression. His mantra at the time was “Get your own view, be different.” The concept stuck and Joe needed a job.
One day, during his “probation,” Joe heard sirens in his downtown neck of the woods and decided to investigate. The word was that a deer had managed to find its way into the undeserving central city and was causing some consternation. A “Star” photographer had also picked up on the alert and followed. The police were dispatched as well, and a chase ensued to a central park where the deer was tranquilized and captured. The Star photographer made an unusual photo of a policeman wrestling the deer to safety with a head lock on said captive. Joe decided to write an article about this event from the point of view of the deer and the rest is history. The story became a central example for Professor Fry’s presentations and Joe got the job! He worked at the newspaper for 25 years!
Joe’s first trip to Maine was aboard a Honda 250 “Scrambler” from Cleveland, Ohio. Now, anyone who has ever ridden knows that a “250” ain’t much, especially on a long haul over the road. The trip was not without incident, hit by a car and flat tires slowed progress. His objective was to spend the summer at what was then “The Rendezvous “ (later Lawnmeer Inn) on Southport, to perform folk music along with a couple buddies. In 1967, he returned to Maine on leave from Vietnam, and met his wife to be, Susan Stevens, while awaiting the ending of old friend Herb Maynard’s adult ed class. He and Susan met in the hall because her class had been cancelled, and Joe asked Susan to join him at the Thistle for a drink. They eventually married, and after 25 years in Indianapolis moved to Maine.
I met Joe when he was interim editor of the Coastal Journal in Bath. He felt it would be a good idea to include an area photo, now and then, with some copy to “reinforce readers’ sense of place.” When Joe took over as managing editor at the Boothbay Register, we stayed in touch and now we share the same page!
Among Joe's many accomplishments, one event, unrelated to his writing, stands out. Joe and Jim Singer, also a Marine, took John Druce, USMC, to Washington, D.C. for the tour of a lifetime. John was aging and not in great shape, but eager to visit old Marine memories from his World War II time in the service. Joe and Jim made it happen, but not as part of “The Honor Flight,” as part of their shared willingness to help a fellow Marine’s wish come true. Until his dying day, John Druce was grateful for the opportunity provided by his friends and the Marine Corps. It remains, and always will, one of the best stories of Joe’s career.