The young people (which is EVERYBODY....but .....you and me) are all going elsewhere and doing ...who knows what...on the Internet. But they are NOT blogging.
I mentioned in an earlier post on this site that British writer Andrew Sullivan
is generally credited as one of the first bloggers. And that's true. He started doing it in 1990.
The definition of Blogging is......one person...posting short opinion pieces..and stories.....on a website.
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| Harry at his desk circa 1960 |
He published a one man newspaper, called "The Carolina Israelite," featuring nothing but his short stories and comments about his life as a Jewish man living in the southern city of Charlotte North Carolina...as well as stories of his boyhood growing up in the ghetto of New York City.
A 'One Man Newspaper? Featuring short personal stories?"
Sounds like a "Blog" to me....The only thing missing was the Internet.
Although Harry worked out of his office in one of those big beautiful homes on Elizabeth Avenue
(I believe it was the one next to the one in which I studied private violin
lessons from Michael Wise for several years) I first heard of him when he spoke at UNC in 1955. (I had no idea who he was then....but the scuttlebutt was that just before his lecture the year before....a bottle of whiskey had rolled out of his briefcase as he rose to speak.)
After that speech, which was riddled with good humor and common sense, I was hooked...and became a subscriber to the Carolina Israelite.. His subscriber base listed few local people....they were mostly from other parts of the country....some of them quite prominent.
Fame finally came to Harry in 1958 with the publication of ONLY IN AMERICA, a collection of stories from the Carolina Israelite.
I met Harry only once. That was about sometime in 1960 I believe. Bob Raiford and I were both working at WSOC and we had a bright idea that we decided to propose to Harry...I forget what it was, but I'm sure it had something to do with making radio features ....whatever, nothing ever came of it, but it got us a meeting with Harry one Spring morning.
I'm glad I can say I once met Harry, but the only thing I remember vividly about the meeting was that...it took place about 11 o'clock in the morning....and as we talked, Harry continued his daily ritual of enjoying a shot of his morning bourbon, politely offering one to Bob and me.Unfortunately, I can't remember anything about the rest of the meeting...
I guess 11am was a little too early for me.
-Ed
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