Welcome to the start of a full circle

STEVE SMITH

Life is a long, strange trip, and things often come full circle.

In 1998, former Daily Pilot columnist Fred Martin announced that

he was moving to Colorado. The newspaper then announced that Martin’s

replacement would be decided by a contest and that readers were free

to submit a sample column for consideration.

Over the next few weeks, budding writers sent in their stories,

127 in all. I was one of them.

At the time, I owned a successful import business but got this

crazy notion that I could be one of the 2% of the writers in this

country who are making enough money at it to support themselves and a

family.

My transition from entrepreneur to writer was neither smooth nor

pretty, but I’ll save that story for another column. Suffice it to

say that we are far better off now.

My column focused on a former Santa Ana schoolteacher who was

accused of child molestation. The charges were bogus, but the point

of the story was that the witch hunts had to stop.

It was not an easy essay to write because actual incidents of

abuse and molestation were taking place all over the county. And as

we now know, some of those were taking place inside the various

locales of the Catholic Church.

I wrote then that as a girls’ softball coach, I was under the

microscope but had no intention of reducing the high fives or other

congratulatory contact I had with the girls on the team. I won the

contest.

Shortly after the results were announced, I was told that Fred

Martin’s two-days-a-week gig was going to be split in half. I would

get Saturdays, and a pair of writers would get Wednesdays.

Then Editor Bill Lobdell explained to me as best he could that two

days a week is a lot for a seasoned writer, and for a rookie, it

would be brutal. I was disappointed, but after considering my

options, I got over it.

Lobdell was right. Had I had two days a week back then, I would

not have lasted 6 1/2 days, let alone the 6 1/2 years I’ve been

writing for the Daily Pilot.

After a few years, the focus of the column was changed to family

issues, which I welcomed with open arms. I had both the personal and

professional experience to write about family issues in a way that I

hoped would make people think.

But now, this column has come full circle. Since my first official

column in August 1998, I have been writing extensively for other

publications on many local issues, including housing, technology,

assorted businesses and lifestyles, to name a few. Now I’m ready for

two days a week.

So, apparently, is the Daily Pilot. Welcome to “On the Town.”

On the Town is not Newport Beach or Costa Mesa, it’s Newport Beach

and Costa Mesa. It’s about what’s happening in your town.

In this space, I hope to provide you with a third opinion, a view

or an angle that you may not have considered. My hope is that you

will think twice about a position you may already have taken.

My larger hope is that you will have more tolerance and patience

for the other side because, quite frankly, although you may disagree

with them on an issue, they are probably a lot like you in many other

ways.

The success of this column will depend on you. Just as you have

given me leads on family issues, I am asking you to do the same with

local matters.

Tell me about people, places and things that bother you or that

make you smile. If you’re not sure what qualifies, send it to me

anyway -- I’ll let you know.

As of today, getting in touch with me for story ideas is easier.

Just e-mail me at onthetown

[email protected]. Please use this e-mail address only for story ideas.

If you want to hang me out to dry for something I’ve written, please

continue to write or phone the daily Pilot directly.

This journey has come full circle. Now it’s time to set off in a

different direction. I look forward to hearing from you.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664.