The String Book of Ron Leys Journalist

Back In The Day Many Reporters And Columnists Kept A Folder Or Big Envelope In A Desk Drawer. Whenever He Or She Wrote Something That Might Impress A Future Prospective Employer It Was Clipped And Saved In This Folder Or Envelope. This Was Known As A String Book.The Phrase Was Borrowed From The Common Term For Free-Lance Writers Who Were Paid By The Column Inch Of Published Material. They Were Known As Stringers From The Old Practice Of Pasting Together Their Published Stories In Sort Of A String Which Could Then Be Measured And Submitted For Payment Monthly Or Otherwise. Staffers On The Other Hand Were Paid By The Week Or For Part-Timers By The Hour.In The Fall Of 1959 An English Professor At The University Of Wisconsin Suggested That I Consider Becoming A Professional Writer. My Career Thus Far Had Included A Hitch In The United States Navy Followed By Several Years As A Construction Worker And Truck Driver.Just Before My Gi Bill Eligibility Expired I Enrolled At The Uw. Taking The Professor’S Advice I Majored In Journalism. I Met A Fellow Journalist Marilyn Shapiro And We Married.During The Summer Of 1961 I Interned At The Rockford Morning Star In Northern Illinois.On Completion Of College I Became A Full Time Reporter There.In 1969 I Went To Work For The Milwaukee Journal. I Worked As A Copy Editor Reporter Nature Columnist Suburban Editor And Outdoor Editor.I Retired In 1991 Although I Wrote Freelance Columns For The Journal’S Sunday Magazine And Later For An Independent Magazine The Wisconsin Outdoor Journal.When That Ended It Was Over. It Turned Out That I Only Wrote For The Money. When They Stopped Paying Me. I Stopped Writing. Although It Probably Had More To Do With Losing An Audience. That Was Always The Point Writing For Readers.