In December of 1981, when the Philadelphia Journal closed, I was offered a full-time job of travel writer by Pierre Peladeau, publisher of the Montreal Journal, for $50,000 plus all travel expenses to go wherever they sent me. He said, ”You don’t have to move to Montreal. You will be traveling a great deal, of course, and when you get back to Philly, you can type your articles and mail them to me with the photos.”
A few days later Pierre called me and said, “Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention this: The articles have to be written in French. We cannot afford a translator to redo all of your articles.”
From reader Len Lear:
In December of 1981, when the Philadelphia Journal closed, I was offered a full-time job of travel writer by Pierre Peladeau, publisher of the Montreal Journal, for $50,000 plus all travel expenses to go wherever they sent me. He said, ”You don’t have to move to Montreal. You will be traveling a great deal, of course, and when you get back to Philly, you can type your articles and mail them to me with the photos.”
A few days later Pierre called me and said, “Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention this: The articles have to be written in French. We cannot afford a translator to redo all of your articles.”
Shortest job I ever had.
I wonder how the trajectory of a successful professional journalist today would compare to yours, given the collapse of countless local news outlets.