| I Remember When...March 28, 1979
by Saul Kohler, Editor
It was the greatest job in the world, and I was the luckiest guy on
earth to have it. Imagine! Me becoming the editor of the capital city newspaper in one of
the biggest states of all. What an opportunity! Life can be beautiful, I thought.
That was 7am, on March 28, 1979, my first day as editor of the Harrisburg Patriot-News,
and I was getting to work on time.
I sat down and Beverly McMaster, the best secretary a man ever had (until she retired last
month), gave me my keys and asked how I liked my coffee (black). By 9 o’clock, I was
looking forward to shaking hands with everyone on the staff...and that’s when the
world came to a grinding, screeching halt.
"All points report by telephone," a strange voice commanded. "There has
been an accident at Three Mile Island!"
Indeed, there had been an accident on The Island, and for the next three weeks, this
little piece of real estate in the Susquehanna was the top item on every newscast in the
Nation.
I got home to shower, shave and sleep sporadically. I told the staff to evacuate their
families and then come back, please, and all but one of them did. John Baum, of blessed
memory, then publisher of the papers, had one order. "Don’t, under any
circumstance, panic the public," he said. "If you need help, ask for it.
Otherwise, you’re on your own."
Newsmen from all over the country made our offices their offices. Radio and TV people came
wholesale from Washington, and because they were from all over the globe, they made the
Patriot-News Building sound like another continent.
Japanese predominated because they knew all about reactors and what happens, or can
happen, when one goes berserk. But there were German, French, Arabic and others to add to
the atmosphere.
On Saturday night - President Carter was due here the next morning - a group of us went to
Howard Johnson’s for coffee, at about 3am, after the final edition was
"in." A mob of people invaded the restaurant after a special late showing of
"The China Syndrome." You should have been there. Then you’d have known
what scared really is.
We drank more coffee than I care to admit and ate more than enough pizzas as the story
played itself out. A bubble developed in the "works" (this is a bad thing) and
we all prayed it wouldn’t burst. Finally, after nearly two weeks of torture, the
bubble was neutralized without bursting. And for the first time in a long time, the
networks went on the air without Harrisburg as the lead story.
As for us, we hadn’t panicked the public.
When the supply of cash ran short because so many folks were emptying their bank accounts
before leaving town, the Federal Reserve sent several millions in an armored car. We
didn’t panic the public; we left that to the Philadelphia newspapers.
When the supply of medications (insulin, digitalis and other standbys) ran short because
production and deliveries were slowed by the event, a huge truck caravan rolled into town
to replenish the supply. We didn’t panic the public; we left that to the Philadelphia
newspapers. When the possibility of a general evacuation loomed large, we went along with
the suggestions of Gov. Dick Thornburgh. We didn’t panic the public; we left that to
the Philadelphia newspapers. And when everything was quiet again and the Pulitzer Prize
was awarded, we didn’t get one. We left that to the Philadelphia newspapers as well.
I believe we did our job the way it should have been done for the local newspaper. We did
it well. et, almost 20 years later, we remember vividly an event that we’d much rather
be able to forget. |
