My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times

MY PAPER CHASE: TRUE STORIES OF VANISHED TIMES is a memoir from one known for his legendary career in journalism and publishing and tells how he entered the industry. He left school at 15 as wartime Britain was being hammered by the Germans and became a reporter for a tiny newspaper, beginning a long career in journalism and newspaper reporting. His long career observes many milestones and keys of newspaper history and thus is a top pick for any serious library strong in journalism.

From the first page this autobiography captured my attention. Being born about the same time as Harold Evans, in the same area of England and living through the childhood experience of World War II, I also remembered my own childhood very vividly through his writing. I too saw the soldiers returning from Dunkirk and talked with them, experienced bombing and all the other privations of the war. I also was reminded of the spirit of the times, and now, on reflection, the very different spirit of how journalism has changed over the last fifty years. Then there was a purpose of wanting to "set thing right" and fairness in dealings with other. Now it seems to be everyman for himself and if it is not profitable for me, who cares. Needless to say I liked the book very much but felt that the discription of his memories of his early life were much more vivid than those towards the end. But maybe that is true of all of us as we age.

My Paper Chase is a fascinating read. Evans' rich detail provides the back-story to many of the key international events of the 20th century. His book is far more than a memoir; it is a chronicle of the evolution of journalism depicted through the lens of his career. The era of handset metal type and stories filed without the aid of cell phones and computers comes alive through Evans' skillful narration. He is a consummate storyteller who gives enough background to provide context, yet the book never bogs down. His writing is tight, polished, and conversational, with graceful transitions between events. Evans pioneered investigative reporting during his tenure as editor of the Sunday Times. This was a major advance for journalists in Britain, a country long without freedom of the press, where the government traditionally censored newspapers. In 1993 Evans became an American citizen and transitioned to the publishing industry as president of Random House.

Harold Evans' My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times appears a bit intimidating at first, if only because of the breadth, depth, and heft of it. But Harold Evans' writing flows, I found myself thoroughly engrossed. Born in 1928 from working class parents, Evans became a reporter at sixteen. His natural ability, drive, tenacity, and nose for a good story led him not just to excel in his field but to take on unrecognized and unpopular causes and to sway public opinion. One of the book's greatest strengths is the extent to which Evans gives us the background and context for each of the events or stories that he shares. At the start, Evans delves into his own background. His father had little formal education but was a genius at numbers. For instance, if you named a date whether it was 25 years ago or just a few months, his father could unerringly identify which day of the week it was. He worked his way up at the railway, beginning as an engine cleaner to the position of driver. His ability to calculate how much a person's wages would be, taking into account the different wage scales, overtime, deductions, and irregular hours, was recognized in his company's accounting staff and won him the gratitude and affection of his colleagues at the railway. Evans points out that in England at that time, his father's mathematical abilities, even coupled with hard work, would not have afforded him better opportunities because of "the Geddes axe." Sir Eric Geddes, a.k.a. Lord Inchcape, a Minister of the Crown and the former manager of the North Eastern Railway Company, had a strong contempt for the abilities of the working class. In his committee's examination of the expenditure of public funds, he advised against giving secondary school education to poor children, "children whose mental capabilities do not justify it" - essentially consigning an entire generation to very limited prospects. Evans' generation were given the opportunity to advance through a limited number of scholarships granted to ex-servicemen by the Ministry of Education, through the Butler Education Act in Great Britain. The Butler Act was a more restrictive version of the G.I. Bill but it paid for Evans' university education. Evans shares what it was like to work in the early newsrooms, where typewriters, typesetters, scissors, spikes, and paste were critical tools of the trade. In the chapter Stop Press, Evans shares what it was like as a young "copy taster" managing the coverage of the unfolding of the Harrow-Wealdstone disaster - a train crash that quickly became a collision of three trains with 75 dead and 110 feared dead for Manchester Evening News. He managed, edited, revised, and published eight editions in six hours, without the help of computers. Evans' projects range from battling air pollution to helping improve overseas newspapers, to beautifying Manchester to exposing the cause of the deadliest DC-10 air crash and uncovering one of the largest health scandals in the ce

It's a heck of a good read, containing a lot of modern historical references which throw ones mind back over the last 60 years. Its history of 20th century journalism and printing may be an obituary, but I agree with the author that eventually a combination of printing and internet may be developed. Hope so. D H