Memories Of The Gravenhurst Leader

A PHOTOGRAPH THAT DOESN'T NEED A SINGLE WORD OF EXPLANATION

PHOTO BY JOHN BLACK

     THERE ARE A COUPLE OF VINTAGE COMMERCIAL SIGNS, AND A SWELL 1970'S PHONE BOOTH, I'D LIKE TO HAVE IN OUR ANTIQUE SHOP, HERE…..A FEW BLOCKS NORTH ON THE SAME MUSKOKA ROAD. THE GULF SIGN WOULD PROBABLY RETAIL FOR WELL OVER A GRAND TODAY….AND THAT'S A MODEST ESTIMATION. I'D TAKE ANY ONE OF THE OTHER SIGNS YOU CAN SEE, AND YOU KNOW SOMETHING? I'D SELL THEM IN LESS THAN A WEEK. HOMETOWN COLLECTABLES ARE HOT RIGHT NOW IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE. ALAS, I DON'T HAVE ANY OF THESE TO OFFER. PITY. LOTS OF OTHER GRAVENHURST COLLECTABLES, SUCH AS SOME SELECT RUBBERSET NOSTALGIA, WHICH RANGES FROM SALES TAGS TO PAINT BRUSHES. HEY, BUT I'M NOT WRITING THIS TO FLOG MERCHANDISE. I'M WRITING THIS TO COMPLIMENT A PHOTOGRAPH, AND A FORMER TOWN NEWSPAPER, "THE GRAVENHURST LEADER."

    BUT THIS PHOTOGRAPH, TAKEN MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS AGO, HAS A HAUNTING QUALITY TO IT……BUT I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY. IT'S NOT A TERRIBLY OLD IMAGE, BUT IT HAS CAPTURED A TIME IN MODERN HISTORY…… THE ESSENCE OF A SMALL TOWN IN SOUTH MUSKOKA…..EVEN WITHOUT SHOWING MORE THAN A FEW BUSINESSES, AND SOME HOUSES ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD. JOHN BLACK WAS A CLEVER PHOTOGRAPHER. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO USE A LOT OF TRICKS OF THE TRADE, TO DRAW PEOPLE INTO HIS WORK. HE CALCULATED ON THE BARE MINIMUM, AND CREATED HONEST IMAGES, AND FAIR REPRESENTATION, OF WHAT HE FOUND SPECTACULAR, EVEN IN THE MOST BASIC SHOTS. SCENES WE MIGHT NOT HAVE THOUGHT WERE IN ANY WAY POIGNANT, OR COMPELLING. YET WHEN YOU SAW THEM HANGING UP IN THE DARKROOM, DRYING, YOU KNEW HE HAD CREATED SOMETHING EXCEPTIONAL FOR PUBLICATION. HIS WORK COULD BE VERY EXCITING, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME SLIGHTLY MELANCHOLY…..MUCH AS I FEEL ABOUT THE IMAGE OF THE GATEWAY, AND THE EXPANSE OF MUSKOKA ROAD. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A MORE NOSTALGIC LOOKING PHOTOGRAPH, THAT MAKES ME THINK ABOUT THE HISTORY AND CHARACTER OF THE TOWN JUST BEYOND THE GATE. I EXPECT HE KNEW IT WOULD BE ONE OF THOSE FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHS, THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME, WOULD RECALL WELL INTO THE FUTURE. HE WOULD GET A CHUCKLE ABOUT ME WRITING THIS, AND HIGHLIGHTING BOTH THE PHOTOGRAPH, AND THE LITTLE PAPER HE PUT HIS HEART AND SOUL INTO…..BACK IN THE EARLY 1980'S. WHEN JOHN PASSED AWAY RECENTLY, MOST KNEW HIM AS A FIRE CHIEF, AND LONG TIME MEMBER OF THE GRAVENHURST FIRE DEPARTMENT. THEY DIDN'T KNOW QUITE AS MUCH ABOUT HIS WORK AS A PHOTOGRAPHER.

    HE TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS BY THINKING ABOUT THE VIEWER, BEFORE HE PRESSED THE SHUTTER. WHAT WOULD THEY THINK OF THIS ANGLE, AND THE PREVAILING CONTENT….THE SKY, THE TREES, AND THE HORIZON?  HE WASN'T LIKELY TO SPEND MORE THAN A FEW MOMENTS OF CONTEMPLATION, BUT BY GOLLY, HE CREATED ART FOR US, WHO LOOKED FORWARD TO, AND ADMIRED HIS INTERPRETATIONS. NOTHING FANCY. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AN IMAGE FOR A BOOK JACKET, OR A STAND-ALONE ART PIECE FOR A TOURISM BROCHURE, OR THE OPENING ANGLE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FILM. WHAT LIES BEYOND THIS GATE? WHAT IS THIS TOWN LIKE? HOW MANY MILLIONS OF MOTORISTS, CARRYING FIRST TIME VISITORS TO OUR COMMUNITY, HAVE JUDGED OUR COMMUNITY, IN ADVANCE, BY PASSING THROUGH THE GATEWAY, INCLUDING THE PRESENT ENTRANCE-WAY. I HAVE SAT AND LOOKED AT THIS IMAGE FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT MY OLD FRIEND WAS SAYING, ABOUT HIS HOMETOWN, WHEN HE FRAMED THIS PARTICULAR IMAGE. EVEN WELL KNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER FRED SCHULZ WOULD BOW TO THE WORK OF HIS LONG TIME MATE AND ASSOCIATE, FOR CAPTURING THIS SIMPLE, UNOBSTRUCTED, STORIED IMAGE. EACH TIME I LOOK AT IT, I ALSO THINK ABOUT ARTIST FRANK JOHNSTON, ANOTHER OUTSTANDING CREATIVE FORCE IN THE COMMUNITY, BACK THEN, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS NOSTALGIC ART PANELS, OF THE MUSKOKA LAKES STEAMSHIPS AT MUSKOKA WHARF, AND THE REGION'S HISTORIC BUILDINGS. THE TWO WOULD HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER. THEY WERE BOTH FUSSY ABOUT THEIR WORK, BUT MODEST ABOUT THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, TO CAPTURE THE HERITAGE OF THEIR HOME REGION. 

     THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPH FEATURED ABOVE, WAS TAKEN IN THE EARLY 1980'S, FOR LOCAL RELEASE, BY ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHERS, I HAVE KNOWN, WHILE WORKING IN THE MUSKOKA PRINT MEDIA. IF I HAD SAID THIS TO HIM, AS HE STOOD AT THE LAYOUT BANK AT THE OLD HERALD-GAZETTE OFFICE, IN BRACEBRIDGE, JOHN WOULD HAVE BLUSHED, PUT HIS HANDS ON HIS HIPS, AND ASSUMED I WAS KIDDING HIM, AS I USUALLY DID ON PRESS DAYS…..ABOUT GETTING DONE FASTER, IN TIME FOR A WEE PINT, AT THE PRESS CLUB DOWN THE ROAD. JOHN COULD TAKE A COMPLIMENT IF IT CAME FROM SOMEONE ELSE. I SPENT SO MUCH TIME JOKING AND PLAYING PRACTICAL JOKES ON HIM, AND STAFF, THAT HE VERY SELDOM TOOK ME SERIOUSLY AT THIS LATE TIME IN THE DAY. BUT I MEANT IT. HE WAS A CRACKER JACK WHEN IT CAME TO NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS ESPECIALLY, AND HE GAVE US SOME OF THE BEST FRONT PAGES IN THE NEWSPAPER'S LONG HISTORY. OUR READERSHIP PEAKED WHEN HE WAS BEHIND THAT CAMERA. BUT HE COULD ALSO TAKE BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPE IMAGES, AND I FIND FRED SCHULZ'S STYLE, AND PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES, HAUNTINGLY SIMILAR. THEY SPENT A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER, BACK IN THOSE DAYS, CONNECTING IN AND AROUND THE LEGENDARY FRY'S PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO. THEY BOTH PRODUCED ALLURING PHOTOGRAPHS THAT CONTAINED STORY-LINES RUNNING DEEP WITHIN. LIKE THEY WERE STANDING THERE, BECKONING YOU WITH A WELCOMING FINGER MOTION, TO COME AND HAVE A CLOSER LOOK. YOU JUST HAD TO LET YOUR IMAGINATION GO…..AND WANDER. I'VE BEEN WANDERING UP MUSKOKA ROAD, CIRCA 1981, IN THIS JOHN BLACK PHOTOGRAPH, AND I'VE BECOME A LITTLE HEART-SICK AT THE SAME TIME. WE ALL MISS JOHN IN OUR TOWN.

     AT THE TIME, I WAS NEWS EDITOR OF THE BRACEBRIDGE HERALD-GAZETTE, UNDER THE DIRECTORSHIP OF MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, AND WHEN "THE LEADER" WAS ANNOUNCED, AS A NEW GRAVENHURST NEWSPAPER, OUR ORGANIZATION AT ONCE, SIDED WITH THESE TALENTED FOLKS, TO MAKE IT A LITTLE LESS STRENUOUS IN THE EARLY GOING. WE EVEN ASSISTED WITH SOME ROUGH NOTES AND AS MANY LEADS AS WE COULD SPARE, WITHOUT GIVING UP MATERIAL FOR OUR OWN FRONT PAGE. WE UNDERSTOOD THAT OUR PAPER WAS SUPPORTING THEIRS, AS A FRIENDLY COMPETITOR TEN MILES SOUTH.

     A RETRACTION OF SUPPORT OCCURRED. WE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HAPPENED, BUT WE WERE ONLY THE LOWLY NEWS STAFF. NO ONE LISTENED TO US ANYWAY. WE WERE JUST HAPPY TO HAVE OUR READERSHIP EACH WEEK, AND WE PUT UP WITH MANAGEMENT'S CHANGES OF DIRECTION…..BECAUSE WE NEEDED MONEY FOR RENT AND BEER. AND NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER.

    IT DIDN'T END IN STORY-BOOK FASHION, AND MY OLD NEWS-COLLEAGUE, BILL COLE, SUFFERED THE EVENTUALLY LOSS OF WHAT WAS A REALLY GOOD AND WELL READ PAPER. IT SHOULD STILL BE HERE TODAY, IT WAS WELL APPOINTED WITH COMPETENT STAFF. THERE WERE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LEADER, SUCH AS LOU SPECHT, A LEGENDARY WRITER / REPORTER IN MUSKOKA, AND MIKE HILBORNE, A TRULY AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER, AND OF COURSE, JOHN BLACK, WHO WOULD LATER MOVE ON TO THE HERALD-GAZETTE, AFTER THE LEADER CLOSED, TO BECOME THE EVENTUAL PRODUCTION MANAGER. THERE WERE MANY OTHER STAFF MEMBERS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER, AND IT WAS A TERRIBLE SHAME WHEN THE PAPER WAS CLOSED NOT LONG AFTER IT OPENED. WE ALL FELT BAD, BECAUSE THE EMPLOYEES WERE OUR KINDRED SPIRITS……AND WE HAD OFFERED THEM EDITORIAL HELP, AND GRAVENHURST TIPS, WHENEVER WE COULD; BUT WE WERE JUST THE PAWNS AFTER ALL……AND DID WHAT WE BELIEVED WAS RIGHT BETWEEN ASSOCIATES…..BETWEEN GOOD FRIENDS WHO SHARED QUITE A FEW SOCIAL MOMENTS TOGETHER BEFORE IT ALL WRAPPED UP.

     BILL COLE WAS AN OUTSTANDING WRITER, AND A WORTHY NEWS CORRESPONDENT, AND HE WAS MY FIRST TUTOR, AS A FLEDGLING REPORTER; THEN COVERING THE COUNCIL BUSINESS, OF THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES, IN PORT CARLING. LOU SPECHT, ALSO A HEAVY WEIGHT IN LOCAL NEWS GATHERING, SAT BESIDE BILL, AND THOSE TWO KIND SOULS, KEPT ME INFORMED ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON, AT A TIME WHEN CONFUSION WAS TAKING ITS TOLL, ON THE INEXPERIENCED LAD, WORKING FOR THE MUSKOKA LAKES-GEORGIAN BAY BEACON, BASED IN MACTIER. THEY SET ME STRAIGHT, AND HELPED ME INCH MY WAY ALONG, THOSE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND SHORT OF WRITING MY COPY FOR ME, KEPT ME FROM GETTING FIRED, FOR NOT GETTING THE NEWS STORIES THAT CAME OUT OF THOSE AGENDA MINUTES, AND DEPUTATIONS. I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE TWO OF THEM GETTING QUITE A LAUGH, WHEN I HAD TO ASK THEM ABOUT THE DISTINGUISHED RESORT OWNER, MAKING A PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL……ASKING, "WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY." "THAT'S THE FORMER MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, TED," LOU ANSWERED. "HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PAUL HELLYER?" GEEZ, I HAD A LOT TO LEARN. TRUTH IS, MY FATHER, GRANDFATHER AND UNCLE, USED TO WORK FOR PAUL HELLYER'S BUILDING ENTERPRISE, IN THE CITY OF TORONTO, MANY DECADES EARLIER. AS A STUDENT OF CANADIAN HISTORY, I'D SEEN HIS PHOTOGRAPH MANY TIMES, YET HERE IN THE BUSY AND CROWDED COUNCIL ENVIRONMENT, I HADN'T RECOGNIZED THIS WELL KNOWN CANADIAN. BILL AND LOU JUST SMILED AT ME, AND I APPRECIATED THAT THEY DIDN'T LAUGH……JUST SETTLED FOR WINK AND NODS. WE HAD LOTS OF COFFEE-TIME CHATS IN COMPANY OF MAYOR WIN MADDOCK, WHO I THINK ALWAYS PREFERRED OUR GATHERING OF MEDIA FRIENDLIES, TO THE SCRUM OF COUNCILLORS, GEARING UP FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONDAY MORNING MEETINGS. I GET MISTY EYED JUST THINKING ABOUT THOSE DAYS IN SUCH GOOD COMPANY, INCLUDING THE MAYOR. I COULD MAKE HIM LAUGH IN THE MIDDLE OF A COUNCIL MEETING, BY MAKING A FACE, AND IT CAUSED HIM TO LOOK DOWN A LOT. I USED TO MAKE FUN OF HIS DOG, WHICH I THINK WAS THE SIZE OF A SMALL HORSE; SO I'D RAZ HIM ABOUT IT DURING THE BREAKS, AND THEN KEEP REMINDING HIM ABOUT IT, DURING THE ACTUAL COUNCIL SESSION. OH YEA, I'D MAKE A GREAT COUNCILLOR. I KNOW THE "INS AND OUTS" YOU MIGHT SAY, OF SURVIVAL BY HUMOR IN MUNICIPAL POLITICS. THE ONLY PROBLEM, WAS WHEN I'D START LAUGHING, AND LOU AND BILL HAD TO BRING ME DOWN, LIKE A KITE HEADED FOR THE STRATOSPHERE. THEY WERE MY KEEPERS, AND THEY WERE ENTITLED TO WRITE ANY CORRECTIONS IN MY NOTEBOOK THEY FELT WERE NECESSARY, TO KEEP ME EMPLOYED AT THE BEACON. THEY DIDN'T LIKE A FEW OF THE OTHER REPORTERS BEFORE ME, SO THEY DECIDED TO KEEP ME ON BOARD. SO WHEN BILL STARTED THE LEADER, AND I WAS AN EDITOR WITH MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, I HAD NO MORAL CHOICE BUT TO SUPPORT BILL AND LOU ALL THE WAY. TRUTH IS, EVEN WHEN MANAGEMENT OF OUR PAPER CHANGED ITS ALLIANCES IN GRAVENHURST, WE KEPT ON FEEDING THEM ALL WE COULD. WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN FIRED FOR INSUBORDINATION, BUT THAT WOULD HAVE JUST GIVEN US MORE TIME AT THE PRESS CLUB.

     I WAS DELIGHTED TO BE IN THEIR COMPANY THEN, SO I WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING, AS EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE, TO HELP THEM GET ESTABLISHED. WELL BEYOND WHAT MANAGEMENT KNEW I WAS OFFERING THEM. I OFTEN WOUND UP IN THEIR NEWSROOM, WHEN I WAS KICKING AROUND GRAVENHURST……MAYBE GRABBING A PINT WITH FORMER GRAVENHURST NEWS COLUMNIST, HUGH CLAIRMONT, OVER AT THE STAR MOTEL, TALKING ABOUT THE STATE OF THE NEWS INDUSTRY. HUGH WAS AN IDEAL ANALYST OF ALL THAT WAS GOING ON IN HIS HOME TOWN, AND I LOVED TO LISTEN TO HIS ASSESSMENTS, AND OF COURSE HIS RECOLLECTIONS OF THE GRAND ESCAPADES OF REPORTERS HE HAD KNOWN……INCLUDING TORONTO SUN COLUMNIST, PAUL RIMSTEAD. IT WAS A GREAT NEWSPAPER REGION, YOU KNOW, AND I REALLY BENEFITTED FROM ALL THE EXPOSURE TO THESE OLDTIMERS OF THE PROFESSION; WHO HAD NO COMPUNCTION WHATSOEVER, SHARING THEIR SPELLBINDING TALES. SURE, THEY WERE A LITTLE TALL, BUT, AS CLICHE, THOSE STORY SPINNERS, NEVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A REALLY GOOD STORY.

     I FOUND THE FRONT PAGE OF THIS SPECIAL "BOARD OF TRADE," SECTION OF "THE LEADER," THIS MORNING, TUCKED TIGHTLY INSIDE A DUSTY FOLIO, IN MY ARCHIVE COLLECTION, HERE IN THE MURKY CATACOMBS OF BIRCH HOLLOW. I CAN EVEN REMEMBER THE DAY, I PICKED IT UP AT A YARD SALE, AND BROUGHT IT BACK TO IMBED IN MY GRAVENHURST ARCHIVES……MY PERSONAL COLLECTION OF LOCAL HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. I WAS AS SPELLBOUND TODAY, AS I WAS THE FIRST TIME I LOOKED AT IT, DRYING IN THE NEWSPAPER'S DARK ROOM. I HAD BEEN LEANING THAT DAY, ON THE COUNTER TOP, OF THEIR NEWS OFFICE…….WHEN THAT WEEK'S ISSUE ARRIVED, WITH THE INTOXICATING AROMA OF FRESH INK. I LOVED THE SMELL OF THE PRESSES. THE MASSIVE, BROADSHEET IMAGE, TAKEN BY MR. BLACK, IS A REMARKABLE, INSIGHTFUL, YET HAUNTING SEPIA HUED GLIMPSE OF ANOTHER TIME. A SENTIMENTAL LOOK BACK, ON THE WORK OF A FEW EAGER NEWS HOUNDS, TRYING TO GAIN A READERSHIP, AND MAKE A SUCCESS OUT OF A BRAVE NEW BUSINESS VENTURE. IT MAY HAVE BEEN SHORT-LIVED, BUT IT'S IMPACT WAS BIG. NOT ASTEROID BIG, BUT CULTURALLY, AND SOCIALLY, A MILESTONE EVENT, THAT MADE HISTORY NONE THE LESS.

    WITHOUT QUESTION, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF HURT WAS INFLICTED BY THE NEWSPAPER'S SUDDEN FAILURE. SOME SUFFERING THE BACKLASH MORE THAN OTHERS. BUT I CAN TELL YOU, FROM THE NEWS CORP OF THE TIME, WORKING AROUND THE REGION AT OTHER PUBLICATIONS, AND IN THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA, WE ALL FELT CRUSHED BY WHAT HAD HAPPENED…..BECAUSE WE KNEW THAT TALENT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PREMATURE END. IT WAS JUST ABOUT MONEY…..AND WE LOATHED THAT FACT! I CAN REMEMBER TALKING FOR HOURS WITH CKCO REPORTER, AND GOOD FRIEND, GAR LEWIS, ABOUT HOW THE CLOSURE SUCKED, AND HOW BAD WE FELT FOR LOU, AND BILL, TWO VETERANS OF THE PRINT MEDIA…..WHO WERE GIANTS TO MANY OF US UNDERLINGS, SCRAMBLING FOR A FEW BYLINES EACH WEEK, TO QUALIFY OURSELVES AS PUBLISHED WRITERS. THESE CHAPS HAD BEEN WRITING FOR YEARS WITH ALL KINDS OF CREDITS. THIS THEN, WAS THE UNFAIR REALITY OF WHAT HAPPENS IN A CUT-THROAT INDUSTRY. I SEE THIS ALL EMERGING FROM BEYOND THE GATE…… IN THAT FRONT PAGE PHOTO…….THE EXCITEMENT, THE SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND YET THE CHAGRIN OF THAT TIME, AS IF HISTORY IS REPEATING JUST FOR ME! WHEN I LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GRAVENHURST ARCHWAY, AS IT WAS IN THE 1970'S AND 80'S…..WELL SIR, I SEE MYSELF STANDING THERE AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, WAITING FOR SOMETHING…….OR SOMEONE…..TO COMPANION WITH ME, TO SOMEWHERE I CAN ONLY SPECULATE. MAYBE TO WHERE I AM AT PRESENT. AS A PICTURE, IT IS A VISUAL POEM; A HUMBLE PHILOSOPHY ABOUT THE QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES OF LIFE IN A SMALL ONTARIO TOWN. DID JOHN BLACK CHALLENGE US WITH THIS IMAGE? OF COURSE HE DID! WITH BEST INTENTIONS, OF COURSE!

     I AM GOING TO HAVE THIS FRONT PAGE FRAMED SOMEHOW, AND MOUNTED IN OUR ANTIQUE SHOP…..AS A REMINDER TO ME……AND POSSIBLY TO A FEW OF OUR REGULAR CUSTOMERS, ABOUT THE TIME WHEN THERE WERE THREE NEWSPAPERS ON THE MAIN STREET OF TOWN. TODAY? THERE ARE NONE!

     WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GRAVENHURST, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS JOHN BLACK IMAGE, FROM THE EARLY 1980'S? TO ME…..IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN NOSTALGIC, AS A PHOTOGRAPH, EVEN WHEN THE PAPER WAS STILL WARM…..AND THE IMAGE WAS AS CONTEMPORARY AS THE COFFEE IN OUR CUPS. IT IS STILL THIS WAY NOW, WHEN I VIEW IT, AND I GET A LUMP IN MY THROAT, HONESTLY, REMEMBERING WHAT THIS TOWN WAS LIKE THEN…..AND WHO MADE IT SO DARN SPECIAL FOR AN OUT-OF-TOWNER, LIKE ME.

     THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG. I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT.