Conversation at lunch

Former BJ news editors Tom Moore and Dave Boerner had lunch with Bob Reese, a guard at the newspaper for at least 10 years. Here’s Tom’s report:

Dave Boerner and I had lunch with a different member of the BJ family--a fellow who checked us in and out and kept us safe. That's Bob Reese who has a guard at the BJ for nine years.*

He wanted to know if he could come to our luncheons and Dave and I assured him that we'd love to have him attend. He might have worked on the outfit who furnished guards, but he was a member of the BJ family. He knows just about everybody and can tell some great stories on his run-ins with folks trying to get into the building. Bob's now retired.

I thought he'd get a kick out of the story of Publisher Ben Maidenburg trying to get into the building. Ben had forgotten his ID. When he came though the door, the guard asked him for his ID. He told him he'd forgotten it, but he assured the fellow that he worked there. The guard was not satisfied. He took Ben into the office and sitting at the old horse-shoe copy desk was copy editor Art Cullison.

“You know this fellow?” the guard asked.

Art looked at Ben and said with a straight face: “Never saw him before in my life!”

Ben had to go downstairs in the parking garage and come up through the lobby. But he did have a sense of humor, so Art didn't get the can.

Bob came back with a similar story”about Publisher John Dotson.

There was a bomb scare and John was notified. Well, Bob said, he must have been at a barbecue or some such outing, because of the way he was dressed. And Bob didn't know him from Adam. Bob said the fellow came though the front door and headed up the stairs. Bob challenged him.

John said he was going to the third floor, that he was an employee. Bob wanted to see some ID. John asked him to call upstairs.

Bob did. And asked the person who answered the phone, ‘is there a Dodson or Doder or something like that worked here?” a

The person on the phone told him, “Yes, John Dotson is the publisher.

Of course Bob immediately let him go up. And he figured he'd be guarding some warehouse the next day. Then he got a call from John who praised him for his action and told him he really felt safe in the building with somebody like him on duty.

He's got a lot of stories like that about the folks we all worked with, so expect him to regale you at the luncheons.

By the way, one's coming up this Wednesday.

...Tom Moore