The Musketeer before computers

During my senior at Hargrave in 1975-76, I was the editor of the school newsaper, The Musketeer. I haven't been able to find a reference to the publication on the HMA website, so I assume it is no longer being published? Any information would be welcomed.

Our faculty sponsor was Mrs. Shirley Gates. Our managing editors were Richard Huizenga and Dan Paganini. Our sport editor was Eric Nenon. Our cartoonist was Fernando Manrique. Photographers included Robert Richards and Wiley Corbett. Reporters included Richard Clark, Lynn Emerson, Gary Hupp, Edward Saunders, Mitzi Gillispie, Becky Bardin, and Todd Money. Our proofreader was Victor Umberger, who took over as editor in 1976-77. Our typist was Timothy Dallas. Our circulation team consisted of David Burnsworth, John Robelen, Michael Watson, Timothy Dallas and Lynn Emerson.

I recall that we put out four newspapers during the school year. Of course, back then we didn't even know what computers were. So the paper was pieced together by hand at the offices of the Chatham Star-Tribune. We relied on the Star-Tribune's typesetter to type in the text of the articles into this huge machine. The machine would spew out the sticky paper typeset, which I would then cut and lay out onto large sheets on a kind of drafting table.

I had expressed an interest in The Musketeer during my junior year, and I had written a few articles. By the end of the 1974-75 school year, I had been tapped to be the next editor. Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the editor that year, from whom I learned some of the basic skills. He ended up going to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

That summer, I spent a couple of weeks at a journalism workshop at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I took courses in layout & design and editorial writing. The stuff I learned allowed us to give the paper a different look... a new, floating masthead and a generally more modern design. We gradually increased the length to 8 pages and tried to cover a wider variety of stories, such as sports, concerts, dances, clubs, religious activities, parades, inspections, military displays, general orders, class elections, and colleage preparation tips.

If The Musketeer still exists, I would love to establish a relationship between it and this Blog.