MY FRUSTRATION UPON HAVING READ THE RECENT NEWS THAT THE 'NEW YORK TIMES' COLUMNIST RUSSELL BAKER IS NO LONGER ALIVE

If he had been alive today, I might have eventually remembered to do some research to find out the current mailing address for that very distinguished newspaper columnist. I would have then eventually remembered to send him a second (I am fairly sure that I sent a previous one) "thank-you" card for the very kind invitation he extended to me in 1986 to meet him and his wife at Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. I accepted that invitation in 1986, and I am glad that I did. 

Meeting with Russell Baker at Nantucket was one of the peak experiences of my life so far. I had read with fascination his autobiographical book "Growing Up", a copy of which I owned. Also, I had received a nice signed reply letter from him on "New York Times" stationery in 1984 or 1983, when I resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a Journalism School graduate student. In that reply letter to me, Russell Baker directly advised me to "be serious and see what happens" (exact quote).

That advice from Russell Baker has been very helpful to me in Austin, Texas, in recent years. I have taken very seriously my own living conditions and my own medical health, and I have written numerous letters reflecting that outlook of mine.

I have filed dozens of criminal-law complaints with the Austin Police Department ever since April 28, 2011, about my being a victim of repeated alleged continuous and continuing criminal personal-injury activities allegedly perpetrated against me by persons unbeknownst to me in this state capital city for Texas. 

Even though no arrest of any actual crime suspect has ever occurred at any time as a result of those criminal-law complaints I filed with APD, I remain very hopeful that under a new police chief, Austin native APD Chief Brian Manley, the Austin Police Department will finally in a very diligent manner pursue an actual very thorough crime investigation involving very thorough retroactive DNA-trace processing, that leads to an actual arrest of at least one actual crime suspect who is then formally accused in a court of law in Austin of having allegedly committed a felony crime allegedly victimizing myself in this Texan city.

Russell Baker was one of the very few famous journalists from my entire life so far who invited me to knock on the front door of his home. When I met with him in 1986 at one of his cities of residence that year, Nantucket, Russell Baker drove me through that scenic island town, with himself politely calling my attention to a U.S. Postal Service building that had very impressive "Greek Revival" architecture, he commented.

In 1984, one first-rate investigative reporter for "Worcester County (Mass.) News" newspaper, Steven Jones-D'Agostino, himself a coworker of mine in the newsroom of that publication, invited me into his and his wife's home in Worcester. I was very impressed by the very alert, articulate, and very incisive style of that married couple. His wife worked for a radio station in the Worcester area. I can only assume that Steven and his wife are well known today in the northeastern region, and possibly throughout the U.S.

Another first-rate newspaper reporter, Mark Porubcansky, then a coworker of mine at the "New Ulm (MN) Journal" daily newspaper (I reported on the regional beat with a focus on nearby towns such as Sleepy Eye, Hanska, Winthrop, Gaylord, Courtland, and Lafayette) and Mark reported on New Ulm's municipal government), very kindly invited me several or more times in 1980-81 to meet with him and his wife, Sarah, inside the living room of their home in New Ulm, with their adorable daughter, Anna, also being present. Mark Porubcansky later became famous as a reporter for the Associated Press who was based in the Soviet Union, and, later, as an editor and reporter for "The Los Angeles (CA) Times" daily newspaper.

Especially memorable to me during my 1986 visit to Nantucket was the unexpected question that Russell Baker posed to me in person on Nantucket Island with no apparent context to the question during my first and last-ever meeting with him. "Got a family?" (exact quote), he asked.

I can only assume today that Russell Baker may have been referring to the "New York Times" Family, as they are no doubt often dubbed. 

I have never been employed by that particular media family, but I did appreciate the 1979 job interview I was granted by the "New York Times"-owned "Lakeland Ledger" daily newspaper in Lakeland, Florida.

Two Anglo male editors of that publication interviewed me in the "Lakeland Ledger" newsroom, with the managing editor, Tim McGuire, asking me during the interview, "Do you think your shit is so hot that it doesn't stink?" (exact quote).

I was not prepared for that question, but I answered it politely.

During that same 1979 visit of mine to the "Lakeland Ledger" newsroom, one of the two editors (who each met separately with me during my visit) commented to me during my interview with him that "This part of Florida is where the REAL PEOPLE live." He appeared to indicate that in his opinion, the people residing in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area (an area where I had previously resided, as I mentioned in that job interview) were somehow not "real people", and were instead either "artificial people" or "plastic people" he directly stated using one of those two terms to describe residents of southeastern Florida.

Also during my visit to the "Ledger", one tall younger Anglo male editor volunteered to me that "It's normally a generic indictment (exact quote) of a newspaper to say that it's owned by Gannett. But the 'Fort Myers (FL) News-Press' is one exception to that. They are a very good daily newspaper."

I was not offered the business-beat reporting position at the "Lakeland Ledger" that I was interviewed for that day in 1979. 

However, I should probably send a belated "thank-you" note to the "Lakeland Ledger" for having been the ONLY New York Times-owned media company that ever granted me an actual job interview in person at any time during my entire career so far.