– Holding the Line

I quickly excelled at my job and became highly proficient in all my assigned tasks. One of Lester’s most important contracts was the bi-monthly flagship magazine, Parks & Recreation, which he co-designed with the magazine’s editor, Mrs. Margaret Smith. Together, they formatted the layout pages—called “dummies”—that outlined where every article, photo, and ad would be placed.

Once the content was planned, the typed copy was sent to Charlene. She used a special IBM typewriter that produced not only the text but also a narrow, inch-wide perforated paper tape—about 100 feet long. This tape was then fed into a Singer typesetting machine, which created galleys: long, five-inch-wide strips of white Kodak photo paper printed with the magazine’s text in clear, justified type.

After Mrs. Smith proofed and approved the galleys, they were ready to be “pasted up.” This process involved mounting them onto blue-line preprinted cardboard layout pages—covered with grid lines—following Lester’s dummy layouts. We also added ads, articles, and photographs alongside them. Most of that hands-on work was mine.

Mrs. Smith was a demanding, controlling woman—much older and set in her ways. She had spent years working with the previous young artist, sitting behind her the entire time to oversee every detail. So naturally, she did the same with me during the first issue I worked on. Since her portion accounted for nearly 60% of the magazine, we spent many long days together.

Every day, she and Lester went to lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., leaving me alone. When she returned, the air often carried a sharp scent of alcohol on her breath. Back then, having a drink or two at lunch was common in D.C., but having her sit just inches behind me afterward was uncomfortable, especially with her cigarette smoke swirling around the studio like stage fog. To their credit, Lester and Charlene didn’t smoke.

After a few days working with her, I understood her preferences. So, one afternoon while she was out for lunch, I kept going. I finished several pages, working quietly and confidently. When she returned and saw my progress, she was not pleased.

“I asked you not to proceed without me present,” she said sharply.

I stood my ground. “Mrs. Smith, I know what I’m doing. Please review the pages I created while you were at lunch. If you find any mistakes, I’ll never work without your supervision again. But if you don’t, then I ask that you trust me to finish the job without needing to sit behind me.”

To her credit, she agreed and started checking the pages carefully. When she finished, she looked up and said, “I didn’t find even one mistake.” From then on, she never sat behind me again.

After a few lunches with Lester and Margaret, I was called into Lester’s office.

“Rez,” he said, “Margaret is extremely pleased with your work. She thinks you’re a genius and are doing a great job. She wants me to pay you more. So, I’m raising your hourly pay to three dollars.”

I smiled and said, “I’m so happy to have her confidence. That means the world to me.”

Not long after that, when the magazine was finished and sent to a commercial printer with four-color presses, Lester told me he’d be going to Costa Rica with his family for a two-week vacation. I hesitated a bit. I’d only been on the job for just over a month and wasn’t sure I could manage without him.

He reassured me, “Don’t worry—everything’s done for this month. If any small jobs come in, I’m confident you can handle them.”

With a deep breath, I replied, “Yes, sir. I’m sure I can handle any small jobs.”