The News That Fits...

THE WRITE STUFF: While former San Diego congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham sits in federal prison contemplating his legacy as the most corrupt member of Congress ever, the reporters from Copley News Service (Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer and George Condon) and the Union-Tribune (Dean Calbreath) who won a Pulitzer for breaking his story are writing a book. According to their literary agent at the Dijkstra Agency, the story of the former Top Gunner’s rise and ignominious fall will be out in hardcover early next year. The book, the agent says, is all about a politician who projected an image of a heroic family man when, in reality, he was a “sexually confused, hard-drinking, partisan bully with a lavish sense of entitlement and a feckless moral compass.” Sounds like a best-seller to me. The book’s title: The Wrong Stuff.

REMEMBRANCE: Former San Diego congressman Clair Burgener may have been the anti–Duke Cunningham. That Burgener was an honest man, a compassionate man and a gentleman is not debatable. But stories of his death in September, at 84, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s, may have neglected to celebrate his great wit. No one could match Burgener for self-effacing humor. A favorite story recalls the time he was addressing a meeting of the La Mesa Republican Women’s Garden Club. After his speech, a 90-year-old matron approached him with eyes dancing and burbled, “Congressman, your remarks were absolutely superfluous!” After an appropriate pause, Burgener replied evenly, “Well, then, perhaps I should have them published posthumously.” To which the matron parried, “Oh, yes. And the sooner the better.” But one of Burgener’s favorite quiet jokes—aimed more at himself than his loving wife of nearly 70 years, Marvia—was usually shared with family and friends. “Marvia and I made a serious mistake when we got married,” he would say. “Both of us thought the other family had money.”

HEALTH CHECK: Newspapers couldn’t survive without advertising. And in this increasingly electronic age of communication, the competition for advertisers grows ever stiffer. That’s why some are reluctantly opting to cross once-indelible lines in pursuit of their life’s blood. More than a decade ago, as a matter of survival, community newspapers began to accept higher-paying ads on their front pages. The La Jolla Light is a local example. But most dailies (The San Diego Union-Tribune among them) have been loath to yield even an inch of their front pages to advertisers. So far, the U-T is still among the front-page holdouts. But hard times call for harsh measures. And in August, with both advertising and circulation dropping, the newspaper did cross another line in the sand. For the first time in modern history, San Diego’s only major daily sold advertising on the front of a section (Food). A week later, the front page of the Sunday Sports section carried the first in a series of ads for a company that sells tires, oil changes and lubes. After asking editors about the move, concerned employees were told “the industry is changing,” and there were indications of more tough bottom-line measures. One employee says they were told employees leaving the U-T would not be replaced, though there was nothing said of any impending layoffs. Two weeks later, the company fired 26 employees at Today’s Local News, the U-T’s 70,000-circulation giveaway newspaper in North County.

SLEEP ON IT: San Diego’s Ulysses S. Grant Hotel, built nearly a century ago by the son of the Civil War general, has been undergoing a long and costly renovation. In the process, the crew has been turning up interesting bits of history. The most recent: a December 24, 1927 copy of The San Diego Union, announcing an upcoming Italian Society meeting and spaghetti dinner. Fitting. On December 31 this year, one of the first parties in the reborn U.S. Grant will be a New Year’s celebration of the Italian American Civic Association. The menu is somewhat more upscale, but spaghetti will be included . . . Meanwhile, with the $80 million restoration of the Grant nearing completion, another landmark downtown San Diego hotel has announced its rebirth. The smaller Pickwick on Broadway, which backs up to the Greyhound bus terminal, is going “luxury boutique.” At one low point, the Pickwick, opened in 1926, fell to the level of flophouse. The change may confuse the bus drivers, but this is good news to the rest of us: The owners plan to pump $16 million into the sagging old girl and reopen her in December as “The Sofia.”

IN A NAME: Out-of-town magazine ads for The Verano, a local condominium complex, tout the project as “The Best Value in La Jolla.” Which, I suppose, could be a matter of opinion or taste. If it weren’t for this: The Verano is in University City—where it may or may not be the best value. On the other hand, the idea of co-opting the name La Jolla for fun and profit isn’t exactly a new one. Which explains why there’s a La Jolla Appraisal Group in Solana Beach, a La Jolla Electric in El Cajon and even a La Jolla Brass in Santee. Some brass.

Listen for Tom Blair’s Friday reports on KOGO News Radio (600 AM) at 7:25 a.m. You can also click here to listen to his column.

Items for the magazine or radio may be e-mailed to tblair@sandiegomag.com.

© 2006 San Diego Magazine

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