Celebrating the Almanac on the occasion of its 60th anniversary
The Almanac is celebrating its 60th anniversary and recently posted about its history on the MidPeninsula.
We took the opportunity to reach out to some of its current and past editors asking if there was one memory — a “wow” moment — that stood out for them over the years. Here are their responses.
Current editor Andrea Gemmet
Of all the stories I covered as an Almanac reporter, my biggest scoop was also one of the most personally meaningful. As an avid patron of Kepler’s since childhood, when the bookstore abruptly closed in 2005, it hit me like a death in the family. Seen as a bellwether for the independent bookstore industry, the news of Kepler’s demise quickly garnered national media attention.
I was assigned to write the story of its closure. After scoring an exclusive interview with Clark Kepler, I ended up breaking the news that — thanks to upwelling of community support — the beloved bookstore had a chance to live on.
It was all-hands on deck in the newsroom that day, and with new developments pouring in, I rewrote that story three times in the hours before we went to press. It was exhilarating. Read Andrea’s article.
——
Former editor Richard Hine
There was an incident I recall that didn’t stop me in my tracks, but sort of restarted me in my tracks.
We had just gone to press on a Monday night, and I was looking forward to a break after working late the previous Friday night and for several hours over the weekend. When the paper was put to bed on Monday night, that was a time to take a breath.
As I was set to head home, I heard that police had shot and killed a burglary suspect in Menlo Park. We dispatched a reporter — and even Connie Cotton in the ad department for some reason was there helping gather information. I had to stay at the office another few hours to post updates on the shooting. I vividly remember this incident.
But it turns out my biggest “wow” moment was not that day, but today, when I searched The Almanac online archives, and learned that the shooting occurred on Nov. 11, 2014 — a TUESDAY, not on press day! And the shooting happened in the middle of the day, not in the early evening.
So, I don’t know if you can rely on my memory of “wow” moments. I must be conflating incidents, or just hallucinating like AI.
——
Former editor Renee Batti
Kepler’s closure was so abrupt and unexpected that staff members arrived at the door for work that morning to find it padlocked, with a note telling them to show up later for an all-staff meeting. I think the Menlo Park city reporter at the time [Andrea Gemmet — see above] did the main story about it, but I contributed to the reporting. I was pretty much chained to the editing and supervisorial desk at the time but had many contacts who helped us tell the story. So the closure and the shocking way it happened stopped all of us “in our tracks.”
But what was even more astonishing the way the community came together and saved it. When it reopened, it was under a completely new ownership and management structure that was the result of the community’s love of the store, its collective brainpower and business savvy, and of course, its generosity with financial support.
During my years in Menlo Park (many lunch- and after-hours spent at Kepler’s), I wondered how much this power- and wealth-driven Silicon Valley community really appreciated Kepler’s. I knew a number of people who went the easy route and ordered from Amazon when they needed a book rather than support their independent bookstore. But this was a wakeup call for everyone, and the community rose to the occasion in a way that I’m still astonished by.
——
Former editor Angela Swartz
I remember breaking this story in 2022 when I was covering the small towns. Woodside stopped lot splits, saying the town is a mountain lion habitat.
I think outsiders were surprised but it did feel very Woodside to me. The areas we covered were never boring and as my editor liked to say: “They are small but mighty.”
——
The Almanac is sponsoring a performance by The Sun Kings at Fremont Park on Wednesday, August 12.
Photo of Andrea Gemmet courtesy of Andrea
