The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives 102 Old Lincoln Way West Galion, Ohio 44833 (419) 462-2212 Voice (419) 462-2214 Fax (419) 566-0790 Cell

Dear Friends,

To this day,
I don't understand
why someone would
intentionally isolate themselves
from the ebb and flow of life.

Because many times
the answer doesn't matter,
it's the access that counts.

We've cleaned the slate,
and can move on...

It could be so easy...

I call up the President
of Union Pacific,
plead my case,
he responds,
end of story.

It might take 30 minutes...

If Plan A is unacceptable,
then we move to Plan B,
until all the bases are covered.

Surely there must be a solution
in there somewhere.

Now granted,
he might say,
"The UP has no desire to fulfill
Mr. Lincoln's Dream,
under any circumstances."

Period.

Which he could,
and it would take a cold man
to do that.

But at least we tried,
and I don't have to do end runs,
and stir up a hornet's nest in the process.

Like I said,
"It could be so easy..."

And many times the media
is just as bad...

Can't tell you the number of times
I've tried to send a fax
or call in a story
only to be rebuffed.

Hard to believe,
they're in the news business
and yet they aren't
interested in the news.

Seven days a week,
they run the same story,
over and over again
on the sports pages
and yet no one
ever seems to get tired,
but mention
The Lincoln Highway
or anything else for that matter
and it's...

"Oh we've done that..."

Not everybody,
mind you,
but more than you'd think.

I called the Chronicle about
a piece for the 70th Anniversary
of President Harding's Death
after I found the scrapbook
at the Palace Hotel
and all the info on
The Harding Memorial Tree.

"Oh we did a story on that 5 years ago..."

Can you believe it?

Even did their homework for them,
and dropped off a stack of documentation.

When I was
Head Photographer
at Miami I used to scramble
for the phone...

Because you never know,
what hot story
might be on the other end.

In doing the research
for this project,
90% of the information
comes from newspapers.

During one period in 1922,
The San Francisco Chronicle
ran a Frank McGlynn story
every day for over a month.

His Arrival,
The Banquet,
The Play,
The Review,
The Special Performances,
His Training,
and Local Club Speeches,
to name a few.

Almost every aspect of the story.

Today that would never happen,
but without it,
a significant of San Francisco
history would be lost.

If they refuse to cover
current news,
it will be next to impossible
for anyone in the future
to put the pieces together.

In many respects,
papers of today
have lost sight of their mission
and lost their nose for news.

Warmest Regards,

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