The Edmonton Journal was my father’s other home.
As a young boy, growing up without a father, he began to support his mother and grandparents, by working as a paper boy at The Edomonton Journal.
His mentor, in years to pass was Walter Augustus MacDonald, , the then publisher, (dates1941-1956).
who would endearingly say.”Horace, you are a pig of a Campbell.if ever I saw one.” referring to Scotland’s history; the massacre at Glencoe.
and in 1946 they were truly bonded through the strike that defined loyalties.
The plaques that have been erected into the archive section of the Edmonton Journal, reveal the philosophy of what the paper would like to mirror: then and now. It goes back to a time when my father was present, and certainly apart of the network and workings (on every level) of a newspaper. The plaques that are inserted reveal that The Edmonton Journal experienced the rare privilege of being awarded The Pulitzer Prize for taking a stand against the then Social Credit’s Bill ..The Alberta Press Act Bill of October 1937, and fought against the government control of press. This would protect the Slander and libel Act, and prevent the practice of PILLARY(as stated in the then impassioned Editorial).
In the famous editorial, the then Editor cited the definition of Pillory. as a word prevalent in ancient times, meaning taking a victim and tying the person to a pillar or stake, exposing him/her to public ridicule and scorn.
Masefield’s idyllic lines from THE WEST WIND,
It’s a warm wind, the west wind
full of birds’ cries;
I never hear the west wind but tears
are in my eyes.
and Masefield goes on to resolve to return to the west land, “the land where I belong.”
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2012thislandisyourlandseatosea 