A reporter was cut from the Madison Junior High basketball team and found writing for the school newspaper offered more power and influence than sitting on a bench. Name recognition created a responsibility to the community. The Watergate era and journalists like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein provided inspiration. While attending Poly High in Sun Valley, sports editor Pete Kokon paid $15 a week for high school sports coverage and taught lessons about recognition over money. Kokon displayed eccentric habits, taught betting and golf, used an ancient Royal typewriter, smoked cigars, and counted Hall of Famers among friends. Kokon covered high school sports for more than 60 years, and the reporter became a stringer in 1976 and was hired full time in 1980.
Cut from the Madison Junior High basketball team, I discovered writing for the school newspaper offered more power and influence than sitting on a bench. Everyone likes to see their name mentioned, so now I knew I had a big responsibility going forward. It was the time of Watergate and new heroes such as journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovering corruption at the highest level, inspiring future journalists. While attending Poly High in Sun Valley, Pete Kokon, the sports editor of the San Fernando Sun, offered to pay me $15 a week to write a story about high school sports.
He owned an apartment building in Sherman Oaks and lived in his "penthouse," which consisted of entering a screen door that was never locked and seeing a small room on the top floor. He'd leave his keys in his unlocked car under a mat. He used to cuss out Ronald Reagan whenever his name was mentioned. He taught me how to bet at the race track, saying, "Give me a dollar," before going to the window to place a $2 bet.
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