Page 38 - March 2021 Voices

GLEANINGS FROM THE GROVE
Carpe Potestatum
Paul Fanning, DTM
It has been said that I grew up in a privileged
fashion. The truth be told, it wasn’t a silver spoon
that I was born with, but rather a simple nickel-
silver plated one. However, don’t get me wrong.
I counted it indeed to be from the family I was
born into, and I oft took advantage of that modus
in order to accomplish my goals and objectives.
One of these early aspirations was to become a
writer, or a famous author—and most assuredly—
to be published in a national publication. I saw an
easy and rewarding future with pen and paper,
typewriter, and a brilliant keen mind. These were
on my check list of attributes I thought I needed
to meet that lofty future. And of course, I had
good examples and mentors surrounding me.
My grandfather was one such mentor and
influence upon my young impressionable mind.
He was born in Lambeth which is in the Cockney
part of London. He decided at an early age to
better himself through reading. The education
afforded him was that which he could afford.
He was a voracious reader of adventure books,
the classic “Our Boys” annuals as well as tales
from around the world. He was apprenticed to
a printer by age 15. He learned a trade and at the
same time took advantage of the printed material
around him. He eventually found a new job
38 ONE COMMUNITY
at the Daily Telegraph Newspaper. He worked
during the war years of 1939-46 and remained a
newspaperman his entire life. His knowledge of
world affairs, history, geography, and the art of
storytelling became his greatest gift and legacy
to me. I aspired to follow in his footsteps.
The next great mentor was none other than
his only child, my mother, who loved to do
research. While writing never became a full-time
employment for her, she served for many years
on the staff of a national publication, became its
business manager while attempting to nurture,
entertain, and contain her wild child—oh that’s
me—and my brother. She published, wrote,
and illustrated children’s stories. When I was in
high school, she began a weekly “gossip/newsy”
column in the two local papers in our county.
She continued to write for at least two decades.
Mother inherited my grandfather’s mind, his
love of stories, and the ability to make even the
mundane interesting and exciting.
If that was not a “nudge” in the right direction,
I had two other mentors and tutors to point me
to the right path. The first was a former editor of
the Oregonian, also a life-long newspaperman,
who had coined the word “skyjacked” for the
San Francisco Chronicle and still blackened