Letter to the Editor: Take time to reflect

The Daily abides. This auspicious anniversary affords an opportunity to stumble down memory lane and dredge up those early days. But truth be told, after four decades I still cannot see a nugget of sweet and sour chicken without being transported to the basement of Curtis Hall to recall those many nights spent eating takeout while slapping together the next day’s edition.

Once I had my heroes, once I had my dreams. We should take a moment to remember some heroes who helped the Daily take its first steps, like Louie the Printer, who would stop by the office to collect our paste-up pages and transport them to his pressman job at the Harvard Crimson, while offering sage advice that helped us persevere. Or the Crimson staff for tolerating our use of their presses. Or on a more personal note, the bands who played MacPhie Pub and consented to interviews for our column.

If I may offer some advice to the Daily staff of today, and to their college cohort: consume as much live music as possible, but always keep some earplugs at the ready, and use them. Down the road you might think back fondly on your college days, but you’ll miss your hearing more. And to the Daily itself, as Seneca said, “Quam bene vivas refert, non quam diu.”

Chuck Chandler, staff writer from 1981–82