The New Guy
The new guy
UP FRONT
David Edwards
I OWE PAUL CARRUTHERS AN APOLOGY, or at least a decent lunch. Carruthers is editor of Cycle News, the weekly racing tabloid (and son of 1969 250cc World Roadracing Champion Kel Carruthers), and for the second time in seven years I’ve hired away one of his staff to fill a vacant spot on Cycle World's editorial masthead.
I tried hard not to, Paul, really I did.
Late last year, when the position was vacated, I ran an announcement in this column calling for résumés. Rather than pluck a staffer from another publication, perhaps there was a great undiscovered talent out there, ready for his/her big break. After all, Peter Egan, now one of the most widely read (and beloved) motorcycle/car journalists, was knuckles as a foreign-auto mechanic in 1978 when, in a last-ditch attempt to get published, he sent to Cycle World a freelance story previously rejected by another magazine-which shall re main nameless here. (Hint: Its title begins and ends with the same letter.)
In last December’s Up Front I asked for candidates with a strong journalism background, requesting that they also submit an original, 1000-word essay on the motorcycle-related subject of their choice. A deadline was given to have the materials in-house.
Several hopefuls missed that date, not a good start if you want to work in deadline journalism. One offered the novel excuse of not knowing about the job announcement because, he said, “I almost never read your column.” Brutal honesty is not always appreciated.
About 100 applications made the deadline. Culling that number down to 25 was relatively easy: Sadly, the majority had no more journalism experience than reading the morning paper. Earnest, avid motorcycle enthusiasts, without doubt, proud to have ’em on the CW readership rolls, but unfortunately not even a junior college Reporting 101 class on their résumés. Boy, I understand the allure of working in the bikebook biz, of riding all the new models before anybody else, of winging off to exotic places for press intros where you’re treated like a factory rider for a day, but the hard reality is that we get paid to sit for long hours behind a keyboard and write about motorcycling, not just ride the product. Much as I’d like to make someone’s dream come true, a top slot at the world’s largest motorcycle magazine is not the place for on-the-job training.
There were other issues with the remaining applicants. Several really good writers lived overseas. No green card, no can do, said Human Resources. I never argue with HR. Others took the 1000word length of the required essay as a mere suggestion, turning in stories hopelessly long-again, not a good thing in a profession where writing to assigned length is critical. Some decided that the motorcycle-related subject of their choice was, in fact, themselves and why they should be hired. Not what we were looking for.
A couple of the more promising candidates balked when they realized the job would entail relocating to Southern California, land of the half-million-dollar starter home.
Cutting to the chase, I’m sorry to say that no Egan-esque unknowns were uncovered. A couple of decent freelancers, good for a story or two, perhaps a guest-columnist, and definitely some names we’ll keep on file for our next “reader-rides” type feature, but nobody ready to join the CW staff and hit the ground running.
Cue Blake Conner, ex of Cycle News, now our new Associate Editor.
Blake, 37, joins me and Executive Editor Mark Hoyer (also Publisher Larry Little) as CN alumni. His path here is a lesson to anyone seeking a career in motojournalism. It’s about riding and words.
Blake grew up in Colorado, where he rode as a kid, sneaking rides on friends’ dirtbikes when his parents weren’t watching. Later, another pal’s 1982 Kawasaki GPz550 introduced him to sport ridingand shortly thereafter to the high cost of replacement plastic. A move to California in 1990 netted him a job in the graphics office of a major chain of department stores, a used Honda 600 for commuting and a couple of years later an AA degree in graphic design.
His skills behind a lens led to side jobs shooting photos for various publications, including American Roadracing, which also published his first stories about racing in the 250cc Aprilia Cup series. Impressed, AR then sent him to Spain for the press launch of the 1998 Kawasaki ZX-6R.
“This is the greatest job in the world,” Blake remembers thinking. “How do I make a living out of this?”
First move was to quit his secure department store gig of nine years and sign on as art director for the very shaky AR, then called American Road & Racing and with little more than a year left to live. Luck plays an important part in all careers, and just asAÆcèR imploded, an editor’s chair opened up at Cycle News. With his graphics skills, photo experience and a strong background in English Lit, Blake landed the job, though he admits he had a lot to learn.
“I knew I needed to get better at being an editor,” he says.
Writing and editing “zillions and zillions” of stories over six years and almost 300 issues will do that. At News, Blake also organized streetbike tests, handled contributing writers, shot/edited photos, filed website articles, was responsible for multiple departments-and somehow found time to race his YZF-R6 track bike at Willow Springs and compete as an Intermediate in Vet motocross. Now he’s at Cycle World.
It’s called paying dues, and it’s paid off.
