Finally back to a normal schedule, it was good to see the coffee machine in person. She wanted to know where I had been. Rather than go through a long story, the simple answer was,”Out.” Never to be left in the dark the machine asked,”Where?” My response stopped the discussion right then and there, “Reproductive problems.”
Of course the reproduction mentioned was a book tour but the machine decided not to pursue the subject. My coffee was delivered hot and fragrant. One sip and my mind went to the clock. The setting is for February 21, 1925. The location is New York city, and the duration is one hour. A pull of the plunger and we find ourselves in the offices of the New Yorker at 25 West 45th Street in Manhattan. The staff is celebrating the first issue.
The New Yorker was founded by Harold Ross (1892–1951) and his wife Jane Grant (1892–1972), a New York Times reporter, and debuted on February 21, 1925. Ross wanted to create a sophisticated humor magazine that would be different from perceivably “corny” humor publications such as Judge, where he had worked, or the old Life. Ross partnered with entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischmann (who founded the General Baking Company) to establish the F-R Publishing Company. Ross edited the magazine until his death in 1951. During the early, occasionally precarious years of its existence, the magazine prided itself on its cosmopolitan sophistication. Ross declared in a 1925 prospectus for the magazine: “It has announced that it is not edited for the old lady in Dubuque.”
Just as the Champaign was openede the alarm too me back to the couch. A text from Linda Hill has come in. It reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “in person.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
To see what others have done with the prompt visit Linda’s blog. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2025/02/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-22-2025/
In Person by John W. Howell © 2025
“So you visited the offices of the New Yorker in person.”
“Nice job on nailing the prompt early.”
“Since you were gone, I thought about how to do that early in the discussion.”
“So we could concentrate on other matters I suppose.”
“How clever you are. How was the tour?”
“Terrific. All the volunteers did a fabulous job. There is one more stop on Wednesday the 26th but we are pretty much back to normal.”
“I missed out trips to the pub.”
“Yeah, Ill bet. Speaking of that did you manage to find someone else to go with you.”
“No. I stayed at home.”
“Doesn’t sound like you.”
“Well without you there is no reason to go.”
“Dear me. Okay let’s get going. Uber?”
“Right over there.”
“Now this looks appealing”
“Yeah, we get a couple of cheese steaks with the ride.”
“i don’t eat beef.”
“I know. You’ll have a cheese steak with no steak.”
“A toasted cheese then.”
“Yeah. You got it.”
“Okay let’s go.”
“You’ll enjoy it. I promise.”
