Great story, Russ! I worked there from 1980 through 1998. I used to to eat lunch with Dean in the cafeteria almost everyday until he retired to his home. He told some of the best stories, that were actually the history of Contra Costa. These were the golden years of the newspaper life. I was glad I was in it. I feel fortunate to have worked with all those great people and Dean Lesher. Like you, Russ, it changed the trajectory of my life. Working nearly 20 years in journalism and the technology of the industry and going on to teaching and managing technology at the Graduate School of Journalism at Berkeley for another 20 years. Thanks Russ, for a trip down memory lane!
Thank you for this history, Russ and for making sense of it! I didn’t know you’d worked for the CC Times. Dean and his first wife Kathryn were our neighbors in Lafayette, when I was growing up. Thanks I am sure to my mom asking him, Dean gave me my first reporting opportunity, when I was 15. I covered a Republican Governor’s Association conference in Palm Springs in 1968, for the CC Times, my first commercially published article. Met R Reagan, R Nixon, G Ford, Walter Annenberg, etc. My mom later became friends with Margaret. When my father wanted to buy that house in Orinda, my mom said no - too expensive and too much upkeep - and told Margaret about it. She and Dean became the owners and moved in, to my mom’s relief!
Thanks for that Gloria! I didn’t know your roots were that deep in Lamorinda. And to think we both worked for Dean Lesher at one point, well that is some coincidence, or what we call in N. Carolina, a co-inky-dink!
A super look back at one of California’s movers and shakers. My grand aunt’s husband was circulation mgr for the SF Examiner and so I have newsprint in my blood. Which is why I flunked out of UK’s journalism school. It allowed me to come back to CA and become a legend on my own mind. I remember the paper well since I had family all over Walnut Creek and once even worked at “T-Bones” in Rheem as a short order cook!
As a long time East Bay citizen, I remember Dean Lesher well. He was far too conservative for my liking, but I did like the Co Co Times (apart from the editorials). His lasting legacy is the Dean Lesher Theater in downtown Walnut Creek. I have enjoyed many performances at this little gem just down the road. Thanks for sharing the story of this other media mogul.
Deb, would Walnut Creek look like it does today without Dean Lesher? Maybe. But he helped accelerate that growth, for sure. He was a great philanthropist, but also legendarily cheap. I forgot to mention in this piece that I started my first reporting job at a salary of $650 a month!
Great story, Russ! I worked there from 1980 through 1998. I used to to eat lunch with Dean in the cafeteria almost everyday until he retired to his home. He told some of the best stories, that were actually the history of Contra Costa. These were the golden years of the newspaper life. I was glad I was in it. I feel fortunate to have worked with all those great people and Dean Lesher. Like you, Russ, it changed the trajectory of my life. Working nearly 20 years in journalism and the technology of the industry and going on to teaching and managing technology at the Graduate School of Journalism at Berkeley for another 20 years. Thanks Russ, for a trip down memory lane!
Thank you for this history, Russ and for making sense of it! I didn’t know you’d worked for the CC Times. Dean and his first wife Kathryn were our neighbors in Lafayette, when I was growing up. Thanks I am sure to my mom asking him, Dean gave me my first reporting opportunity, when I was 15. I covered a Republican Governor’s Association conference in Palm Springs in 1968, for the CC Times, my first commercially published article. Met R Reagan, R Nixon, G Ford, Walter Annenberg, etc. My mom later became friends with Margaret. When my father wanted to buy that house in Orinda, my mom said no - too expensive and too much upkeep - and told Margaret about it. She and Dean became the owners and moved in, to my mom’s relief!
Thanks for that Gloria! I didn’t know your roots were that deep in Lamorinda. And to think we both worked for Dean Lesher at one point, well that is some coincidence, or what we call in N. Carolina, a co-inky-dink!
A super look back at one of California’s movers and shakers. My grand aunt’s husband was circulation mgr for the SF Examiner and so I have newsprint in my blood. Which is why I flunked out of UK’s journalism school. It allowed me to come back to CA and become a legend on my own mind. I remember the paper well since I had family all over Walnut Creek and once even worked at “T-Bones” in Rheem as a short order cook!
They still talk about you at T-Bones
‘Cause I gave free fries!!!
As a long time East Bay citizen, I remember Dean Lesher well. He was far too conservative for my liking, but I did like the Co Co Times (apart from the editorials). His lasting legacy is the Dean Lesher Theater in downtown Walnut Creek. I have enjoyed many performances at this little gem just down the road. Thanks for sharing the story of this other media mogul.
Deb, would Walnut Creek look like it does today without Dean Lesher? Maybe. But he helped accelerate that growth, for sure. He was a great philanthropist, but also legendarily cheap. I forgot to mention in this piece that I started my first reporting job at a salary of $650 a month!
Interesting story! I was grandson Steve Lesher’s newspaper adviser in high school in Sacramento.
When I see Nancy's mug, I only think of one thing ( thanks to Kitty Kelley) It ain't " just say no"... heh heh heh heh heh