THE BEACHHEAD and Moe - 35 years of the Free Venice Beachhead
By Moe
Stavnezer
I wasn’t there at the
birth, but I fell in love with the baby, spittle, poops and all. As befits a
doting, now turning senile, grandfather, I can’t remember the first time I
saw the tyke though I admired its spunkiness, its zaniness and most of all the
honesty in its eyes. Oh yes, its eyes. Because it was the eyes of Venice,
intense, glinty, often bloodshot but true and warm and caring.
That’s how I began my tribute to the
Beachhead in the 1988 20th Anniversary issue of the Beachhead. In it are
articles by John Haag, Carol Fondiller, Rick Davidson, Patrick McCartney,
memphis slim, Alice Cramden, Diane Nickerson, Geriatric Jack, Lynne Bronstein
and me. Even then, the Beachhead was the oldest continuously published free
community newspaper in the country and it was an honor to write for the rag. And
it was, quite often, a rag but kinda like that favorite rag that you use all the
time and would never throw away.
I
wrote articles for the paper for almost 15 years and was a member of the
collective for five. I have a collection of Beachheads that includes issues
printed before and after that time. They are, aside from the people I met during
those years, many of whom remain good friends, my most tangible connection to a
community that changed my life.
The
Beachhead was born in an age before computers, even before correcting
typewriters. The first articles I typed were on a manual typewriter that I
bought at a pawn shop and they looked like it. The paper sported as many
typefaces as there were people who could type. My greatest personal challenge
was typing Carol Fondiller’s wonderfully creative prose. Carol could, and
still can, write but she couldn’t write if you know what I mean.
The headlines, ah the headlines, were
done with press-on type and never looked the same from one article to another.
Lots of creative juices went into the headlines. After reading the articles we
would sit around in various altered states of consciousness and come up with
brilliant, witty and often downright silly headlines. I can still hear
Arnie’s distinctive laugh when we came up with one that was absolutely
over the top. We often got more comments about the headlines than the articles
they headed.
If this all sounds silly,
let me tell you that none of us ever thought that the Beachhead was silly. It
was our voice and that was a very serious matter. No matter that our voices were
not always the same, they were voices that could not possibly be heard anywhere
else. The paper was filled with various viewpoints about issues ranging from the
war in Viet Nam to Prop 13 to community planning and development to the latest
book on the community. Nothing was too large or too small. Hey, if you wanted to
have your say about the latest city plan for the community or the graffiti at
the now destroyed pavilion, this was the place to do it. And many, many people
did just that and, amazingly, are still doing it.
That the Beachhead is still a vital
part of the Venice community is just a little short of a miracle. Yes it’s
now available online (there was no online in 1988), it’s neater and more
colorful but it still has a voice, loud and clear, that can’t be found
anywhere else. 15 years ago I ended my article with a statement that still
stands:
“The Beachhead is the only
place I’ve found where I, and so many others, can tell it just like we
think it is and why. Hundreds of people have, and still, contribute to this
paper, thousands read and support it because there simply is no other place to
get the information and ideas it
offers.”
If you read and value
the Beachhead, I urge you to support the paper with some of your hard earned
money. This may be a free paper but it costs money to print it and you can help.
No contribution is too small or too
large.
Long live the
Beachhead!!
Posted: Mon - December
1, 2003 at 03:33 PM