STEVE SMITH -- What’s up

If ever you needed proof that timing is everything, the next week

would be it. Next week I will say goodbye to two people who have been

instrumental in the development of my life during the past eight years.

I first met Bill Lobdell in August 1998, when I won a contest for this

job. OK, it may not be the most elegant way to start writing for a

newspaper, but from day one Bill treated me as a colleague and made it

clear that this was serious business. Our first meeting was brief but to

the point. “There are two rules,” Bill said. “No anonymous sources, and

no more writing for the Register.” That I had to stop my contributions to

the Orange County Register was a given, but the anonymous source rule had

me scratching my head. It was only a few days later that I started to

understand why Bill told me that.

I was killing time in the checkout line at a supermarket, scanning the

pages of a tabloid newspaper that was reporting on either an invasion of

penguins from outer space or the man with two heads who was suing a

barber for charging him for two haircuts -- I can’t remember which. But I

do recall reading many versions of the phrase “sources tell us that . .

.” It seems the sources in that trash either did not want to be or could

not be identified, and it made terrible reading.

Along the way, Bill and I have disagreed about a few important local

issues, but the discussions were always civil. We stuck to the facts and

left out the emotion that drives so many people to take one side or the

other.

Bill is moving on to the Orange County edition of The Los Angeles

Times to write and edit the religion section. Bill’s tenure at the Pilot

has left us all better informed. And over the past two years, Bill’s

counsel has made me a better writer (if it doesn’t show, I take

responsibility for not taking his good advice).

Thanks, Bill, and best wishes at your new job.

Next week is also the week I say “adios” -- not goodbye -- to Dr.

Laura Schlessinger. For the past six months, I have been editing Dr.

Laura’s national magazine, the Perspective. With the help of her

intelligent and dedicated staff, we managed to post dramatic increases in

circulation, renewals and two-year subscriptions. One issue was so

popular, it sold out -- a first, I believe, in the magazine’s five-year

history.

Dr. Laura is on a very high pedestal in our home. It was her

inspiration that drove Cay and me to take Bean out of full-time day care

and limit Roy’s to about a month. That was eight years ago. Four years

ago, when I started to make the switch to full-time writer, she supported

my efforts by posting my book on her Web site.

But there is a side to Dr. Laura that you do not know, one that may

never make it in the newspapers or onto “20/20.” As a Daily Pilot reader,

however, I’m going to share this secret with you: Dr. Laura is gracious,

kind and very funny. Here’s another juicy tidbit: She is driven to

helping children. That passion is the motivation behind nearly everything

she does, and she walks the walk. I know because I have seen her in

action.

These are not the best of times for Dr. Laura. When you’re on top, you

become the easiest target to shoot at, and it does not matter that you

have spent your entire career successfully motivating people to reach

beyond their fears and do something with this precious gift of life they

have been given. Because of her, there are untold children spending much

more time with their parents and plenty of Steve Smiths who did a

180-degree turn on their lives and have so much to show for it. Instead,

writers, broadcasters and tiny, narrow-minded social groups prefer to use

her temporary setbacks for their own gain, whether it’s for readers,

ratings or publicity. They are cheap shots all, lacking in any depth or

imagination.

It works both ways. The same person many of them wrote and spoke about

not so long ago, the one who was giving America heck and gave them

something to talk about -- and praise -- is the same person they now use

for target practice. All of these people with the very short memories

should be ashamed of themselves.

My relationship as her editor is over; I have to leave because I am

working far too many hours and my family life is suffering. There is

irony in that. Yes, I’m leaving, but Dr. Laura knows that if she needs

me, I will be there for her.

When I gave her the news, she looked at me sternly and said, “I’m glad

you’re quitting.” Then she smiled and said, “Because you’re quitting for

the right reason.”

That’s the real Dr. Laura story.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

can leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.