Mae West: Albuquerque

Old-time newspaper men didn't live by the almighty press release when they wanted an interview with MAE WEST.
• • Ollie Reed, Jr. tells the story of veteran reporter George Baldwin, a Texas native, who started at The Albuquerque Tribune late in 1934 and worked at the paper — as reporter, city editor, managing editor, associate editor, and columnist — for more than 60 years. He died in 1997 at age 88.
• • In his first years at the paper, George Baldwin worked news beats all day, stopped at home for supper cooked by his wife, Ruth, and then covered University of New Mexico sports well into the evening. He didn't back off that work schedule until illness overtook him in his mid-1980s.
• • "He was at the paper at 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening," remembered Harry Moskos, who started at The Tribune in 1953. "I think that's where I got my work ethic."
• • George Baldwin began his days with breakfast at the Court Cafe, which was on Fourth Street, just north of Central Avenue. Then he walked to the old Alvarado Hotel near the Santa Fe Railway tracks to see if any movie stars or other notables were stopping in town on the trains that ran between Los Angeles and Chicago.
• • Once, in the late 1930s, he got a tip that movie star Mae West was on a train. Baldwin got on to look for her, and the train departed with him still aboard.
• • "Boy, that conductor was sore," Baldwin recalled in a 1996 interview. "You weren't supposed to stop a train in those days. They finally did stop it up by Menaul School and made me get off. I had to walk (about 2 1/2 miles) back to The Tribune offices." ...
— — excerpt — —
• • "The Times of The Tribune"
• • Byline: Ollie Reed Jr.
• • Published in: The Albuquerque Tribune
• • Published on: Thursday, 21 February 2008
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1932 • •
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Mae West.