Another lesson: Don’t be gullible. He sent me to cover this “crying Santo Niño” in Makati, who “grew teeth.” (Yes, such was “hard” news during martial law.) My lead, as I recall, was, “He was God, until he grew teeth.” (Eeww, I really wrote that?) Joe Luna asked me, “Did you actually see the Santo Niño grow teeth?” I was able to keep a modicum of intelligence to sense it was a rhetorical question and bit my tongue. Then he pro- ceeded, “Never present anything as fact, if it’s not. Don’t gush. Keep your distance.”
To my generation, learning was a simple process, a fixed, predetermined structure involving parents, teachers, the classroom, books and more books.
From then on, I knew that certain cynicism always helps, that figures of speech should be used sparingly, that…don’t try to be cute. Writing—if not a talent you’re born with—is craft learned through time, and journalism is a profession people can live on, live for, or even die for. Still another lesson: Do your homework. Writing about a painting exhibit, I compared the old woman artist to Grandma Moses. “Do you know who Grandma Moses was?” Joe Luna asked. Of course, I couldn’t bluff my way out of that corner, where literally my desk was. Then, with obvious irritation, he lectured me about Grandma Moses, making me understand why my comparison was false.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker