May 11, 2006 at 13:13:29

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Great Speckled Memories

By Jonathan Springston, Posted by Matthew Cardinale (about the submitter)     Page 2 of 6 page(s)

opednews.com     Permalink

In May 1972, an unknown assailant(s) firebombed The Bird office at 240 Westminster Drive in the middle of the night.

Most of the house was destroyed along with back issues of the paper and other artifacts. A police report was filed but no arrest was ever made in connection with the crime. Most Atlanta residents denounced the attack.

But like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, The Bird emerged from the fire and continued publishing without missing a beat. Benefit dinners were held and donations were made to help the paper recover.

A Volunteer and Freelance Staff

From 1968 through 1976, things went on this way. The work was hard, the pay was low, and the harassment constant. Staff members came and went, contributing what they could when they could. The Bird retained the sporadic services of various printers willing to print the paper.

Many staff members worked on and off for pay, depending on the financial situation. Those who were paid made between $40 and $60 per week, maybe less.

Bob Goodman and Krista Brewer took extra jobs to supplement their incomes. Goodman sold copies of The Atlanta Journal Constitution out of his Volkswagen Bug. Brewer worked as a waitress.

Ted Brodek earned a satisfying wage as a Professor at Emory University and was strictly a Bird volunteer.

One volunteer who asked for her name not to be used in this article was a volunteer who lived on 14th Street. Depending on the time period, this person worked as a college English teacher, a waitress, and sold The Bird on the street.

Howard Romaine worked on and off as a volunteer and was a staff member of the Southern Student Human Relations Project for a time.

Nan Orrock was a legal secretary for Maynard Jackson, who later became Atlanta's Mayor, and was an office manager at the ACLU's regional office.

The early days saw the paper produced at The Birdhouse, a 1920s era two-story house, on 187 14th Street in the heart of Midtown.

The Bird cost 15 cents (20 cents outside Atlanta) and came out bi-weekly. By the end of 1968, staffers produced the paper weekly. At its peak, The Bird produced 20,000 copies, 36 pages long with 2 and 3 color covers.

Vendors made a nickel for every copy they sold and later as much as 10 cents. Subscriptions proved a valuable revenue source throughout the life of The Bird as well.

There was no explicit leadership structure, though there might have been an unspoken, implied structure. Most decisions were made democratically.

The more psychedelic midtown that once in fact existed

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