Collection of Columns

Book contains columns and observations published in various newspapers managed by Rick Rae during the course of his half-century career in the business.Book Review by Alice Queen of rockdalenewtoncitizen.comRick Rae loves his family and loves his cars.That much is clear from a reading of his second book, A Collection of Columns, a series of personal and observational essays the native of Canada whose newspaper management career spanned some 45 years has curated from a life well lived. I ve been writing columns here and there, mostly internet stuff, and a couple of folks noted that I ve been writing them a long time and they re right; I think I started back in 1974, said Rae, 84, from his home in Loganville where he lives with Penny, his wife of 62 years. Several people suggested I package the best of them and put them in book form. So I went ahead and did it. Many of the pieces in Rae s new book detail his automotive obsession (he bought the first of his 75 cars when he was 14 years old) and a number of vacations taken by his family. But the former publisher of the Rockdale Citizen, Newton Citizen and Gwinnett Daily Post also delves into a host of other subjects, including some inside baseball insights on the newspaper industry, his thoughts on music, and other significant (and not-so-significant) life moments.Published by Indiana-based AuthorHouse, A Collection of Columns is Rae s follow-up to his 2011 memoir Not Extinct Yet, in which he details his many decades in newspapers. Rae said he worried that the subject matter of some of the columns might seem a bit antiquated, but he moved ahead with the project. Unfortunately, I ve been at this so long that some of the columns are rather dated, he said. I love writing about personal experiences, and the more I can get down on paper, the better I ll like it, although I m getting kind of old, I guess, for personal experiences. Two chapters particularly amusing to Rae were written in recent years for a Canadian publication for which he once worked. One concerns teaming up with a co-worker who was a successful pool shark and the other involved meeting a young singer who became one of country music s most beloved stars. I wrote two recollection columns for a former employer in Canada; they were about getting in a pool tournament and making more money than I had selling newspaper ads and also my meeting with Harold Jenkins, who would later change his name to Conway Twitty, he said. I love to do that kind of stuff I ve got a few of those in my background. The book s final chapter was a column published in the Rockdale Citizen (which by then had a companion paper in Newton County) and the Gwinnett Daily Post on June 28, 2006, the day he retired.When asked if he had plans for any more books, Rae said he s got something on the back burner that he might want to release. One of my buddies in Canada who I grew up with is an author and makes a lot of money ghostwriting for Canadian politicians it seems like everybody in Canada wants to have a book out, he said. He suggested that I combine my love of cars and my love of music and do some kind of book about cars and songs. I ve been thinking that might be a way to go. It s been in the back of my mind. One story that may well wind up in another book takes place during the time Rae managed a newspaper in the suburbs of Detroit and saw an up-and-coming performer that left an impression that remains today. I ve never written about my times with Bob Seger when I worked in Pontiac, Mich., he said. When I worked there, every Friday we d go across the road to a bowling alley that had a lounge and the guy playing there was Bob Seger We d listen to him until they shut the bar down at 2 in the morning the whole newspaper used to come over and hear him perform.