The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 7 good idea and it's such a small amount of money - $1,200.00 .... what if I went out and got signed invoices from all the people involved?" After several minutes of reflection Gerry replied that I could do that and that he thought the bank would go for 50% of the value of the invoices. At that moment, Speck brought out his Moore invoice book. "You tricked me!" Gerry exclaimed. "Right" I said, "but he lent me the money anyway and that is how I got started. I rented a typewriter and bought a gluepot and got some sheets and made up the first copy of the North Shore Shopper. It wasn't going to win any prizes but I got it out. A commercial distributor distributed it and I ran around to the advertisers and collected the money and I went back and paid the bank. I published once a month for almost the first year on a rotational basis - one month in West Vancouver then Capilano - Highlands then North Van, etc. The North Shore News didn' t make any money for seven years - lean times when I for a week on a jar of peanut butter. It was really touch and go for such a long time. The North Shore News actually changed the newspaper business in North America. It's very hard to sell subscriptions and it's painful to collect them. It's actually more efficient to put a paper at every door and rely on advertising to make the money because advertising produces 90% of the money anyway. I saw that at the beginning. It worked and it's still working. The North Shore News today has 140 employees and grosses about a million dollars a month. We publish out of Lonsdale and have a printing plant that we contract with in Langley .... and it's a very successful business. I sold it three years ago to the Southern Corporation who rolled it into a publishing company which is owned 67% by Southam and 33% by other shareholders, of which I am one. One thing that did happen after the sale of the North Shore News was that the Federal Government stepped in with some sort of interdiction or order as to whether or not it was okay for Southam to own the North Shore News and so for 2 1/2 years after the sale, I got spoiled. I had the money and I still had the newspaper .â€" but that's all changing now. The publishing company is quite an active company. They seem to enjoy my input and give me lots of latitude, but it's not the same as being self-employed - it really isn't. I don't like being an employee although I couldn't ask for a nicer employer" ....praise, indeed, coming from Peter Speck who tongue-in-cheek stated in his 'bio' "I've been self employed since I was 22 and I never worked for a nicer guy!" Right on, Peter. WEST BAY SCHOOL - 4QTH ANNIVERSARY A gracious invitation is extended to our members to attend an Open House at the West Bay Elementary School, 3175 Thompson Place (off Marine Drive at 31st - turn right on second street) on SATURDAY, MAY 1ST from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Refreshments will be served. The Historical Society will be providing the organizers of this event with several of our existing photographic display panels. Even so, we urgently need photos and class pictures pertinent to the school and/or the West Bay area in order to design new display material specifically suited to the occasion. Please bring your contributions to the Gertrude Lawson House as soon as possible.