Jack The Scribbler

Martha Gellhorn with her third husband, Ernest Hemingway during their honeymoon in Hawaii in 1940 (New York Times)

“A writer publishes to be read; then hopes the readers are affected by the words, hopes that their opinions are changed or strengthened or enlarged, or that readers are pushed to notice something that had not stopped to notice before. All my reporting life, I have thrown small pebbles into a very large pond, and have no way of knowing whether any pebble caused the slightest ripple. I don’t need to worry about that. My responsibility was the effort.”

— From Introduction to The Granta Book of Reportage written by Ian Jack, quoting Martha Gellhorn, novelist, travel writer, and journalist who has a journalism award named after her

Picture from an eBay.ph seller

“In the beginning there was a marked reluctance among witnesses to come out and contradict the military theory [that Rolando Galman shot Marcos opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr.]. In fact, people like Butz Aquino [Aquino's brother] openly stated that he had eleven witnesses to the assassination, although admittedly he only spoke with two; he refused to allow any of these witnesses to testify. As Butz Aquino reasoned out, these witnesses feared for their lives and the [Fact-Finding Board] did not have the power to protect them, moreover, he did not recognize the legality of the Board nor did he have any faith in its ability to arrive at a fair decision. Personally, I did not give credence to his story. It made front-page news, but as far as I was concerned it was patently a political decision. He had nothing to gain by presenting these witnesses if they really existed. On the witness stand they could have easily failed to test or they could have been exposed as keeping skeletons in their closet; skeletons totally unrelated to whatever they imagined they have witnessed. Butz Aquino had come out with a definite theory as to how his brother was assassinated. This earned him some publicity without exposing his witnesses to the risk or probably likelihood of being discredited. If the Board’s decision went his way he could say, “I told you so.” Either way, he was a winner. From a non-political standpoint, there was no justification for his stance, which so exasperated me that, for solace, I bought myself a new set of golf clubs.”

1. ‘There was no metal left’ (bank employee, Venice, 1977).

2. ‘In Japan and Singapore, they made buttons out of our fifty-lira pieces, and that’s why the coins disappeared’ (theater critic, Rome, 1983).

3. ‘It’s the trade unions’ fault. They’ve ruined the whole country with their demands. That’s why the mint doesn’t work either’ (taxi driver, Milan, 1976).

4. ‘The foreigners who came for Holy Year took away our small change as souvenirs’ (the finance minister of the Italian Republic, 1975).

5. ‘It’s a conspiracy by the banks, which are making a huge profit at the expense of the little man’ (Communist trade unionist, 1977).

6. ‘Coins cost too much, and Parliament didn’t want to pay’ (assistant in shoe shop, Como, 1983).

7. ‘The 100-lira pieces were taken to Switzerland in huge trucks, and the companies there made watchcases out of them’ (La Stampa, 1976).

8. ‘The coins are just stuck in the vending machines, which aren’t emptied often enough’ (waiter, Naples, 1976).

9. ‘In the mind’s present facility it is impossible either to increase production adequately or to guarantee minimum conditions for the health and safety of the work-force’ (Senate Committee for Finance and Treasury Affairs, 1976).

10. ‘What do you expect? That’s just how we are…Siamo negati per queste cose (We’re hopeless at things like that). You can’t do anything about it. It’s all a mess, un paese di merda (a shitty country)…All these politicians and civil servants from the south. Actually, it was a mistake to throw out the Austrians.’ (vox populi, 1975 to 1983).

– From The Extravagance of the Italians written by Hans Magnus Enzenberger published in Granta 26, Travel issue, explaining the shortage of coins which forced residents and tourists alike to use caramel candy and chewing gum to pay for small items such as stamps and coffee. The coin shortage also prompted an Italian company to develop the world’s first prepaid phone card in 1976, a year after the shortage was reportedly solved. Better late than never. [See: Prepaid phone calling cards Italy].