The "From The Beginning" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was cleaning off my desk and realized I still hadn't finished my story about the other publication that C. Nat Netscher had written. The BIG publication. I recently published "The First 100 Years" which is a story by Nat of the Manheim Township school system. While helping him with this job he asked if I could help him with his new venture, a history of the entire Township. He told me he had been researching it for a few years and wanted to try the smaller publication first to see how it went. Since his first publication was such a hit, he decided it was time for his second history book. "Would you be able to layout, type the copy, and add the photos as you did for the last book? You'll get paid for this venture, much unlike the last book," he told me. "OK," was all I could say. I proceeded to get prices from a few publishers and printing companies and found that Jostens Yearbook Company in State College, PA was the best choice for Nat and his story. I had worked with the company for over 30 years while the yearbook adviser for the high school and middle school yearbooks and knew they would produce a great book at a fair price. The township formed a book committee which had a grant to help pay some of the pre-publication costs. Namely my fees!! Pre-sale of the book was fabulous. People had seen Nat's first book and knew this would be a winner also. The final work is an 8 1/2" x 11" "Coffee table book" that is almost an inch thick. Plenty of history packed into the pages. The book features 14 chapters which include: a run through history, land, government, transportation, education, religion, businesses, sports and recreation, people, dwellings, health and safety, neighborhoods, good times, and bad times. We decided on having the pages as 2 column with a tool line in the middle for easy reading. Type was 12 point Times Roman with captions in 10 point. Almost every page has a photo on it, some have numerous photos. The timeline started in 1917 and carried through to publication date of 2003. The book is more than a history book, with personal stories from many, many contributors. I contributed my two cents to a few stories as well as a few photos. I actually read every single word in the book. Matter of fact, I typed every single word in the book as well as the numbers and the many sizes of tool lines on the pages and around the photos. And .... it was fun working with Nat. Never saw him without a smile on his face. He was living and writing his dream. The final result was a total success. Sold out and went to a second printing. I have used my autographed copy many times over the last 7 years. Only thing I never found out during my time working with Nat was ..... what the "C" stands for in C. Nat Netscher. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.