Chief of Radio—TV Station Here
Also Doubles As Writer-Journalist
By Miriam J. Angell
Chief Journalist Fred Grant
Harden, Ohiefin-Charge of the
Navy’s radio and television station
on Kodiak, greeted us on interview
day recently with the request that
we let him write his story rather
than try to tell it,because, ‘I’m
much more accustomed to banging
out things on the typewriter than I
am to talking about myself to
others.” We gladly agreed to take
a vacation and let him do the work;
we’ve edited a bit, to fit the ma
terial into our space, but other
wise the story is his.
“With my Navy career coming
close to twenty years and retire
ment,” Chief Harden began, “I am
beginning to wonder what to do
with mysef when the door closes
on active duty. It’s been such a
busy nineteen years.” The Navy
journalist has spent all his avail
able free time writing fiction and
articles for national magazines
ever since the day in 1940 when he
received his first rejection slip,
from Redbook Magazine. “It was a
typical first story, full of impos
sible situations with an O. Henry
ending, but the day I got that
little pink rejection slip was a
proud day in my life. I’d wanted
for a long time to be a writer and
I ran around with that notice in my
pocket for weeks, jumping at every
chance to flash it around to show
people I was an honest to good
ness writer. In 1941 I deserted
high school in my junior year for
the call of the sea and far away
places. After boot camp the Navy
put me to work editing the station
paper on Treasure Island, all the
while training me for Convoy Gun
Crews, later called the Armed
Guard. Although I’ve done per
sonal penance all these years for
not finishing high school, that fol
lowing year and a half in the Arm
ed Guard was an education in it
self. Aboard the merchant ships
we protected, we visited ports
that the Fleet, as a rule, never
sees. We docked in Hawaii, the
Aleutians, Samoa, Panama, South
Africa, Iran, India, Brazil, Trini
dad, and Australia. For one with
ambitions to become another
Steinbeck or Hemingway, it was a
time packed with adventure and
romance." The chief’s subsequent
duties more often than not gave
him opportunites to ply his craft:
editor of Navy newspapers, on the
staff of All Hands Magazine, and
duty with a number of Navy
Public Information Staffs in San
Francisco, Key West, San Diego
and Yokosuka, Japan.
The Kodiak-based sailor has
made some progress, writing-wise,
since his first spurned offering
back in 1940. He has had articles
and fiction published in Ameri
can Magazine, This Week Maga
zine, Pic, Coronet, Popular Me
Pacific Northern Airlines
29th year of serving Alaska
BEST TO
SEATTLE-TACOMA
PNA C
You can pay more, but you oan't fly
better . . . PNA’s pressurized and
exclusively luxurious Constellation
service is the preferred choice of
more Alaska travelers . . . Always
two abreast seating...
plus famous PNA cabin
hospitality to make every minute
of your flight enjoyable. FLY PNA—
THE LINE THAT KNOWS ALASKA
BEST Cal! 4131
FOR PNA RESERVATIONS
Chief Fred Grant Harden
Staff photo
chanics and a score of magazines
whose titles he refuses to name
for what he calls ‘professional
reasons.’ The latter group includes
some classified as modern-day
pulps, or magazines that pay little
for material, and then only on
publication, “if you’re patient
enough and persistant enough.”
“I’ve written so many ‘fact
pieces’ for the pulps that were such
pure fiction, and under such an
assortment of nom de plumes, that
I would have a hard time identify
ing some of these bits I wrote just
a couple years ago. In my fact fic
tion I have wrestled orangutans in
Borneo, hunted sunken treasure in
the Florida Keys, and climbed up
and down the Valley of the 10,
000 Smokes for an Alaskan Abom
inable snowman. The going price
for most of this type of male ad
venture stuff is two cents a word,
but most of it can be cranked out
in a night’s session at the type
writer, once you learn the gift of
giving them what they want.
“A nom de plume is essential for
a writer who cuts it now and then
for the ‘slicks’ as I have been for
tunate to do a few times. The
‘legit’ magazines, like Coronet and
the Post, who pay good money for
the material they buy, object to
having the names of their writes
appearing in the pulps.
“However, the would-be writer
who sneers at the pulps and re
fuses to consider any market but
one of the qualify of the New
Yorker is living in a vacuum of
vainess which can cost him a good
deal of constructive writing time.
There’s only one way to be a writ
er, and that is to write. Five hun
dred words a day, good or bad,
developes the dicipline that makes
professionals out of procrastina
tors. On this subject I speak with
some knowledge; about twelve
years ago I sold a small article to
one of the obscure technical mili
tary magazines. The check was as
small as the article, averaging out
to about half a cent a word. I
showed it to a good friend of mine,
a Navy Commander who was sell
ing to outfits like the Post, and I
mumbled something about it be
ing a lousy market, but a check
was a check.
Well, CDR Bosworth sat back in
his swivel chair and pulled on his
pipe. Finally he spoke, ‘Fred, don’t
ever knock a market you’ve sold
to. Anything you write and sell is
a lot better than not writing at
all, or writing something and not
selling it. I began selling my first
stories to Breezy Westerns and
I’ve never been ashamed of it.’
And this came from a man who
was commanding a thousand dol
lars a piece for 1600 word short
stories in This Week Magazine,
and who was then rated as one of
the top ten writers of Western
novels. (Just recently, Harpers
published his book, "The Lovely
World of Richi-san).”
Chief Harden is putting the
finishing touches on a novel, en
titled ‘Heard the Eagle Scream’,
100,000 words that he hopes to
scale down to 80,000 before he
sends them on to his agent.
“An agent is a necessity once
you begin to sell regularly to the
so-called slicks. The agent’s ten
percent cut of the pie is worth
every bit of it; he frees you of the
time consuming task of sending
yourself out to market, and in
most cases, he can obtain a higher
price for a story or article than
can the writer who deals directly
with an editor.”
Chief Harden transferred here
as Chief-in - Charge of AFRTS
Kodiak in September 1959. He has
direct supervision over the station
and its personnel and takes a great
interest in trying to improve the
program material. Currently a
course of instruction in television
and radio techniques is being
taught at the studio and he is as
sisting in the course with an aim
for more and better live programs.
“This assignment has kept me
hopping but radio and television
were aspects of my journalist rat
ing that lacked practical experi
ence, therefore the work is more
pleasure than pain. As much as I
enjoy the work and value the ex
perience I am acquiring, managing
a small station like ours can be a
headache at times.
“Contrary to what it may seem at
times to the TV viewing audience,
we at AFRTS are really trying to
do the best we can. Considering
the small number of bodies we
•have with which to operate, and
our budget limitations, I think in
all modesty we are doing a whale
of a job. But then I’m prejudiced.”
The Chief discussed the poten
tials for the beginner as well as the
professional writer in Alaska. He
was enthusiastic about the great
source of material available here.
“It’s a fabulous place, rich in un
tapped story material: like most
of Alaska’s natural resources, it
has hardly been touched. A world
outside is vitually waiting for an
Alaskan Thomas Wolfe or Pearl
Buck to make their debut. Alaska
had Robert Service and Jack Lon
(Continued on Page 11)
r5 LOOK WHAT'S BREWIN’
“Jungle Jump”
Suggested Costume: Come dressed
as Tramps
ELK’S CLUB
Saturday, October 29
Dance to Live Music from 9:30 p.m. until 1 a.m.
That isn’t all!
A $2 TICKET INCLUDES FRIED CHICKEN, BISCUITS AND BAKED BEANS
CO-SPONSORED BY
Emblem Club —Anna Mueller
Elks Club —Jim Bennett
JUDY MERRIL-Song bird of the North
Halloween Hl-Jinks for Elks, their ladies, Emblem Club members and guests