Reporter’s Daughter ‘Makes the Magic’

“I get to stay at my mom’s work, instead of going to school tomorrow,” said my friend, Jennifer Thompson. “Why?” I asked her. “Because tomorrow is National Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” she answered.

So the next day I left with my dad, Daryl Kelley, for the newsroom of the Los Angeles Times. Before we arrived at The Times, we had to stop at my school, Balboa. There my dad had to go into the office to get the papers that we were required to fill out if I wanted to go to work with him.

When my dad and I arrived at the newsroom about 8:30 a.m., we found that only one other person was there. Her name is Desiree Dreeuws, and she was filing all the papers of the county in their proper stacks to keep the reporters well informed on the happenings around the county. And also so they had a sense of what they are up against.

Throughout the day, my dad had been reminding me of how important it is to be neat and organized. So I was kind of shocked when I saw his desk. It was covered with papers and junk! I wasn’t sure how to react, but I couldn’t help but smile.

More people came into the office, including Joanna Miller, Fred Alvarez, Peggy Lee, Larry Bessel, Alan Hagman and Bill Overend. Soon the newsroom was full of exciting chatter, phone interviews in progress, pictures being developed and stories being assigned.

Larry took some pictures of my dad and I, and then showed me how he does the developing, enlarging and perfecting of the photographs.

I’d been to the newsroom before, but this time was different. Instead of sitting around trying to bide time watching other people do the things I dreamed about, I was in the seat doing the writing, making the magic and having the best time of my life doing it.

For the first time in my life, not like when I was 5 and wanted to be like my Daddy, I was sure this was why I was here, to make the magic, to have my name in print.

At 11:30, while my dad was doing a story about the safety level of the cities in Ventura County, Bill asked me to join himself, Fred, Joanna and some others for the 11:30 meeting.

During the meeting, we went over the different stories and decided which stories to do and which not to do. I was really excited to see my brief on the list of stories to be published the next day.

After the meeting, my dad took me out to lunch. As we were leaving, Mack Reed asked me if I wanted to work with a deadline. I told him that I would, and he asked me if I could do an interview with the daughter of a homicide detective who went to work with her father.

I was excited at that opportunity. But while I was eating my lunch, I realized that I couldn’t do the interview because I would be in the middle of a volleyball match!

When we got back to the newsroom, my dad told Mack Reed that I wouldn’t be able to do the interview and Bill gave me this assignment.

I think the Take Your Daughter to Work Day was a great idea and I’ve really had a lot of fun because of it!

Jennifer Kelley, 12, is the daughter of staff writer Daryl Kelley.