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Sally Hogarty Photo Sora O'Doherty
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After nearly 30 years of working for the Orinda Association, first as associate editor and for the past 22 years as editor, Sally Hogarty is retiring from The Orinda News to pursue other interests in her life.
No sooner did she step down, than she won an audition for a television commercial for Bellus Health, which will soon be available on the internet. She was flown to New York City, where the commercial was filmed, but barely had time in her busy schedule to enjoy the Big Apple because she had to be back in California to star in a production of "I'm Herbert" at the Martinez Campbell Theater. Hogarty is excited about having more time for her theatrical pursuits.
She started as an associate editor at The Orinda News in 1993 and was promoted to editor in 2000. She worked continuously at the paper until the end of 2022. Hogarty discussed the history of the newspaper, which was started before World War II but was published sporadically. Ann O'Connell-Nye started it up again in 1985, which was the year that Orinda was incorporated as a city, and the paper has been published continuous?since then.
During Hogarty's time at the paper, she says there were two stories that stood out: the development of the Gateway Valley, now Wilder, and the murders of restaurateur Maria Elena Corrieo, 68, and her daughter Gina Roberts, 51 in 1995. "It was very unusual to have an execution-style murder in Orinda, especially right on Moraga Way, Hogarty recalls. "It was very upsetting for everyone. I had never covered a murder before and learned a lot about accessing police reports and court documents. I also got to know the family and was happy for them when the perpetrators were finally apprehended."
She wrote about Gateway every issue for years as developers changed and lawsuits dragged on. She knew there were strong feelings pro and con from local residents. The City Council meetings were often packed and they went on until 1 a.m. Hogarty acknowledges that it was a very important story for the community.
But it wasn't all grizzly murders and late night meetings. Hogarty says that "one of the most fun things she covered was the Lamorinda Independent Film Festival. She enjoyed spending time with the various Hollywood celebrities. "I learned all sorts of behind-the-scene info from Tippi Hedren about the filming of 'The Birds' and Hitchcock's unorthodox methods of dealing with actors."
Working for The Orinda News has been more than full time for Hogarty. She explained, "When I first started, the editor basically did everything except sell the advertising. You not only wrote stories and assigned writers, but you also pasted up the ads and the story galleys for the typesetter who then made them look good. We did have an editorial committee, but technology was still developing so I'd take a copy of the draft paper to one editor's home and when they were done, I'd pick it up and take it to the next home. Very time consuming. Sometimes we'd fax things back and forth but not everyone had a fax machine. When the typesetter had the final graphic file, it was too large to send via the computer so I'd have to drive it to our printer in Hayward." Nowadays, no one has to drive to Hayward, as the large graphic files of the layout are sent electronically.
Hogarty admits that "it's hard to tell how many hours I spent a month on the newspaper. Definitely a lot more than I was paid for. Up until 5 years ago, I would guess I spent 80-100 hours a month depending upon the size of the paper and how many stories I wrote. With a small paper, if a story comes up at the last minute or a writer doesn't turn his/her story in, the editor has to pick up the slack." She is gratified, however, that the newspaper has a very dedicated local staff that works more for the love of the paper and their community than for the money.
A little over three years ago, Hogarty split her job and hired someone else to deal with the writers and editing while she dealt primarily with the finances, ads, layout and some writing. The new executive editor of the paper is Kathy Cordova. The Orinda News is sent by mail to very residence in Orinda and can be found online at https://theorindanews.com
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA