Bulletin

One morning in the fall of 1972, Gene Roberts shambled up to the twin revolving doors at 400 N. Broad St. to begin his first day as executive editor of The Inquirer. As he pushed through one door, the photo editor - who had just quit - was walking out the other. " 'You've just made the dumbest mistake of your life,' " Roberts recalls him saying. " 'Welcome to The Inquirer!' " With that, Roberts - more certain than ever that he had come to the right place at the right time - took the elevator to the fifth floor and began what would become a legendary 18-year reign.

In the early 1950s, the hunt for communists disrupted careers not only in Hollywood and New York City. In Philadelphia, it forced two dozen teachers out of the public school system. Isadore Reivich had taught social studies at West Philadelphia High School for seven years when he was suspended in 1953 and fired in 1954 after an inquiry about "communist activities. " His daughter, Susana Silva, said last week that it took 15 years for Reivich to be reinstated. On Wednesday, Mr. Reivich, 88, died of renal failure at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Gaetano "Tommy" LaFauci, 79, of South Philadelphia, a retired newspaper mailer, union president and city employee, died of heart failure Saturday at home. From 1994 until retiring in 2000, Mr. LaFauci was president and business agent of Mailers Union Local 1414. He had previously held various offices in the union, which represents the workers who prepare newspapers for delivery at area presses including those of The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and the Camden Courier-Post.

When the Philadelphia Bulletin went out of business on Jan. 29, 1982, publisher N.S. "Buddy" Hayden memorably remarked, "Dinosaurs don't live here anymore. " By that, he meant afternoon newspapers - not the 1,743 employees who went down with the ship. T-Rex and triceratops were nowhere in sight yesterday when 40 still-very-extant veterans of the old Bulletin newsroom gathered over lunch to reminisce about a day when the nation's fourth-largest city (it was, then) had four brawling major dailies - only two of which were destined to survive.

IT WOULD BE the final issue of a newspaper that had been a Philadelphia tradition for almost 135 years. Instead of the usual series of editions all day long, the newspaper would "lift" only once, just to correct or update wherever needed. The day before, I was one of the editors preparing that final edition of the Bulletin. Across the top of Page 1 was what we called a hammer head: Goodby, in big black letters, followed, in somewhat smaller type, by After 134 years, a Philadelphia voice is silent.

May 14, 2006 DEAR WILSON: Congratulations on receiving your First Holy Communion today. It brought a tear to my eye to stand with you as you accepted the sacrament, and it was obvious to your mother and me that you have taken your religious education very seriously. I saved a copy of the church bulletin distributed at Mass today as a keepsake, and I'm writing this letter in the hope that you'll keep it attached to the bulletin as an explanation. You see, my name appears in an insert to the bulletin distributed throughout the archdiocese on the day you received communion, and not in a favorable light.

TO LISTEN TO Bob Vetrone, even for just a minute, was to have your spirits instantly lifted. To listen to him for a lengthy period was to know your face would hurt from smiling and laughing so much, and that you would desperately try to remember his one-liners and stories so you could pass them on to someone else. Vetrone performed high-quality work for newspapers and in television and radio, as well as for pro and college teams. He also worked the room like nobody's business.

ONE YEAR BECAME 2, 2 became 5, 5 became 10 and . . . Holy Long-Distance Trey! I have now covered city high school basketball for 30 seasons, two at the long-gone Bulletin and 28 at the good, ol' Daily News. Time for one of those every-so-often lists to fill the postseason void. Which players were the best in the Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac Leagues over the last 30 seasons? And overall? Check the lists for one man's answers. As always when doing such projects, and while acknowledging that such discipline is difficult to achieve, I have tried to make decisions strictly based on what players accomplished in high school.

The newsboy cry of "Get your Evening Bulletin!" took on new meaning yesterday as a 25-cent daily newspaper with an old name hit the streets of Philadelphia for the first time. At 3:50 p.m., a yellow truck unloaded bundles of the first edition of the new Evening Bulletin at 15th and Market Streets. John Bawden, 76, a retired insurance executive, was ready with his quarter: "Been a long time since I bought a Bulletin. Bought it because it's a first edition and it's an old name.

A daily newspaper named for the former Evening Bulletin plans to hit the streets with its first issue Monday. The paper said in a news release that the afternoon publication, providing local, national and world news, would be out at 3 p.m. each day, Monday through Friday. On Friday, it will be called Weekend Edition and will carry expanded news and feature stories. Priced at 25 cents, the paper will be available in Philadelphia and its suburbs "at retail locations, vending boxes and transit points" and, the statement said, "the old-fashioned way - by newsboys on street corners.