Highlights ranged from
Apollo to Sophia Loren

Lawrence R. Gustin lays claim to the best line ever written by a Flint Journal reporter: �Then, Sophia Loren and I walked out into the sunlight.�

Lawrence R. Gustin 1977 photo Age: 63 Home: Flint Township and Lake Orion. Background: Assistant public relations director for Buick Division of General Motors. Flint Journal reporter and editor from 1960 to 1984. Education: Flint Central High School, Michigan State University. Personal: Married to Rose Mary, also a former Journal employee. Two sons. Memorable stories: Gustin covered the Apollo 11 moon shot in 1969 and the first title fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971. Also covered the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter.

The line appeared in a piece he wrote about the Cannes Film Festival, where his wife, Rose Mary, had a chance encounter with the screen star.

Gustin spent 24 years as a Journal reporter and editor, and during that time there were plenty of memorable stories.

In 1969, Gustin went to Florida to cover the Apollo 11 mission that put the first man on the moon.

�It was probably the most important news story of my lifetime,� said Gustin, 63, who is now assistant public relations director at Buick.

He recalls writing his story the night before the launch and struggling to convey the magnitude of the event. Still, he almost missed his deadline the next morning because he wanted to make sure the astronauts broke from orbit and headed for the moon.

His lead: �Three bold Americans were streaking through space today on a mission to fulfill man�s age-old dream to set foot on the moon.�

Gustin also covered the inauguration of former President Jimmy Carter and the Republican National Convention when Ronald Reagan was nominated for president.

When Charles Stewart Mott died early on a Sunday morning, Gustin � the Sunday editor � scrambled to get six pages of coverage on the philanthropist into that day�s paper.

A Flint native, Gustin came to the Journal as a sports writer in 1960. He moved into the newsroom after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

�It was so traumatic in my life, as it was to so many people at that time, that I thought news was so much more important,� he said. �I probably would have stayed in sports had it not been for something like that. I guess it widened my view of the world a little.�

Gustin edited the �Picture History of Flint,� published in 1976 for the U.S. bicentennial and The Journal�s centennial, and has written two books on the early days of General Motors. He left the Journal in 1984 for a communications job at Buick.

In 1999, Gustin received a distinguished service award from the Automotive Hall of Fame.

�One of the key things I learned as a journalist is probably the importance of The Flint Journal in covering or chronicling the early history of General Motors,� he said. �It may have been the only paper following this stuff along.�

� Ken Palmer