By Tim Van Schmidt

It was twenty years ago today…more or less. That’s when I published my first article in the Fort Collins press- way back in March 1988. The article was an overview of hardcore punk and the newspaper was the first issue of The Mason Street Oracle, a rowdy independent publication founded by maverick CSU students.

At that time, Fort Collins was still the Wild West in terms of publishing. There was a daily- The Coloradoan- and a weekly- The Triangle Review- and then the Oracle. I had been publishing my own stuff punk style in photocopied leaflets and pamphlets, but being in an upstart newspaper was a thrill and became a regular thing. As did writing for a number of publications in the area, including The Coloradoan’s “Ticket” section. When The Oracle cracked up, I co-founded Scene Magazine- and was editor for two years- then Beat News and Music, which lasted some four years.

Speaking of music, since writing about punk shows in my zine releases more than two decades ago, I had developed a healthy respect for musicians in general, whether a local talent or an international star- no matter what genre. And that’s how I tried to conduct business in some two thousand articles as a music writer- treating them all the same. But more, I wanted to join the supportive local music scene and released my first tape of original music in 1993 and a CD, featuring my favorite area guest artists, in 1996. Loving local music also lead to working with public radio activists to create the Northern Colorado MusicFest, which showcased literally hundreds of Colorado musicians over several years, and helped get KRFC on the air. Without question the local music scene has been a huge inspiration for me throughout my entire twenty year career.

For the past 10 years, I have found a comfortable print home with The Fort Collins Forum- certainly a way different style independent newspaper than the Oracle was. But independent, nonetheless. In 2007, I helped the Forum establish their Web site- www.fortcollinsforumonline.com- and became intimately familiar with the contents of the Forum’s print issue. What’s there is news and views from across our community- from personal editorials to the latest from city, county, hospital and school district officials- and a diversity of local writing from humor and history to arts and entertainment. That’s where I come in and thanks to the Forum I have been able to photograph rock and roll superstars, presidents and spiritual leaders. Yeah, it’s fun. And best of all, it gets to everybody possible- The Forum is still the region’s largest circulation newspaper.

And I’m still publishing my stuff myself. Only now, I don’t hand out photocopies, I have a couple of Web sites, including www.tvsandtwofingers.com, which I maintain for the group I have been performing with for more than 11 years- TVS and two fingers. But my other very satisfying Web project is my live music site, www.kingkoncert.com. Having an active Web site is a writer and photographer’s dream. People from all over the world are checking out my stuff at all times of day and night- and I’m at the controls. It most certainly is a Brave New World since I began publishing in Fort Collins in 1988- and I like it!