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I LANSTON TYPE COMPANY I GERALD GIAMPA I
¶ GERALD GIAMPA was a newspaper magnate at age nine. His first publications were printed by an office gelatin pad. Printing by gelatin pad is a process only a few will remember. Later it was mimeographed.
On the evening of this photo op' Giampa had just finished his first exclusive interview with the then Prime Minister of Canada, John Diefenbaker.
The Monthly Smog was Giampa's first serious publishing endeavour. His other passion was painting pictures. He chose printing to be his art form which turned out to be a perfect mixture enabling him to exercise his artistic and publishing interests.
When news was slim pickings he would sometimes invent them. Once he let loose his two pet alligators in the creek which caused a lot of local commotion.
Giampa says: 'Alligators are really boring, all they do is lie around getting all dried up and shrivelled. The only way you can get them doing anything is to starve them. Then they turn into snapping dentures with tails, and don't get fooled by their short legs.'
Giampa had acquired some letterpress knowledge by hanging around Mountain Press which was his neighbourhood print shop. Nick Schwabe, the owner, re-located so Giampa sought out the best typographer he could find.
That turned out to be non other than the legendary Wil Hudson. Hudson was a consummate craftsman busy building hand set books at the top of Lonsdale, North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Giampa continued publishing The Monthly Smog and ran a Pirate Radio Station. The Radio Station was promptly closed down by the Department of Transport.
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¶ NEWSPAPER MAGNATE, GERALD GIAMPA is the young man on the left, John Diefenbaker the man standing in the middle. This photo is taken in the Vancouver Hotel after Diefenbaker gave Giampa an exclusive interview. Giampa was the editor, printer and publisher of the 'Monthly Smog'.