(On May 17, 2007, Maui Time founders Mark D’Antonio and Tommy Russo got together with Associate Editor Samantha Campos to talk over old times in anticipation of the paper’s upcoming 10th anniversary. Here’s a selection of their conversation dealing with the paper’s early days. You can listen to the entire conversation at www.mauitime.com.)
TOMMY RUSSO: We had a shack on Front Street—oh my God, the gardener…
MARK D’ANTONIO: We were so fortunate, there were so many things that fell into place. We actually didn’t have a place to live or work.
RUSSO: We couch-surfed for the first week, 10 days?
D’ANTONIO: When we got here we had everything, but a place to live and work. But we were so, again, blind to the fact—no one was going to tell us “you’re not going to make it”—it was, it’s going to happen. And with that kind of intention, within a week we not only had a place to live and work, but we were on the beach at Shark Pit.
RUSSO: We had a shack on the beach that was—I mean, it was a shack—but it was…
D’ANTONIO: But I would kill to be back in that shack… It was a great shack. And it was a great spot to be in. So, it was one of those fortunate moments where Maui really did take care of us. Whereas, it has spit a lot of people out—the numbers don’t argue with that.
RUSSO: Every step of the way we were welcomed. Every lucky break we could catch we did…
D’ANTONIO: It was more than a job, it was more than a career. It was a life because we lived in the office, we worked together, we hung out. We would do the editorial, like the Word on the Street, we would just walk out of the office and walk down the street, so we pretty much lived the paper. It was always, “it’s Maui Time Mark and Tommy.” We were always doing something for the paper—Mark’s trying to write something and Tommy’s selling ads, we’re taking pictures with a little digital camera that was horrible…
[But] being on the ocean, it’s kind of easier to live and work in the office, because your coffee break is in the water. MTW
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