Ralph Nichols Ralph Nichols started picking up the newspaper as soon as he learned to read.
His favorite section as a child was the classified ads. When he was 7, he came across an ad in the Los Angeles Times for a free lion.
“I wanted that lion so bad,” says Nichols. “I drove my mother nuts for weeks begging for that free lion.”
When he was 12 he took a paper route delivering the Times.
“If you’ve ever seen the Sunday edition of the Times you know it’s huge,” says Nichols. “I could only fit about six in my bike basket and another six on my back. I had to make lots and lots of trips to get the Sunday paper delivered.”
Nichols says his mom used to shake her head and ask him if it was worth it.
“I remember telling her right then and there, ‘I’m just a paper boy now Mom, but I’m going to write for them some day,’” says Nichols.
The L.A. Times was a part of his daily routine by the time he was 13 and he saw a story for a cattle call for a movie on Tom Sawyer.
Once again he begged his mom to take him in for the audition and this time it worked. He made callback after callback until he was one of five finalists to play Huck Finn.
“I wanted to spend the summer filming in Missouri with Jodi Foster and the rest of the cast,” says Nichols.
It was down to him and Jeff East when the two were called back for a final decision.
“It was one of those life changing events,” says Nichols. “The moment I saw Jeff East climb up in the secretary’s lap I knew I didn’t have a chance.”
After high school, Nichols went to Pierce College, which is known for its journalism program. He went on to graduate from the University of Reno and then decided to apply for a job at the L.A. Times.
“Working at the Times was a lifelong dream,” says Nichols. “It was also some of the best training any writer could hope for.”
After the Times, Nichols went on to get his master’s degree at Cal State Northridge. He still tells his family and friends and pretty much anyone who’ll listen, about his lifelong love of journalism.
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