Digging around in the newspaper’s archives, Peter Hartlaub produces a slide show and commentary about the sixty-something Chinatown power broker’s early years as a Chronicle reporter, including this undated photo from the ‘70s. As a cub reporter Pak was covering lots of crime when, in 1972, she became part of one of her own stories. Among the archival gems: Her becoming involved in a tussle with a lawyer and his wife in 1972 while pursuing a story about the arrest of their son. Writes Hartlaub:
The Chronicle’s first contact with Pak was in 1970, when she was 22 years old. The photos start in 1972, at the beginning of her two years as a Chronicle staffer. I will admit to a long period where this post sat dormant, as I considered the ramifications of crossing the powerful political activist, who is widely credited with engineering the rise of current mayor Ed Lee. Safe to say I’ll never be a Port Commissioner in this town . . .
