Words are thoughts in outerwear. Freedom to express them is vital. My first novel’s Papparazzi Strikes final story It Wasn’t Me – It Was The Pen I pay tribute to this fundamental right: “Truly and genuinely independent press is a very exotic flower to be tended gently and with love. It will shrink and die easily in the wrong hands.”
Us humans realize the worth of freedom we enjoy only when it is denied from us. That’s why we need weapons of the spirit – pens and cameras – now and always in defence of good, right and true. In St Bride’s Church in London there is a memorial corner for those reporters who have sacrificed their lives on the job. There are casualties dating even until recent years. My mind was forced to feel compassion as seeing that corner: people have and will always risk their lives defending freedom of speech. I am a member of this gallant cohort as long as there’s still breath in my body.
A job as a journalist has lingered in my mind ever since I was in High School, being a member of the editorial board of magazine called Utis in my birthplace Utajärvi. I started my career in a local paper Siikajokilaakso in 1987. My nickname there was the News Cannon which tells a lot about my character as a writer.
Once I took a post as a news reporter in newspaper Kaleva in Oulu I was able to rapid-fire properly. The words I wrote gained weight more than ever due to the top-notch resources of the mainstream media of the Northern Finland.
Of these years 1989–2001 in Kaleva I have captured some of the colourful spots with their bloomers etched in my mind. I’ll reveal in here, that in the story It’s the Final Mopdown the character of Liisa Recorder does really exist. She had actually handed an involuntary interview putting her recorder in on the table in front of the interviewee in the canteen of the newspaper she was working for and left him speaking to himself.
One of the photographers was notorious of reminiscing how we had done this same story a thousand times over. It trained one to psyche oneself into more positive state of mind. Papparazzi has the same spirit since he is always itching to dash into the middle of the scenes like a greased lightning.
During this era, I also accomplished a very important passage in my life: I passed my Master’s Degree in Oulu University in 1994.
In city newspaper Forum24 the topics ran one end of the spectrum to the other. The camera was my faithful companion from the beginning but my identity as a penman was always my priority. The people’s artist Vinski Lehtonen appearing in the story No Pictures! – while the real artist’s name will stay undisclosed – did really behave as described at the timeframe 2001–2019 while I was working for Forum24.
The character combining grandpa and paparazzo started to grow and unfold inside me bit by bit until I felt it essential to unravel his adventures on the paper. Being a grandpa two times over in 2018 became a decisive factor to take my pen as an author. Now I have three grandchildren.
Paparazzi are often regarded as wheeler dealer mercenaries advancing into the situations. Since I have familiarized myself in various literature of the trade this picture of them strengthened. In that group there are also people like Ron Galella who are passionate with their work regarding naturally their best shots as being works of art. The photos he has immortalized celebrities like the ones of Jackie Kennedy, Michael Jackson and Elvis are being featured in art galleries around the world. I am willing to bring out in the open the positive side of being a papa- or mamarazzi. The Ron Galellas of Finland deserve significantly better exposure in galleries. People like us would definitely visit those expos!
Papparazzi owns a gallery carrying his name in Runeberginkatu in Helsinki. In the beginning of the novel, he gets an assignment from Banksy to shoot his strike to the capital. The visit makes such a permanent effect that people start talking the time before and after Banksy. The world-famous artist has read the narration, telling he appreciated it and has also given certified the usage of his name in this story. You can only imagine my feelings when I received his comments into my email. I jumped up and down for joy!
The book exhibits celebs in that extent that it was clear from the beginning that Helsinki was the only place fit for the playground of Papparazzi. He resides in Pikku Huopalahti. When he is idling you can spot him from the Restaurant Tilkanranta. He visits other places in the country as well for example in Siilinjärvi meeting Eurojackpot winners and Epilä, Tampere surprising a favoured rapper banging his secret lover in a hotel.
In the spring of 2019 me and my wife Tiina moved from Oulu to Vantaa where our grown-up children live with their offspring. Oddly enough also in the book there are the apples of Papparzzi’s eyes; his grandchildren Nella and Eeli. They scamper together as Grandpa Gang in the stories Grandpa Gang Meets Terry Tickler and The Ultimate Pukki Party Feat Santa.
After the move we browsed around Helsinki in order to familiarize the locations I wanted to place the events of the book. I’m sure we looked at the capital with different eyes, many degrees more magically and fascinated as those who have spent their whole lives in there. On this basis Helsinki has grown into this book.
Ultimately Papparazzi is a humoristic figure. This kind of lighter genre, observation and peeking on people and life in a comic point of view is really my cup of tea. That is something I wanted to hold on while writing Papparazzi Strikes. My best reward is the bursts of laughter of the readers.