Check out Syd’s marching history army

Here’s a little story behind the storyteller, Syd Albright.

It’s the kind of tale that illustrates a level of caring far beyond what most of us are willing to muster.

But most of us aren’t like Syd.

The history column that Albright pens every Sunday in this newspaper’s Lifestyles section takes essentially a full week of work to produce. He’s not a slow writer. What he is is a professional researcher and a hound for accuracy. He will spend 10, 15, 20 hours searching everywhere for the display of photos that accompanies each feature story. He checks and double checks sources and facts like his life depends upon it.

We like to think that Syd is at least somewhat still under the spell of the journalism enchantment that afflicted him many years ago at UCLA. Though he’s done many fascinating things in his life, he remains an ink-stained wretch, which is as high a compliment as we hacks in the business can bestow on a kindred spirit.

And if that massive Sunday history lesson in fun, easy-to-read style isn’t proof, why, you can find more evidence every week in his Ziggy’s Popcorn installments in The Press.

It’s true that some in the senior citizen set still work voraciously like Syd (though alas, few are paid as poorly as our dedicated colleague). Where Albright really sets himself apart is his extracurricular activities, with his now seven-year-old History Club front and center.

The group is right-leaning but welcomes several members from the left. California refugees have found safe haven from insanity. The club is intentionally informal. When Syd created it, he armed himself with two bells — a small one for polite interruptions and a big one to really get talkers’ attention. Because talk they do, and it’s delightful to witness. It’s even better to be one of the participants.

History is a treasure that some of us feel is slipping away, a gold-laden chest listing dangerously in the middle of the ocean. A descent to the ocean floor might mean permanent loss. Albright and his army are doing their part to keep that treasure chest intact and accessible.

The room at JBs on Appleway looks packed to the rafters with local history buffs, but Albright insists there’s room for more. Personally, we’d like to see a little youth spring up among the, um, more mature set, but also understand that 10 a.m. on a Wednesday is hard for full-time working stiffs to sneak away for an hour or two.

This much we pledge: If you do manage to check out the club, you won’t be bored. You will laugh. And you will learn.

Breakfast is optional. Being on the receiving end of a beaming Syd Albright smile is not.