The book by the journalist who doesn't go drinking – Pham Huu Thu

“I have books because I don’t go drinking” – journalist Pham Huu Thu (1952) smiled gently when asked why he still publishes books regularly even after retirement. It sounds lighthearted, almost like a joke, but that’s how a man who has lived his whole life with the memories of Hue quietly, meticulously, and devotedly lives, as if afraid that if he doesn’t record them, no one else will remember them.

Mr. Pham Huu Thu has been a journalist since 1975, closely following almost every major and minor event in Hue . Although he worked in television, heading the news department at VTV8, he always made it a habit to rewrite each broadcast report into a printed article and carefully preserve it.

Before retiring in 2012, he published " Reports from Life ." After retirement, he didn't choose idleness. Two books were published in quick succession: "Beautiful Pages of History" and "Sitting and Recalling..." – detailed and thorough accounts of Hue from the war against foreign invaders to the peaceful days of reconstruction. Culture, politics , economics, society – everything unfolds like a slow-motion film, without fanfare or exaggeration.

Reading his books, I still feel like I'm sitting on ferry crossings over the Tam Giang lagoon, and then, after years of campaigning, the central government finally gave Hue the money to build bridges over the lagoon. From the first bridge crossing the Thuan An estuary – associated with the story between the Provincial Party Secretary and the Director of the Department of Transport – to the modern bridges connecting the coastal strip to "Mother Hue." Reading about that, I still feel the joy and coolness of the writer as I cross the bridges.

As the son of a fallen soldier, he entered journalism with the qualities of a soldier of Uncle Ho's army: honesty, straightforwardness, perseverance, and discipline. Journalism gave him opportunities to interact, but it was his "son of a soldier" personality that allowed him to connect with the entire generation of local leaders after liberation. He didn't judge, didn't sugarcoat, only observed. He didn't stand on the sidelines observing, but immersed himself in life to see – to understand – to write.

The two "children" of journalist Pham Huu Thu were born two years apart.

From leaders to ordinary citizens, he chose to recount the most beautiful aspects of each person he met. "When you remember someone, remember their best qualities," he said. Therefore, his books don't depict the dark side of human nature – not because he doesn't know it, but because he chooses to remember the good.

Beyond writing about policy or socio-economic issues , Pham Huu Thu devoted his heart and soul to soldiers – those who had experienced war, who had perished or survived battles, large and small, on the soil of Hue. He sought them out, spent hours listening to their stories, gathering fragmented memories and piecing them together into a picture of the battlefield – with smoke and fire, loss, glory, and lingering regret. He recounted these stories in a gentle, unhurried, and undramatic tone – as if afraid of awakening dormant memories.

He once said that he wrote because he feared that the children would forget. He wrote to preserve. He wrote so that those who had passed away would not be forgotten in silence. And so, he was even more careful when writing about them.

Once, he sent me a newly published article, saying, "Read this, your father's name is in it." I read it, thanked him, and replied, "You misspelled my father's middle name." He was silent for a long time afterward. Not angry, but embarrassed. For him, the names of soldiers, the names of historical witnesses – these were things that could not be wrong. They weren't just information, but a sacred part of the nation's memory.

On one occasion, while accompanying the Provincial Party Secretary to inspect the flooded area where the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee was visiting, Mr. Thu, seeing the deeply submerged roads and dilapidated houses, suggested: "You should grant the Chairman a government-provided house on the south bank of the Perfume River; it's higher ground and more convenient for his work." It was a serious suggestion. Later, the Chairman was granted the house. He recounted the story nonchalantly: "If I were in that situation now, I would say the same thing, because I didn't ask for it for myself."

Having retired from state service, he returned home, quietly "spinning his silk" like a silkworm at the end of the season diligently completing its last thread. For him, journalism was not just a profession, but a responsibility to society. He continued that responsibility in his role as a historian, using his own perspective.

Journalist Pham Huu Thu did not choose to become a hero, nor did he bask in the glory of his profession. He chose to be a storyteller, a keeper of memories – in a simple, quiet, and very Hue-like way.

QUANG TIEN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/sach-cua-nha-bao-khong-di-nhau-pham-huu-thu-post888389.html