Jim Manheimer, Berkeley High School class of 1979, reunites with his lost yearbook at Berkeley Public Library on Kittredge Street. Photo: Aimee Reeder
The last time Jim Manheimer saw his Berkeley High School yearbook, President Jimmy Carter held office and the McDonald’s Happy Meal had just been invented. But with the help of a linguistics expert, a Facebook group, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s use of the word ‘hella,’ Manheimer was reunited last Friday with the yearbook he’d lost on the day he graduated in 1979.
Let’s back up a few steps. The reunion started after Ben Zimmer, a linguistics expert and language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, heard Schaaf say she’s “hella proud, and hella relieved” that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election, Zimmer told Berkeleyside. Harris also used the word in one of her post-election speeches, he said.