Publisher of Fulton Valley News: No plans to retire
By Nate McDonald
Q. How long have you been publisher at The Valley News?
A. I’ve been publisher since January of 1971. I came to work for the paper in 1960 and was made managing editor some time after that. I was the only editor, but managing editor sounds better. At that time, the owners were starting to age and they offered me the opportunity to purchase the paper when they retired. I jumped at the opportunity and saved some money and they put me on the board of directors. From there I became sole owner of the paper and 10 years later, my son and my wife came into the corporation. Before I came to the paper, my background was in printing, so I guess I haven’t known anything else my whole life.
Q. What is the most memorable experience you’ve had during your tenure at The Valley News?
A. One thing that stands out to me is when the Nestlé company was in the throes of a strike. The union was going to strike against the company, and it got so bitter that the company had sent the plant manager to look at a building in Ohio. They were contemplating on moving and closing this building in Fulton. The mayor [of the city of Fulton] at the time, Percy Patrick, came to me and asked if I would put out a special edition of Friday’s paper because there was going to be a big meeting [about the labor dispute]. He thought that if we put a picture in the paper and explained what the seriousness of the situation, it might help. He put a message in there and we put an editorial in there with pictures and it worked. People understood the stakes and we saved the plant.
After everything had blown over I asked the plant manager [at Nestle] if they really would have moved. I was skeptical that they would leave such a nice building, and that it had all been just a ploy to get what they wanted. He said they really were close to moving, and that it would have been nothing for a company like Nestle to move because the machinery and everything was long paid for. It surprised me. I saw how influential even a little weekly newspaper can be.
Q. By the time most people get to be 80, they’ve been retired for years. What keeps you going?
A. I haven’t quit working. I come to work every day, Monday through Friday. I may not put in eight hours in, but I put seven hours in. Of course, being the boss I might go home at 3:30 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m. I just love the newspaper business and I love to work. People ask me when I’m going to retire all the time, but I’ve had so much fun working in this business that it’s not work for me; it’s fun. I have met so many people. I’ve had so many opportunities to mingle with all sorts of people. Low class people, middle class people, high class people, politicians, professional people, business people, all kinds of people. There’s nothing more interesting than people and I’ve found that in this line of work.
Q. What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
A. I have grandchildren and they occupy a lot of my free time, which I love. I’m not much of a sportsman but I do like spectator sports. I’ll go see baseball games and football games and even some basketball games when I can. I also like to walk. I go to parks and wherever they have trails that I can walk. I’m crazy about sightseeing. My wife is not living, but when she was alive we had a motor home and we’d get in and take off. We got to every state but Hawaii and Washington. We saw a lot of this country. I’ve seen the Grand Canyon, and the petrified forest, all of the memorials and the U.S. mint in Washington D.C. and Monticello. I love sightseeing and going to museums; they fascinate me.
Q. How did your experiences traveling outside of your community affect your work when you returned home?
A. I write a column every week, and it’s sort of a hometown type of column. I would always try to describe the things I saw. I think people enjoyed reading about them, because not everyone gets to do that type of thing.
Q. So it was sort of bringing the larger world out there back home to your readers?
A. Absolutely. For instance, the London Bridge is now in the state of Arizona, in Lake Havasu. My wife and I went there, and we walked across the London Bridge. I took a picture of my wife walking across the bridge and put it in the paper with a clever caption and people really enjoyed seeing that.
Q. Have you ever given serious thought to retirement?
A. Believe it or not, I haven’t ever given it a thought. Even after all these years I’m still having fun. If it ever became a drag or a chore I’d consider it. I just don’t see that happening.
