Sparsely, Sage and Timely
Cruelty in defense of ‘sensitivity’Virtually every time this newspaper changes ownership, which has happened eight times in its 58 years, the new owner catches flak. Not only does each new owner give the paper a slightly different flavor, he inevitably makes a few mistakes and steps on a few toes as he learns about West Marin. It certainly happened to me. Soon after I became an owner of The Light in 1975, the paper covered a Bolinas Public Utility District meeting in which Peter Warshall, then of Bolinas, made several comments about septic systems.The reporter, who had never heard the name "Warshall" before, wrote it down as "Marshall." The naturalist is rightfully respected for his knowledge of sewage, and some readers in Bolinas responded to our misspelling his name as if it were blasphemy on a par with the Danish cartoons satirizing Muhammad. Unlike the Danes in Syria, Point Reyes Station fortunately had no diplomatic outpost in Bolinas. If it had, a gravity-powered mob using appropriate technology probably would have torched it.
Back when The Light was still called The Baywood Press, George and Nancy Sherman owned it for two years, lost a bundle, and in July 1957 sold it to Don and Clara Mae DeWolfe. Although he had worked at other newspapers, Don wasn’t prepared for West Marin either.
In the week between his last issue and Don’s first, George covered the annual meeting of the Inverness Improvement Association, as the Inverness Association then called itself. It took Don a year to get back all the subscriptions he lost because of George’s coverage.
The departing owner had come to believe that too many Inverness residents were full of themselves, and he used his last article to make the point. Coming in for the cruelest barbs was former Inverness resident Barbara Eastman. (In fact, she was a hardworking civic leader and later did much to bring about creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore.)
George’s article began: "Between 33 and 42 members and guests of the Inverness Improvement Association attended all or part of the annual meeting held Saturday evening at Inverness School. Also present were several dogs. Mrs. William Eastman managed to hold the floor most of the evening, and she discoursed on such varied subjects as the treasurer’s report, Tomales Bay State Park, county planning, and association policy. Also attending and sometimes getting a word in edgewise were treasurer Roland Lamb, rangers Tom Drew and Herb Hedicke, planner George Ludy, and president Gus Miller.
"She also gave a succinct talk on dignity…"
After heatedly debating whether to thank Capt. A.S. Oko for repainting the Inverness Store building (red proved controversial), association members cast a 9-to-17 vote against thanking him. Mrs. Eastman said anyone who wanted to could do it on his own, "but it is beneath the dignity of the association to thank him," George quoted her as saying.
"Mrs. Eastman demanded that further study be given to making Inverness a resort and recreation area because (as she understands it) such an area has more control over what goes on in the locality. Her husband agreed. President [Gus] Miller beamed as the motion was passed. ‘It is almost exactly the same as a motion made last year,’ he commented.
"‘We need a bypass,’ thundered Mrs. Eastman. Her husband agreed." George reported that she called for rerouting Sir Francis Drake Boulevard "out behind the store and into the bay." After the meeting concluded, association directors elected new officers. "Mrs. Robert Wheeler will continue as secretary," George wrote. "Mrs. Owen Halse will be treasurer. Roland Lamb is the new vice president. And the president is Mrs. Eastman’s husband."
In retrospect, Don once told me, he should have anticipated Inverness readers’ angry reaction to George’s ridiculing Barbara Eastman, but "I was new to town and thought, ‘Well, I guess that’s how the news is written here.’"
Now Robert Plotkin is the new guy in town, and I found it amusing to read a letter from someone accusing him of ruining the paper when the same person accused me of ruining it when I took over. And while Robert and I have disagreed over a few matters (mostly to do with typography), I am convinced he is well intentioned and willing to put in the hard work necessary to produce a good paper.
But some readers are behaving like a bunch of Syrians in a frenzy over a few (previously obscure) cartoons published in Scandinavia. Weeks later, Robert is continuing to catch hell for leading off the Christmas issue with an extensive rape story, which I probably wouldn’t have done. On the other hand, I caught hell for running a photo of a suffering cow on the front page of a Western Weekend issue. (Its owners had left it struggling in Tomales Bay overnight before shooting it.)
I also caught hell for weeks from prostitution advocate Margot St. James and her West Marin minions for using the "derogatory" word "hooker" in a headline. (Margot, then an organizer of the "Hookers’ Ball," had previously told us "hooker" was the "preferred" term for women in the profession but changed her tune after a couple of local amateurs complained.)
In short, catching hell is part of a publisher’s job description. At the moment, however, some of the new publisher’s critics sound like a pack of stray dogs. "You’re insensitive to West Marin’s sense of community, you a–hole," one guy yelled at Robert over the phone.
In urging support for the new firehouse and clinic in Bolinas, Robert unwittingly downplayed and misstated the activities of the Stinson Beach Volunteer Fire Department. The new publisher has apologized for the way the rape story was played and for not accurately describing Stinson Beach VFD activities, but a few people refuse to accept his apologies and get on with their lives.
I’m not writing this to defend the new publisher’s editorial decisions nor to suggest readers keep quiet when something in the paper bothers them; however, a barrage of insults is merely cruel; they do neither the paper nor the community any good. Indeed, West Marin is less of a special place when some newspaper readers here start reminding us of some newspaper readers in Damascus.