Little Papers Are Journalism Too

There has been a world of change in journalism in the last fifty or so years. This is the story of a small-town reporter and editor’s journey through the changes, as papers switched from Linotype machines to a succession of computerized methods and went from family owned to conglomerate controlled. It’s also a close-up look at a small Virginia town and surrounding counties that had more than their share of murders, community upheavals, scandals, and brushes with the rich and famous, and even the notorious. It’s not only a memoir but also local, state, and national history as seen by someone who struggled to understand it and get it right so that readers would also get it right. Included is some admittedly righteous indignation about current attacks on the profession.