Born To Be a Newspaper Man

by Martin J. McGowan Jr.

On to Blue Earth

While the settlement with Sam Kaufman was being worked out in the summer of 1970 a retired publisher of the Sleepy Eye paper, Walter Barnes, apparently knew I was open to become a newspaper publisher again. He had been a friend of M. A. "Pie" Johnson who published the Blue Earth Post. Johnson died and his widow, Marion, was trying to keep the paper operating, but without much success. Betty and I met Johnson at a national newspaper convention in Atlanta. He took great pains to show us around to meet the important people at the convention. He had also run a legislative column I wrote and sold to Minnesota newspapers the year after I left the legislature.

Actually, the trust department of a Minneapolis bank was in charge of the paper. Pie Johnson didn't feel Marion Johnson could run the paper after he died so he left it in charge of the trust department that also took care of the Post building, which had renters on the upper floor.

The trust department seemed eager to make a deal and it was made with little controversy. The president of the First Bank sat in on the arrangements and also was eager to provide any financial assistance.

In the year after Pie died the editor was Stan Brotherton, a happy-go-lucky man, who could be a good editor if he wanted to be one. He was popular in town and served on the school board, but he was inclined to let things go. Stan enjoyed kidding around with the two women in the back shop. Marion Johnson got rid of him-or the trust did-and during the summer a young journalism student was in charge of editing the paper and handling makeup.

The first thing I discovered about his operation of the paper was that he eliminated the local news from surrounding communities. He thought it was wasted space but I felt it was important to have those items from other towns. People liked to see their names in print so I immediately reinstated these news columns.

The journalism student left as soon as I arrived. In fact, it may have been the next week. I was left with an unfamiliar staff in a new town with unfamiliar equipment to put out a paper.

The greatest problem was personnel. I could handle the news reporting but a key person is the advertising salesman or woman. That was the greatest problem in any newspaper I published. Not many top sales people wanted to come to a small town. Too often they wanted to work for a salary when a capable sales person who believed he could sell would make more money working on either a straight commission on sales or a salary plus commission.

One of the employees I inherited was Larry Larkin. He seemed to be a business manager for Mrs. Johnson because he was always engrossed in records. I hoped he might become an ad salesman but he seemed offended by the suggestion. He had the personality for the position but apparently thought this would be a demotion. He left not long after and started an insurance business. Apparently, he could sell insurance but did not want to sell advertising but he had his own agency.

I hired a fellow from Iowa to sell ads. He could make great ad layouts but he could not sell them. He was too meek and retiring. I equipped him with a portable telephone to keep in touch with the office but he used it to keep in touch with his wife. In the middle of the day he would take the family washing to a Laundromat. I found that out when I called him on that phone.

One other salesman from Montevideo turned out to be a grouch. He didn't like the town and he didn't like the people. Although I was paying him top dollar on a straight salary, all he wanted to do was sell special pages by phone and not get out in the community.

I finally called on Dave Sanders, a bright young man who ran a small print shop in Stillwater when I was at New Richmond. He first did some ad selling for us there and when we needed somebody in Blue Earth he came to join us there.

I handled the big full-page grocery ads. I gave them a special rate if they would take a full page every week for a year and also run the ad in our shopper. At first, we had two grocers, Red Owl and Super Valu. A third grocer opened in Blue Earth called Superway. They hung on fewer than two owners but eventually folded.

When I acquired the Winnebago Enterprise and the Elmore Eye from Don Weaver, each town had one grocer but later each town had two. So at the peak we had seven full page grocery ads each week.

There was a commercial print department with the Blue Earth Post. It was run by Red Cooper. He was capable enough but he had only one speed-slow. He liked to stretch out every print job. Finally, when he let one poor paying customer sneak in the back door and take his job out without paying we had a confrontation and he left.

I hired two printers from northern Minnesota. One was a willing worker but untrained and he spoiled a major job. The other was single and he got homesick and returned home. I finally gave up on commercial printing and if some was needed I took it to Bartley Printing across the street.

I had a vigorous editorial page. It took the entire page, which some would say was a waste of space that could be used to make money. There were my editorials, some clipped from other papers, my personal column and my son, Vince, had a column when he joined our staff. We also purchased an editorial cartoon for the page.

Being able to write my own opinions was what I went into the newspaper business to do. My father had done that in Appleton and I followed him there but I felt I needed a county seat paper to provide enough income to feed and clothe a growing family and assist their education. Blue Earth was the place, I thought. But it turned out not to be.

Betty pitched in to help in many ways, selling special editions, collecting bills and taking photos. When Vince joined the Blue Earth staff after returning from Vietnam and completing his journalism course at the University of Minnesota he was paid partly in stock ownership and was named managing editor. Betty rightly felt slighted that I didn't give her a title. She really deserved it but she did so many things I couldn't find a suitable title for her.

We had some good years in Blue Earth. At our best we were putting out weekly editions of the Post of 32 broadsheet pages, but our editorial policy was not widely accepted. Some people have the idea that an editor is supposed to tell his readers what they want to hear, not what the editor may want to say. I feel that readers should be exposed to other ideas.

Blue Earth could best be explained as a very conservative town. Its residents were like those who came over on the Mayflower. There was a mayor, Rector Putnam, who held office for 40 years. His major effort was to hold down taxes and never spend anything for civic improvements. So, after 40 years the curbs had fallen into the streets and no additional tar had been applied to keep up the street surfaces. When the work was finally done it cost local taxpayers much more than if they had gradually maintained the streets. This town did not take kindly to my more liberal ideas.

If I accomplished nothing else during my time in Blue Earth, I helped at least to elect two DFL legislators from Faribault county. One was Henry Kalis, of Walters, elected to the state House of Representatives. The other was Tim Penny, of New Richland, elected to the state Senate.

The state representative when I came to Blue Earth was Dale Erdahl, a Republican. He was a cousin of Arlen Erdahl, who had also served in the House with me and was elected Secretary of State. Erdahl seemed to be a charmed name in Faribault county but Henry Kalis decided to challenge Dale.

Dale seemed to be worried that I was going to run for his seat. I had no intention of doing that in such a conservative county. Dale had some campaign cards printed in our shop but when he found which way I was going and who I was supporting Dale took his printing business across the street to Bartley Printing.

Henry Kalis was a farmer from the east end of the county and well liked there. The question was how he would carry in the conservative and urban area in the western part of the county. Henry began his campaigning and reports came to me from some Republicans that he was spending a lot of time in the service club bars. I was told he would lose if he continued that practice.

When I brought it up with Henry he took offense. He said he had friends and supporters in the clubs. Later Tim Penny came to my office and asked if there was something wrong between Henry and me. If there was, Penny said, he wanted to get together and clear the air. Apparently, Henry got the word that he was imbibing too much and he quit. He later credited me for giving him some tough love and he became one of my best friends. In appreciation he gave me one of his anniversary sobriety medals. He was moderate enough in his politics to fit the county and was elected for more than 20 years. He continues to serve when this was written.

Tim Penny was a bright young man who campaigned as hard as anybody I ever saw. He went door-knocking throughout the county once and after he was elected he returned to canvass the county again to thank the voters.

Penny served with distinction in the state senate and was then elected to Congress in the First Minnesota district. That is the district containing the Mayo Clinic and a large plant for IBM. Penny moderated his politics a bit but still was able to bridge the gap between the two major political parties and served more than 20 years. He became disillusioned with politics and dropped out after 11 terms. He continued his political interest and served on the staff of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.

In 1999 he was urged to run for the U. S. Senate seat held by Rod Grams, a former radio announcer who looked and sounded good but in reality was a political lightweight and arch conservative. He presented quite a contrast with Minnesota's other senator, Paul Wellstone.

Many people on the DFL side showed an interest in running but none of them were well enough known to beat Grams. I saw Penny for the first time in many years at a political forum in Brainerd and urged him to run. I told him he had the name recognition and reputation that could make him a winner. He said he was thinking about it and could raise the money for a campaign. To the disappointment of many he later withdrew because of family considerations. I could well understand his reasons because I chose not to run for Congress for the same reason.

I felt I had a small part to play in these two political successes in a conservative county. Possibly the fact that I spoke out editorially against what must have been the interests of the main street business conservatives seemed to bring out teachers, farmers and clergy to show some enlightenment in a moribund conservative area.

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