Paper folds, paper opens

On Saturday I received the final issue of The Kourier, the weekly newspaper in Willow Creek.

The 39-year-old paper’s final edition includes a giant headline that reads “FAREWELL” atop Publisher J.F. Garst Jr.’s last editorial.

Garst informs readers that he’s sold his press, his forklift and that “this is probably the final editorial message which you will be reading from me.” He thanks all those who supported the paper and writes “The Kourier has been good to us.”

The last year or two have been difficult for Garst. He battled some health problems and then his wife died. He often wrote about his grief. It was from the heart.

Garst bought the paper back in 1974. That’s 32 years of publishing a paper – or roughly 1,600 weekly deadlines! That’s hard to imagine.

Garst deserves a happy retirement and I wish him the best.

I doubt there’s any coincidence that last week I saw the premiere edition of the Bigfoot Valley News, published by Yvette Troyna. It’s owned by Jerry and Jo Anne Troyna. It’s a weekly newspaper, which is published on Wednesdays and sells for 50 cents – just like The Kourier.

I didn’t get to read the first issue, only the second. So far, it looks like a small town newspaper, with lots of first-person commentary and first-person news reports. In issue No. 2 there were two photos of the publisher, an attractive looking woman who looks like she spends a lot of time down by the river (apologies to Neil Young.)

It will be interesting to see how the paper develops. I’m sure there’s a niche in Willow Creek, and the Bigfoot Valley News should be able to fill it.

The key is stamina. Week after week, the publisher has to be prepared to put out a paper – like Garst did for 32 years.

Some papers will be better than others. Some issues will be gems, some will be crappy. Some papers will be assembled with high spirits, some while you have the flu and wish you were dead. If you base your decision on when to publish on "how you feel." then fuck it. You might as well fold up. Deadlines are a bitch and they don't get any easier.

Deadlines are mandatory, not optional. Circumstances may cause you to be late, but you can’t skip an issue unless you're physically incapable of doing so. Even then you should strive to find an alternative.

Unless, of course, you’re the Humboldt Advocate, which is a weekly paper that comes out every two weeks except when it doesn't.