Priceless Memories & Slogans

By Wally Hofmann

“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”   --Mark Twain

When I was a child, I dreamt of having two careers. I wanted to be a newspaperman and an architect. Incredibly, beyond all reason and expectation, I’ve experienced both. This missive shares my journey through 25 years of journalism. As Mark Twain poignantly wrote, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.”

I hope you find your purpose, too.

Sneaker-net publishing

In the 1970s, Allen H. Neuharth, the chairman of the Gannett newspaper chain, broke new ground in the newspaper world by replacing long newspaper stories that jumped from page to page to page with shorter articles that began and ended on the same page. They also created sidebars, colorful graphic charts, tables, and lifestyle writing, along with the day's hard news in brief.

The paper's motto was "An economy of words. A wealth of information." Each section published polls daily and replaced the word "America" in its news stories with "the USA." Today, USA Today’s slogan is, “We deliver news, not noise.”

Each Thursday, I enjoyed getting to know Neuharth, the symbolic captain of the newspaper’s flagship, in his weekly article, which was commonly dismissed as embarrassing boosterism. Still, I liked it because his words invited me into something more human. It felt like I was invited over for dinner.

Although it took several years for readers of stodgy black-and-grey newspapers to embrace USA Today’s colorful graphics, photos, and snappy style, the company eventually became profitable in 1993 and has received global support ever since, especially for world travelers.

I believed USA Today was on to something in concept, content, and production methods, so I jumped in with both feet on the newly launched Apple Computers desktop publishing train with vigor and passion. I soon purchased a handful of SE/30s, with 9” black-and-white monitor and mini floppy disk drives, using a “network system” we called “sneaker-net,” where we would eject the disk, walk across the room, and insert the disk into another computer. It felt like we were viewing an expansive ocean through a submarine porthole.

The Mirror of Mammoth

In 1986, I assembled a ragtag band of idealists who dreamed of creating something better for readers. We were a soccer mom who loved to take photos, a graphic artist who used pens, paint, and a brush, writers who wanted to protect our magnificent Eastern High Sierra, a retired Chicago-based ad agency-owner-turned-salesman, and local storytellers who spun stories that reflected a diverse community of people and activities. We soon became the preferred newspaper of Mammoth Lakes, CA, and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (aka “an Adult’s Disneyland North”)–the Mammoth Times Weekly.

To fund the first year while we got our feet on the ground, about two dozen locals supported us by purchasing shares of privately held stock for $2,000 to $10,000 each. Some original stockholders were ski area employees, restaurateurs, doctors, developers, environmental advocates, realtors, clergy, stay-at-home moms with kids in the local public school, newspaper employee’s parents, and even my father.

After a few years, several stockholders asked for their original investment back, saying, “All we wanted was a great local newspaper, and we got one.” Those who held their stock until the sale also made a nice, modest return.

When we published our first edition, there was an existing weekly newspaper in town whose ownership wasn’t local. There was a consensus that the newspaper didn’t reflect the true local character of the community. The news tended to be much too serious, conflict-based, blood and guts reportage, with if-it-bleeds-it-leads front page headlines. It was too much violence and vitriol for a sleepy little ski resort town that opened its doors to millions of annual visitors who flocked each winter for snow sports and summer for hiking, fishing, and cycling.

The first 56-page edition came out just after Christmas. I still get shivers from memories of the experience. 20-something editor Lee Crane and I hammered away for 56 nonstop hours to produce the first edition, only taking bio breaks and quick naps inside the windowless 800 sq ft office in the heart of the ski resort town we knew and loved.

I vividly recall that sparkling snow-crystal morning glow, walking into The Stove Restaurant and seeing dozens of locals and visitors flipping through its pages. Like a newborn baby’s gaze into a mother's eyes, the months of pain and the final delivery of that first edition disappeared like snow melting on the roads.

Following that first week’s painful labor, Lee and I realized we were ill-prepared to publish weekly, so we pivoted to publishing every two weeks while we regained our sanity and caught up on our sleep.

Someone once asked me who we were trying to be in this ski resort town with a population of 7,000, and I replied, “We’re simply the mirror of Mammoth. Our job is to hold up and clean that mirror every week – nothing more, nothing less, with no distortion. We’ll show you who you are as accurately as we can.”

We accomplished that goal from December 1986 to 1999. Incredibly, it’s still operating, albeit feebly.

Priceless dreams…

Like Neuharth, I wrote weekly columns about Mammoth for years, covering topics from the environment, development, skiing, history, people, and even my family. Nothing my children ever did in public was ever in secret. Once, my son crashed our truck, and I got several phone calls from locals reporting the incident from various angles. Yes, the injury-free incident made that week’s Police Blotter news.

During a time when newspapers were in large format, such as the LA Times, black and white, and cost a quarter from the rack or newsstand, we adopted the Apple computer motto, “Think Different.” So, we created a small format tabloid, color, and free newspaper, with the slogan, “Priceless.” (I’d be a millionaire today if I collected a quarter for every person who asked, “How do you make any money if you give away your product?”)

In 1999, I sold the company after hearing the rumblings of the Internet rolling down the proverbial news publishing tracks. I knew the Titanic newspaper business was headed for an online iceberg and didn’t want to be one of the casualties. I remained the executive in charge under the new publicly traded ownership for five years, but that’s another story. (To my dismay, the new owners charged 50¢ a copy, among other unfortunate changes.)

My only regret about selling was when my daughter, Allie, who was still in high school, said, “Dad, why did you sell my newspaper? I wanted to run it!” Well, it did afford us the financial capacity to send Allie to UC Berkeley and her brother Matthew to Cal Poly SLO, where he studied architecture. He and I have been working together as architects since 2009.

Dreams do come true because, for many, luck and success smell a lot like sweat.

Don’t do the crime if you can't do the time

Slogans are like corporate mission statements or family crests from 11th-century Europe—they identify what you aspire to and are known for.

Since 1897, the New York Times has provided “All the News That’s Fit to Print.” In 1922, Scripps’ newspapers said, “Give light, and the people will find their own way.” I’ve always liked the Aspen Daily News: “If You Don't Want It Printed, Don’t Let It Happen.”

The Aspen paper’s slogan reminds me of the time a local roofing contractor stormed into my office, closed the door behind him, stood over me, and said that last night he’d been arrested for having a large supply of cocaine in his possession. In what felt like a not-too-genteel way, he asked me if I’d leave his name out of the newspaper that week.

I told him that if I were in his shoes and had been arrested for a drug or DUI offense, he'd be reading my name in the Mammoth Times next week. He, too, was a family man with kids, and I knew this would be difficult and embarrassing. I took no joy in telling him this, but I reminded him that this community trusted me to tell the truth about how safe the town was. They had a right to know, so it was our job – along with photos of our kids’ ski races and results – to mirror who they were—warts and all.

Then, I suggested he use this time to change his life—to come clean, take his medicine, and find healing and freedom from something that was certainly difficult in his life. I reminded him, “I’ve learned from experience that this is a forgiving town. If you own up to your mistakes, you’ll move past this tough place, and others will put it in the past.”

I honestly don’t know if he took my advice. Over the years, I’ve shared this story (without using his name) with friends and family – to encourage them to take responsibility for their choices in life.

Towards the end of his life at age 89, my father, who was a practicing psychiatrist in Southern California for nearly 50 years, told me that the secret to life was simple: “Wake up every morning and decide to have a good attitude no matter what comes your way.” He told me that it was my choice where I lived and what I would do for a career. “So, choose well.”

I was married, raised two kids in the magnificent Eastern High Sierra, and worked for 25 years as a journalist. I have designed homes and renovated/ built off-grid luxury travel trailers called Living Vehicle with my son for 15 years in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA.

School of the world

The school of the world has always been my best teacher, which was true for Twain, who had no formal education. He became a self-taught writer while piloting a riverboat and practicing new trades such as silver prospecting.

I was blessed to receive a solid education, but the task of learning how to write, set type, print, and operate a profitable newspaper was something I learned in the school of hard knocks. In four years of high school, among all As and Bs, I received only two D grades—writing and typing. Go figure.

Of course, his most famous writings were his newspaper article, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” which was later republished in 1867 at the age of 32. Two years later, he wrote The Innocents Abroad, an irreverent take on the praises of European culture.

 What may be best revered by Twain as a man and a writer were his common-man roots and fearless defense of the powerless while satirizing the well-heeled and influential. Although he was raised in a family that owned slaves, he became a steadfast freedom fighter, as well as advocating for the support of women’s and civil rights. He could be called America’s first blogger.

To the young aspiring Santa Barbara Current reader, I leave you with two more Twain quotes: "If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed." And… "The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation."

Happy reading, and safe travels.

Wally Hofmann is a retired newspaperman, father of two, husband, and digital nomad.

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