Posted: 6/19/02

Lellman: 'What a ride it had been!'

Earl Lellman
Former Times Publisher
2nd and final part of series

Through my 20-plus years as editor/publisher of the Times, I wasnít hunched full time over the account books or the used equipment ads. I had news to cover, editorials to write, a libel suit to confront, offended subscribers and advertisers to placate and the many other facets of a small town publisherís work to handle.

A few years ago Bob Shaw, great Times reporter, photographer and ad man in the early 1950ís, wrote down some of his recollections of this editorís approach to his work:

ìEarl wrote almost all the news for a 12- to 16-page tab paper. He managed things with an eagle eye. His specialty was editorial writing. This specialty -- plus the fact that Earl was a Democrat and editorialized eloquently about it -- gave me all sorts of problems. My job was to talk to bed-rock Republican businessmen (many of whom were still smarting from one of Earlís editorials, just waiting for me to come in) to persuade them that the Times was there to help move their goods or services through advertising.

ìEarl also had a strong conviction that a newspaperís first job was to cover local government. This did not mean phoning the city clerk to find out what happened at last nightís council meeting.

ìIn practical terms it meant (1) after a hard dayís work, coming to city hall about 7:30 p.m., (2) talking to the mayor or the clerk to see what was coming up, (3) sitting on a hard plastic chair for three or four hours, making voluminous notes, (4) returning alone to the office to spend early morning hours writing the story so that (5) the linotype operator would find last nightís council story clipped just above his keyboard when he showed up for work the next morning.

ìEarl covered the city council, the school board and one or two other local groups exactly that way. He believed that everything inside quotation marks should represent exactly what was said and his stories were full of quotes.

ìWhen Earl left, as far as I know, no mayor, no school superintendent, no county commissioner felt impelled to organize a going-away party.î

Bobís recollections may exaggerate the facts somewhat but I think most of them come pretty close.

Community service

The motivation that drove me most strongly was a feeling of commitment. I wrote of the sense of community service ìwhich springs from the heart of the publisher or editor who has a genuine love for his community and who wants for it the very most and best which the world can give: good schools, roads, library, fire and police protection, recreational activity, cultural activity, wealth, industry, commerce, health and perhaps scores of other things.î

I welcomed every opportunity to express my views editorially on any matter that affected my community. When, in 1964, the township board began its attempt to turn the township into a city, I jumped in with the first of many editorials in opposition to what I viewed as a threat to community-wide viability and progress.

Early in my tenure a group proposed the establishment of a municipal liquor store. A bitter battle ensued between candidates in the annual election of a mayor and councilmen. I took an editorial stand against the proposal, arguing that this could constitute a severe blow, not only to the several bar-restaurant businesses in town but also to the business community as a whole.

A lively summer resort town, I wrote, could only be weakened by a municipal liquor store.

My views did not please the hundreds of supporters of the movement. One of the leaders, a local minister, wrote to then stockholder Palmer Gilbertson in California, hoping to put back-door pressure on the editor.

He cited ìill willî that I had stirred up, writing: ìIt looks like Earl needs to learn that there are a lot of people in Forest Lake who are not followers of the liquor crowd. . . As you still have an interest in the Times, I thought you might be interested in my reactions to the editorial and also to get some idea of what a hornetís nest has been stirred up by it.î

Gilbertson was unmoved and wrote back in support of the editor who, he said, ìis entitled to present his thoughts the way he sees them.î

I took definite positions on all local matters, pro or con. I wrote in strong support of the fluoridation of the municipal water supply. I campaigned on behalf of every bond issue for new school buildings in the rapidly growing district. I supported the teachers in their appeals for adequate salaries.

When I learned that Forest Lake was listed by the state health department as having a high priority with zero percent of its hospital needs met, I contacted them for more information. My subsequent news stories and editorials led to the formation of local committees and the fund drive to build our Memorial Hospital.

This was my conception of the kind of leadership role a responsible editor should play in his community. Itís a role I played from the start, regardless of its possible effect on the financial bottom line. I found that, despite the toes that the editor steps on with a strong editorial voice, if heís honest and sincere about the views he expresses, in the long run the bottom line is only enhanced.

The Embattled Editor

In her book ìReflections,î Elsie Vogel mentions the 19 steps that led to my second floor sanctum in the old frame former Faith Lutheran fellowship building that had been attached at the rear of the brick and stucco Times/Koester building that fronted on Lake St.

That climb may have discouraged some readers who sought a word with the editor, but occasionally one was incensed enough to venture up the long stairway.

One visit was so upsetting that I made immediate notes about it for future reference. J.D. stormed into my office with a copy of the Times in hand. First he called me several names and said I was just about the dirtiest, lowest s.o.b. he knew, that I wasnít satisfied to print the news but that I had to rub peopleís noses into the dirt when they were down.

He said the story about his son was uncalled for and that it was no longer his son who was affected but J.D. himself. I ventured the observation that it wasnít I who had shot the deer. He asked: ìHavenít you ever done anything?î

Then he said, and I interpreted it as a veiled threat: ìSomethingís going to happen one of these days and youíre going to have to print it and itís going to make you so sick. Oh, itís going to make you sick but youíll have to print it. Youíll be out of town when it happens but itíll affect you and youíll have to print it.î

For a long time I was disturbed by his ominous words and the intensity of his anger. I never learned what he had in mind.

Names of offenders

Especially in connection with police reports, I was asked a number of times to keep unfavorable news out of the paper. My policy was to not identify juvenile offenders but to freely use the names of adult offenders, with consistency being the prime consideration. I felt to ever shield friends, colleagues, community leaders or ìspecialî persons would constitute no policy at all.

However, this was not always clear to offenders or their friends and relatives. It didnít occur often but occasionally I did receive pleas, especially from parents, to purge police reports of names and details.

One such plea was particularly painful for me to turn down. It came from a very close lifetime friend whose son had become involved in a serious violation. My friend came up to my office with an earnest request that I withhold the story.

I sympathized with him in his concern and pain, while trying to explain why personal friendship could play no part in our news policy and that I had to use the story. I was extremely disappointed when he failed to understand my position and chose to end our friendship, never to be reconciled.

I received a letter from a mother, pleading that we not print the name of her son in connection with a violation. ìWe have another son,î she wrote, ìliving as a respectable, upright citizen in your community, and in respect to him, we ask you not to print the name and address.î

I replied with sympathy and understanding of her plea, writing: ìIf we do not treat each case completely objectively and impartially, we are inevitably embroiled in controversy with the family of every wrongdoer, all of whom feel that they, too, are entitled to have news covered up.î

A question of libel

I must have been anticipating the need for libel insurance because I had signed up for a $100,000 policy which became effective on Nov. 13, 1953. Less than two months later we were served with a demand for retraction of three items in the Times of Dec. 31.

The situation involved Don Worthís Melody Ballroom where fights among drunks were a frequent Saturday night occurrence and given full coverage in the paper. Two of the offending items appeared in a feature headlined ìSidelights to the Riot.î One quoted the mayor-elect as threatening to call out the fire department to ìwash the troublemakers right down the sewerî if they returned.

The other item facetiously suggested (1) ìthat we change Forest Lakeís designation from ëthe turkey capitalí to 'the battleground of the northwestíîand (2) ìthat Broadway be roped off, bleachers built and spectators charged a nominal fee to attend the Saturday night matches.î

There was no demand for retraction of the principal news story itself, which began: ìThe biggest mass gang fight in the memory of local persons took place Saturday night.î

I engaged a Minneapolis law firm specializing in libel and printed no retraction. Preparing to do battle in court if necessary, I had our photographer secretly shoot photos in the ballroom on a Saturday night, showing many liquor bottles on the tables.

After we ignored the demand for a retraction, we were served with a summons demanding a judgment in the amount of $100,000 for ìinjury to the ballroomís business, loss of profits and injury to Worthís reputation in the community.î

Our attorneys filed a reply but no court appearance ever took place. After four years our attorneys concluded that the action was ìdismissed for failure to prosecute.î

The Melody Ballroom eventually became the Worth Furniture store.

Great young reporters

I had been a student in the University of Minnesotaís School of Journalism and had maintained a close relationship with the school throughout my career at the Times. I was invited one year to serve on a panel in their annual Editorís Short Course and on another occasion the schoolís director, J. C. Sim, asked me to take over his class in community journalism on a day he had to be absent.

The Uís journalism placement bureau was especially helpful in recruiting budding journalists for our staff and we were extremely fortunate in hiring a series of outstanding young reporters. The pattern seemed to be that they would spend about a two-year apprenticeship with us and then move on to broader fields.

One of these recruits was Bob Shaw, mentioned earlier, who eventually became manager of the Minnesota Newspaper Association. One of his photo-features, ìDonít Tell Us They Donít Read the Times,î won an honorable mention in the National Editorial Associationís Best Feature Story competition in 1954.

Dale Hostvet earned an NEA honorable mention in 1952 for Best News Picture, a shot of an angler pulling in a fish in the picturesque Bay. Warren Rogersí five-week photo feature series won first honorable mention in the NEA Service to Agriculture competition in 1964. Warren moved on to the Billings, MT daily and eventually became their sports editor.

Mike Flaherty, Dick Matthews and Morrie Erickson all went on to own and publish weekly newspapers.

Other awards in national competition were for general excellence, typographical excellence and community service. An editorial on support for teachers was chosen for a School Bell award by the Minnesota Education Association in competition with all papers in the state, including dailies. We won another School Bell for our school coverage.

Early on, we purchased a tape recorder. There was some uneasiness among the school board members the first night I set it on a chair beside me and turned it on.

Jim Broede, one of our ace reporters, who later moved on to a reporting job with the Pioneer Press, made good use of the recorder. His news philosophy was the same as mine -- let the facts fall where they may, use quotes without hesitation and ìtell it like it is.î The Lellman-Broede combination, with its no-holds-barred approach to news and commentary, led to occasional clashes with public servants and community leaders.

ëBad Publicityí

On one occasion the Chamber of Commerce invited both of us to a special meeting to discuss our news and editorial policy. They cited a report that a local realtor had lost a sale when his prospect read in the paper about a school board controversy. They complained about the ìbad publicityî that the community often suffered because of the Times.

I explained that it was our job to report the news, favorable and unfavorable, and cited the many positive reports and editorials that we constantly carried, always supporting movements toward community betterment.

I remember a similar meeting on a smaller scale with members of the hospital board who came to my office to air their complaints about our coverage of some of their meetings. In turn, I complained about their attempts to withhold news of their actions from us by making decisions in committees, outside of regular board meetings.

It seems there was continually some aspect of our news coverage or editorializing that was under attack by one group or another. At the same time, we received much favorable reader feedback for the quality of the paper we were producing.

As our business expanded, the publisherís role as editor began to suffer as his role as business manager demanded ever more attention. In a letter I wrote: ìI find myself having to run a little harder to pay the help which is getting higher-priced every day, to promote this and sell that in order to keep busy the equipment which weíve decided to load this plant with. And now we own the damn building and weíre spending another $5000 to fix it up and Iíll have to run a little faster.

ìI just donít have time to write the editorials which I feel very deeply and strongly need to be written.î

By 1967 the business was clearly a financial success. The continued expansion was paying off but with the growth came increased pressure to maintain it. And worse than the pressure -- much worse -- the exhilaration, the sheer fun, had gone out of the chase.

I looked back with pride on my long career with the Times -- 20-plus years as owner-publisher-editor and five-plus years before that as cub reporter-editor-columnist. I believed I had maintained a high degree of integrity in my position and in meeting my responsibilities to my community.

I also believed that the time had come to leave the scene. On January 6, 1968 we turned the reins over to Duane Rasmussen -- the prize-winning Times, the highly successful Peach, the equipment, the business, the building, the midnight hours, the goodwill, the ill will, the headaches, even the trophies.

It was over! But what a ride it had been!

Former Times Publisher Earl Lellman makes his retirement home in Forest Lake.

Top of Page