Newspapers keep our neighbors in the know – Dothan

I can also recall my grandfather, J.D. Holman, reading the Dothan Eagle and Southern Star (which my family owned for over 150 years) by the fire in the early ’80s. Or dad reading the Houston Chronicle at the office before we headed out to see “Top Gun” at the theater for the 15th time. No joke, we saw it — often — when I was a kid visiting Houston.

Didn’t matter who or where for me, my goal was to grab the comics, period. I would laugh hysterically at Calvin and Hobbes and then wonder what was funny about Family Circus.

I still wonder that. Was it ever funny? Maybe is it just a communication tool for deep cover Russian spies. We are watching you Jeff Keane (current Family Circus writer).

A little more about the Southern Star that my family owned.

Back in 1867, one of my distant relatives, Joseph Adams, a Confederate Army Civil War veteran, started the paper with no experience in the business. Today his great-grandson, Joe Adams, still writes for the paper 153 years later. Adams was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alabama Press Association and Joe has taken part in over 2,700 editions of the Star and still counting.

That ladies and gents, is an epic run and we salute you, Mr. Adams.

Joe used to tell the same joke at my aforementioned grandfather’s birthday party each year and it goes like this here. A man walked into the mule stable (another family business) around 1890 and asked Mr. Holman if he had any deals. He told the man there was a mule in the back that didn’t look so good for sale for $2. He bought him and promptly returned the mule the next day and said, “Mr. Holman that mule is blind.” He replied, “I told you he didn’t look so good.”

The community newspaper is part of the foundation of the town in which it is located. When I lived in Gainesville from 1992-1997 I used to cut out the Gainesville Sun sports page each Sunday when it would show the score from the most recent game on Saturday.

There was a guy named Steve coaching and the score would be 70-7 or something like that on most days.

I loved putting those on the wall when I was living in the fraternity house, and old habits die hard.

I still have on my office wall today the front page of the Democrat from June 3, 2009, where the team here at Aegis let me, a rookie account executive, go on stage and accept the award for Technology Company of the Year from the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.

That was a special moment as the day it was published, the editor at the time, Dave Hodges, asked me to write a business and technology column for their team and I am still at it. (Captain Obvious reporting for duty).

Here in Tallahassee, the community news includes heavy hitters like William, Martha, and TaMaryn bringing you the news via the Democrat. Others like Gary Yordon contributing occasionally, as I do, really rounding out the community news vibe. Gary in fact told the story once of a painting project gone wrong, spewing everywhere, in a column I have never forgotten. Getting the news and local stories is what it is all about.

The national news is a hard pass for me, and I am sure many out there agree. If I need toxic noise, I can just go on Twitter.

If you want great perspective into the world of newspapers, I had the former president and publisher of the Democrat, Skip Foster, on our podcast recently. He mentions his time with the paper as some of the most meaningful in his career. You can check out our chat on YouTube.

Those who make the media their full-time trade get an earful from the public. Next time you are about to rant keep in mind they are our neighbors. So, from me to you I salute all those in the local media.

The subjects they write about might be paint spewing everywhere, elections, or football (it is UF-FSU time) and we might have different opinions on the issues.

Guess what? Despite what the trolls on Twitter tell you, having different opinions is a good thing and I know Calvin and Hobbes would agree.