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Editor’s note: This column was written by former N-G columnist and sports editor Doug Chase in March 1994 upon the retirement of M.W. Paxton Jr. as editor and publisher of The News-Gazette. With Mr. Paxton’s passing this past weekend, we thought it appropriate to republish the column this week.
“The public, you know, thinks that a man on a newspaper is valued because he knows what to write, but the truth is, he holds his job because he ordinarily knows what not to write.” - Isaac Erwin Avery, city editor, Charlotte Observer (19001904) Simple recording of history as it happens, with a minimum of hyperbolic or vitriolic opinion and spin control, occurs less and less these days. What a renegade figure skater ate for breakfast has become front page news, relegating the reporting of the public record to the inside pages of the newspaper and the latter half of the network news broadcast. We seem to have become absorbed and fascinated by tragedy, intrigue and soap opera behavior, as though another misfortune might somehow elevate us from the oft-times humdrum rhythms of our individual lives.
The small, independent weekly newspaper a journal in which readers can follow the ongoing history of the area in which they reside remains one of the last bastions of simple journalism with its straightforward reporting of the facts with a minimum of interpretation and opinion.
Horace Greeley, a pioneering newspaper editor of the 1800s, wrote: “The best use of a journal is to print the largest practical amount of important truth, which tends to make mankind wiser, and thus happier.”
And what truths can be more important to the inhabitants of a small community like the Rockbridge area than the simple rhythms of daily life? While not much occurs here that would demand the attention of a worldwide audience, much happens right here in our area that affects our lives and the lives of our neighbors. In these times of rapid change, which are often accompanied by a growing sense of confusion and desperation, it is reassuring to know there is a written record to which one may turn to find out facts as elementary as when a person was born and when a person died. There are few who have passed through the last 200 years of this area’s history without some mention of them or some of the events of their lives being recorded for posterity in the pages of local weekly newspaper.
There are those who make light of the photograph of the beaming man holding the giant turnip freshly pulled from his garden but the recognition of his accomplishment throws light on and gives credence to, if only briefly, that proud gardener’s very existence.
Our area has been fortunate to have been served continuously by one or more weekly newspapers since 1801. There is, available to all willing to do a little research, the continuous written record of the people, places and events that have shaped the last two centuries.
In the June 14, 1952, edition of the Rockbridge County News, a new name appeared in its masthead: “M.W. Paxton, Jr. .... Managing Editor.”
The Lexington Gazette, which published weekly beginning in 1801, and The County News, which published weekly beginning in 1884, merged in 1962 and began to publish The News-Gazette. The first issue of the new merged paper was published, appropriately, on July 4, 1962. Mr. Paxton’s name appeared in the masthead as editor of the new weekly, a role he has filled from that day to this one.
This week’s edition of The News Gazette is the 2,169th and final time that M. W. Paxton Jr. will serve as the editor of a local, weekly newspaper, as he is retiring at the end of the week.
There was no mention in 1952, save the subtle change in the papers masthead, that Mr. Paxton was arriving, and you will find no mention, save in this space and in a brief business article weeks ago, that he has leaving.
The community has benefited greatly from Mr. Paxton’s quiet, unassuming dedication to it. And, in his quiet way, he will continue to contribute much to the community he loves during his retirement years.
I, too, have benefited from my long association with Mr. Paxton. While a young teenager, I told him of my interest in journalism. His first question was: “Do you know how to type?” I replied that I did not. A couple of weeks later, he approached me one day with a book in his hand. It was a book detailing how I could teach myself to type. After having begun to master the five-finger typing style I used to this day, I was invited by Mr. Paxton to cover some sporting events for the news Gazette. My first column appeared in this newspaper in 1970 when I was 17 years old.
I will miss seeing him on a constant basis though I know he will never be more than a phone call away. He has taught me more about human nature, forgiveness, tolerance and attention to task than any other person outside my immediately family.
He has long been my primary teacher, mentor and confidant. Most importantly, he has been and will continue to be my friend. For 2,169 weeks, he has cared deeply about our community and put that love and concern into the pages of this chronicle and one of its predecessors.
The historical record is intact. You can look it up.
