Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice, July 25, 1974:falling like snowflakes about her. The next day she had a beautiful shiner, and Tom was so angry and chagrined he wouldnot speak to me or Lyle for a month.A new Job: For a while, Jimmy and I alone were putting out both papers, with Sophie Elliott doing the bookkeeping. Laterhe hired Roger Gernert away from the Sun to sell ads and Geneva Bossung to handle classifieds and other tasks. This gavehim some spare time so he assigned me to put out a third paper, “Sports Highlights,” a tabloid. He gave me another $5raise.I told him I was quitting and going to California. Tom Jones cornered him and asked where he expected to get another manwho would edit three papers and take most of the photos (I had learned to operate a camera). So Jimmy offered to raise mysalary to $70 a week, and I agreed to stay.Jimmy was a tiger. He took off whenever he felt like it. Once we did not see him for several days. He arrived in the oftice atmidday Tuesday, five hours before deadline. We had virtually no ads for the paper.He sat down at the desk, laid his head on the cool surface, and began calling clients. Within five hours he had sold enoughadvertising for an eight-page issue.But ?????? were piling up. Small newspapers are usually short of capital and The Voice was no exception. I noticed thedrug store where we ordered film kept making pointed comments to me about paying the bill. Sophie Elliott later confessedthat she often ran to the post office early on Friday, opened the mail and rushed to the bank to deposit any checks to coverour pay.By March of 1952 I was exhausted. Four years of college while working, followed by a year of putting out three newspapers,had left meat the point at collapse. I had saved $5,000 and decided to take a trip to Europe. Jimmy offered to sell mehalf the company for $5,000.I finally decided against it and made the trip. I sailed on March 22, and at about the same time, Roger was drafted. (Jimmyhad assured Roger’s wife, “Don’t worry. Before they draft Roger, the Russians will be coming up Shelbyville Road.”)Jimmy had nobody to help him, other problems piled up and the news reached me in Paris that on April 1, The Voice hadbeen sold to Al Schansberg, longtime publisher of the New Albany Times.I was married in Paris July 11, 1952, to a Dutch girl I’d met my second day there. Naturally, I began thinking of comingback home and finding a job. Al took a chance, and hired me by mail. I returned to Louisville right after Eisenhower waselected, and went to work four days later.Al had gone on 100 percent paid circulation in October, 1952, against the advice of many people. In July, 1954, while celebratingour fifth anniversary, we were notified our Audited Bureau of Circulation rating was 4,559 paid, the highest of anyaudited weekly in Kentucky.The little Voice had come a long way in five years.25th Anniversary IssueAl had consolidated The Voice of St. Matthews and The Voice of the Highlands in November, 1952. He established TheFree Press, an advertising throwaway, to give our advertisers circulation up to 10,000. The Free Press was abolished inApril, 1954, when The Voice’s circulation reached nearly 4,600.‘Honey’: The key person in getting our circulation up was Mrs. Heitkemper, who lived in the Highlands, and made hersales by phone. She called everyone “honey’’ and customers tell me they could hear her cuddling and soothing her infantchild, who cried a lot, while she was making the sale.Al was a staunch Republican, so The Voice was a Republican newspaper. We continually supported Jim Noland, St. Matthews’first mayor, and he and his ticket won every election. We were among the early supporters of Marlow Cook, whostarted as a stats legislator and is now U.S. Senator, and Gene Snyder, who started as a magistrate., I believe, and has nowserved several Congressional terms.Al was an upstanding citizen and a hard worker and together we put The Voice on its feet financially. Early in the 1950’s,he hired Frank Day as ad manager. Frank had been living in California and came here at the prompting of his wife, whooriginally hailed from Jeffersonville. Frank and Al were two of the finest men I ever met. They were liked, even loved, bySt. Matthews’ businessmen. At took me and Frank into partnership sometime in the middle 50’s, selling us each 20 percentof The Voice for a nominal price.Free-lancing: But The Voice simply could not support three men. Business and subscriptions increased steadily until thebeginning of 1957, then leveled off. Costs however continued to rise. We were all caught in the squeeze, so in 1960, Frankand I sold out to Al. Frank went to work for The Jefferson Reporter and I went free-lancing.During Jimmy’s day, The Voice was all roistering creativity and irresponsibility and devilishly hard work and fun. UnderAl, we became sober, steady citizens. We hired correspondents and paid them 10 cents a column inch and even got a pantimehelper.