Managing editor bids a fond farewell
Published Sunday, August 10, 2008
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Stumble It!Somewhere between the fruit juice and cold medicine aisles in the Airport Way Fred Meyer store, I bumped into an old acquaintance the other day.
“Must feel like you’re leaving home, eh?” he asked in reference to my impending departure.
“I am leaving home,” I answered without pausing to think.
For 23 years, I called Fairbanks “home.” My wife, DeAnna, and I were married in the old state courthouse. My daughters, Chloe and Sydney, were born at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and grew up in Hamilton Acres attending Nordale Elementary School. Chloe graduated from Lathrop High School in 2007. And at age 46, I’ll board a plane on Aug. 16 and watch as the place I have spent half my life — in practical terms, all my adult life — fade from view as I watch through the window. I’m sure the moment will come with emotions that will defy words.
On Monday, Aug. 18, I start a job in a place that my family intends to make its new home. I will be the outdoor writer for the Tulsa World, a 160,000-circulation, family owned newspaper smack in the middle of eastern Oklahoma’s “Green Country.” I leave feeling an incredible debt to Fairbanks, to Alaska and to this newspaper for the opportunities I have had, the skills that will take me forward, and for an ingrained sense of community that I will always — perhaps unfairly — expect to sense in any place where I live and work.
In service of its readers, this newspaper has sent me all over the map, with visits to too many places to name here, from Washington, D.C., Denver and Los Angeles to Valdez, Kodiak, Mekoryuk, Fort Yukon and Kaktovik.
I found stories riding around in everything from float tubes to tug boats, from the back of a slow and careful mule to the seat of a snowmachine streaking like a roller-coaster, and from a small and surprisingly comfy underground coastal shelter used seasonally since it was built by early-day Eskimos to a 6,000-foot Brooks Range peak, raw, wind-scoured and seemingly untouched.
I owe my good fortune to people like News-Miner Publisher Emeritus Chuck Gray and former Managing Editor Kent Sturgis, who saw the value of having an outdoors page in a community newspaper — and who took a chance on a kid who happened to agree.
That debt continues to an even greater degree with Publisher Marilyn Romano and News-Miner owners Dean Singleton, Dick Scudder and the Singleton and Scudder families. They adopted the strong community newspaper philosophy of C.W. Snedden and continue to operate this paper as the family owned entity it truly is.
And I have learned oh so much from our readers, the people of this community — dedicated, anxious, flip, apathetic, understanding beyond measure, belligerent beyond reason, unruly, unstable, unflappable and always right — I will miss that relationship. So often, you have been the reason my heart swelled with pride, and perhaps a little too often the reason I sat bolt upright in the night with worry for the next day or dread at what could not be undone. Editors, you know, can’t always be right.
And here at the News-Miner I have worked with innumerable people who have put so much of themselves into bringing this “daily miracle” to life that I can’t help but be humbled. New Managing Editor Rod Boyce, columnist Dermot Cole, Assistant Managing Editor Sam Bishop, Sports Editor Bob Eley and Photo Editor Sam Harrel combined have over 100 years experience with this newsroom. I walk away knowing it is in good hands.
No business has the kind of communicative and symbiotic relationship with a community that a newspaper enjoys — or suffers, depending on the issue of the day. Therefore, newspapers tend to be staffed by people who, frankly, give a damn. These are people I hold in the highest regard.
A brother of mine who has moved many times in his life once said to me that people are the same everywhere. “You meet people and it’s just like you know them from before — different face, different name, same person,” he said.
But he’s never lived in Fairbanks. This place is unique in ways only those who live here can truly grasp. The people and the place blend to create an amalgam that is unmatched, and a precious blend it is. I will miss this newspaper, this community and this state with all my heart.
Kelly Bostian will have worked at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner from Oct. 8, 1985 to Aug. 15, 2008. He became the newspaper’s managing editor in April of 1995.
Community Discussion
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Kelly, your thoughts about leaving on a jet plane remind us of the old Peter, Paul and Mary song...
'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go...
But once you settle in down there in Oklahoma, you'll find some humor in it: (we hope).
Top 20 ways to know that you're from Oklahoma
1. It doesn't bother you to use an airport named for a man who died in an airplane crash. (Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, for the unenlightened)
2. You have used the phrase "fixin' to" during the last twelve months.
3. Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.
4. You've ever used the word "Tumped". Tipped and dumped combined.
5. You can properly pronounce Eufaula, Gotebo, Okemah, and Chickasha.
6. You can remember the name of the last state legislator to introduce a bill involving castration and he didn't mean farm animals.
7. You know exactly what calf fries are, and eat them anyway.
8. You can recall hot summers by the year they happened easier than you can remember your mother's birthday.
9. You think that people who complain about the wind in their states are sissies.
10. You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door but by the availability of shade.
11. You have owned at least one belt buckle bigger than your fist.
12. A bad traffic jam involves two cars staring each other down at a four-way stop, each determined to be the most polite and let the other go first.
13. You know in which state Miam-uh is and in which state Miam-ee is.
14. Your "place at the lake" has wheels under it.
15. You aren't surprised to find movie rental, ammunition and bait all in the same store.
16. A Mercedes Benz is not a status symbol. A Ford F150 4x4 is.
17. You understand the difference between 3.2 and 6 point and more than once you've made a beer run to another state.
18. You know that everything goes better with Ranch.
19. You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply.
20. A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.
Finally, you are 100% Oklahoman if you have ever had this conversation:
"You wanna Coke?"
"Yeah."
"What kind?"
"Dr. Pepper."
Kelly, all the best to you and DeAnna, you'll be missed up here!
Kelly,
A reader's last request...
Is there any space in your U Haul for some News Miner extra baggage?... the mundane features, the maudlin concerns, the puffed up editorials, the budget Cagel selections, the less than accurate or timely reporting... the xenophobia...
Is there some extra room in your trunk for the daily numbness that has become our local paper?
We know...it's never easy with a family owned paper...not much room be be original...you did your best...can't fault you with that...
Nevertheless, do the readers a favor...please crack a window when you leave...a fresh breeze may clear out some fetid air...a small chance to create a little sparkle in our lives each morning...
Kelly,
Best of luck to you. I don't envy you having to go. I've done it before, and you're right, the sense of loss is palpable. During my absence, I carried Fairbanks around as a lump in my throat even when I couldn't be here anymore. I hope, for stability's sake, you find yourself better suited to leave than I and that your new community welcomes you and yours with open arms.
I want the Heartland section back....
Bye Kelly if you love it you will be back.....
Kelly,
Farewell and thank you for contributing to this community. You were patient and balanced when I dealt with you, and I appreciated that.
Questions:
Will you become a long distance blogger, harassing the reporters and criticizing the content?
I notice you didn't mention the paper you'll be working for, is that because you don't want us to follow you and possibly harass you? (smile)
My family wishes you the best. Thanks again!
Oops... yes, you did mention the paper. I look forward to following your work.
Kelly,
Best wishes for the best OK has to offer. I was right outside of OKC for several years and it is surely different. The area around Tulsa, and the Ozarks used to be so fantastic before Branson was discovered. I hope your new job treats you well. You have been here a long time, I hope you are not too homesick. We will miss you, and again, best wishes and good luck.
Your not a Alaskan till you get fed up with the cold winters,mosquitoes,high prices,the rain that starts at 4:30 on Fridays,
and the Americans that want to change everything into what they were trying to get away from.
You move away,and you cant get her out of your mind.
Kelly,I think you will be back.Alaska is in your soul.
We'll MISS y'ALL !
Keep in touch ! !_!
I was born and raised in Fairbanks, graduated from Lathrop in 97 and UAF in 2001. In 2003 my husband and I headed to the Dallas, Texas area. One thing we heard all the time from fellow Alaskans was "YOU'LL BE BACK!!" Honestly, I found it very offensive, we put a lot of time and effort into our decision and it felt like a put down. Kind of like telling someone about your new job and having them tell you that you will probably hate it and miss your old job. We both love Alaska and I am proud to have grown up there, but believe me, life is much cheaper and easier elsewhere, and I can ride my horses, take out the boat, go for a motorcycle ride, etc. year-round. It has been 5 years and we won't be back. (RS's wife):)
I live in the Tulsa metro area, read the "Tulsa World" and also read the "NewsMiner" on line every day (Love the WebCam!)I look forward to reading Mr. Bostian's pieces in the World. p.s. The NewsMiner is a better paper than the Tulsa World, btw
Job well done!
Thanks Kelly for all you have done for the community, and my for myself. I'm sure it was a difficult decision to leave Fairbanks. Enjoy your new found job. come back and visit.
thanks again Al Barrette
Kelly! So sorry to see you go but happy you will be using your gifts as an outdoor writer. I have no idea how you handled being editor, knowing only that it must be stressful. I do know that you are a gifted writer and you are probably returning to what you love. Take care and God bless you and your family. Remember us when you start hunting pheasants! BJ
ok -
all 15 people that actually can say nice things about Kelly have done so - can we have a new topic here now????
Bubye - hope the editorials have more relevance now
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