Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.
WEEKEND EDITION
June 18-19, 2005
Today is supposed to be my special day. It is.
That's because like millions and millions of other men, I am a father. Of all the opportunities I have had in my life, of all the excitement I have been able to experience, and of all the joy I have gotten from being alive, there is nothing that can compare with the sheer pleasure of being a dad.
I am at the age now when the scampering of little feet, accompanied by uncontrollable giggles and the wide-eyed thrill of giving Daddy a hug and kiss on Fathers' Day, are no longer the order of the day. But a warm hug, a meaningful kiss on the cheek and a heartfelt, "I love you" are more than enough to make this old father appreciate the best of what fatherhood has to offer.
I am also at an age where my own desire to tell my Dad how much I love him and what he has meant to my life must remain a desire because all I have are memories. They are sweet and they are poignant and, because there are no other choices in this life, they will have to suffice. It has been 15 years since my father passed away, and every day of every year I think of him. The thoughts are good and they guide much of what I do. In this respect, I realize how fortunate I am.
This is an especially meaningful Father's Day because my other father (that would be my father-in-law Arnold) has managed to teach his doctors a thing or two about growing older and it looks like he will be around to love his family for many more years. When you've got a good one, and I have been blessed with great in-laws, you want to keep them around and part of your lives for as long as possible.
There may be some people whose lives with father were less idyllic, whose relationships were less fruitful or whose familial bonds are more strained. I am sorry for them and wish that, if they still can, they grow wise enough to fix whatever problem exists.
I have been thinking a lot about my father this week because of the news that broke regarding the Las Vegas Sun and the Review-Journal. He was also in my thoughts as I made preparations to speak at the Las Vegas Hilton this past week for a celebration of the 25th anniversary of this community's number one Hispanic newspaper, El Mundo.
My father was, first and foremost, a newspaperman. He loved his family but he lived for his newspaper. It was his voice, it was his passion and it was his way of giving life to the ideas and ideals that helped lead the people of Las Vegas toward a future that has become the present-day envy of the modern world. Along the way he met Eddie Escobedo.
Eddie came to Las Vegas courtesy of the United States Air Force, and like many servicemen in those days decided to make Las Vegas home after their tours of duty. He worked his way up in the industry, starting as a busboy, and was a bartender at the Sahara Hotel when my parents met him many decades ago. In the early days of Las Vegas it was like any other small town. Everyone knew everyone else and everybody was after the same thing. They were chasing dreams.
Eddie's dream was to publish a newspaper for what he believed would be a growing Hispanic population in the Las Vegas Valley. Boy was he right. Today the Hispanic population in this valley is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with a buying power and upward mobility far greater than its numbers. And it is only getting stronger. When Eddie decided to serve that community over 25 years ago, he couldn't have had a clue what it would become. All he had was a dream.
As it turned out, my father was there when El Mundo faltered, and because he admired what the Escobedos were trying to do and because he appreciated the struggles that Eddie had to endure just to stay afloat, he used the Las Vegas Sun to help keep Eddie's newspaper alive. After a short period of time, El Mundo was booming and today it stands as one of the great publishing success stories.
After 25 years, El Mundo is a thriving newspaper serving its community through the leadership of the Escobedo family. At the head of that family is a justifiably proud father.
The history of the Las Vegas Sun took another turn this past week, too. When the amended Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) goes into effect in a few months, the circulation of the Sun will match that of its larger rival, the Review-Journal. In my mind, they will always be the "little paper down the street" but come this September we will proudly be just as "little" as they are.
Naturally, before we agreed to this new arrangement I considered what my Dad would have done had he been here. When I realized he would have done exactly the same thing, the decision was easy. Only once in the Las Vegas Sun's 55-year history did we have a circulation comparable to the R-J's. That was in 1963, just a few months before a fire burned the Sun to the ground. The next 27 years were an incredible struggle and one unduplicated in newspaper history in which a newspaper practically came back from the dead to compete head-on with a much larger rival. Once the JOA was entered into, the die was cast with the Sun moving to the afternoon and the R-J free to grow in the more advantageous morning slot.
For my family, publishing the Sun has always been a privilege and one that we have cherished and believed came with a responsibility. That responsibility was to the people who have come to this valley to make a home and a life for themselves and their families. Our job is to make sure that we provide the best, most informative and most helpful news and information so that when decisions have to be made about the kind and quality of city, state and nation we will have, Las Vegans will be prepared to do their part.
That was our mission when Hank Greenspun started the Sun in 1950 and that will continue to be our mission under this new arrangement. And that is the best Father's Day present my family could give the man who started this whole thing. And since he is not here, we will give this present to all the fathers -- and mothers -- of Las Vegas.
Happy Father's Day. And may you be happy reading the Las Vegas Sun for many years to come.
archive