As editor of the four-page Green Sheet, a beloved mix of folksy columns, comic strips and puzzles...
Printed on green newsprint, hence the name. It was beloved by readers and unique to Milwaukee, which is probably why it was eventually discontinued.
... Mosby decided one day the crossword was way too easy. So he asked [former managing editor George] Lockwood, who was in charge of contracting syndicated features like puzzles, to find a tougher one.
"Wade took one crossword in the middle - not the easiest and not the most difficult - and the roof caved in," said Lockwood, vividly recalling the flood of complaints from irate crossword lovers. "He found out our readers didn't want a puzzle that puzzled them. They wanted one they could actually finish."
Mosby caved. ...
You might think this means he realized he should have left well-enough alone, and went back to the easy crosswords they had been using. If so, you do not think like a modern newspaper editor.
He decided to mix up the puzzles with a couple days of easy ones, a couple of days of hard ones and a tough New York Times puzzle for the Sunday paper.
Which kind of reminds me of some of our discussions of changes in the Church. The "experts" think the change should have worked, and if it doesn't, there's something wrong with the subscribers/congregation, not with the change.
By the way, the Marquette professor on the Andrea Doria, mentioned in the article, was John Pick, a professor of English, and my best teacher at MU.
The Green Sheet feature I really loved was the half page reserved for pieces on just about anything -the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the rings of Saturn, Lord Byron, the Britsh Raj, the battle of Midway, etc. The features were written by experts, but I remember them as being clearly and simply written. They were written for a general audience, but the authors did not talk down. I recall reading those features as a child and teenager and more than one article inspired me to go to the library to find out more about the subject.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember exactly when or why they discontinued that feature, but it could have been due to increasing difficulty in finding academics and experts who were capable of writing a short jargon-free piece for a general audience.
Now the Journal-Sentinel insults my intelligence every time I pick it up. I really can't stand reading the thing these days.
Didn't the old Journal also drop a local column called "All Things Considered"? Too obvious and unsophisticated a title, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteMy father, george O'Halloran, ran a comic feature everyday in The Green Sheet for several years back in the forties. It was called "Chester The Pup" and the artist was Sid Stone. That was many years ago and both my dad and Sid are gone. Does anybody remember this old comic strip? I live now in Maine and haven't been back to milwaukee in 50 years. I suppose it has changed. Jim O'Halloran.
ReplyDeleteThe feature Anonymous recalls was "Ask Andy", now online as You ask Andy.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to reach Jim O'Halloran who lived in Main in 2005, when he posted a note regarding his father George O'Halloran. My reason for writing is that I have a scrapbook of just over 100 comics of "Chester the Pup". My parents lived in Milwaukee and I'm sure these must have been cut out of the local paper. Contrary to his note, the artist on all of these "Chester the Pup" articles is Gilbert Meyer. I hope someone will be able to put me in contact with Jim O'Halloran. My name is Noel Stephens and I live in Chandler, Arizona.
ReplyDeleteHi Noel, I came upon this today while randomly searching on Google for Chester. I am George's granddaughter, wondering if you ever were able to get in touch with my Uncle Jim. I will look for a reply...Mary
DeleteMary,
DeleteNoel's comment included an email address errandgenie@cox.net associated with a business, Errand Genie LLC. The Internet Archive website has entries for that business until about ten years ago. These indicated it handled deliveries in the "Phoenix East Valley". An internet search for that number brought up a listing on a "Merchant Circle" directory website https://www.merchantcircle.com/errand-genie-chandler-az which appears to indicate Errand Genie LLC is still operating and with that same telephone number.
Terry Berres