says he is quietly looking to sell
the newspaper. While he is
proud it sells out virtually every
week – people lined up for it
when he was running late on a
recent Thursday morning – he
fears it is unlikely someone will
step up to buy the business.
“The biggest problem is it’s
just too much work for any-
body,” Simpson says. “I’m
gone three, four nights every
week, at meetings, and I work
all during the day. A lot of peo-
ple flat out don’t want to work
that hard.”
For now, he plans to contin-
ue publishing, at least until his
health starts to falter. Then he
would close. Already, he has
planned his last headline: a big
“30,” journalism slang denot-
ing end of story.
Hudspeth county
The Hudspeth County Herald is
the smallest of the bunch,
based in Dell City, a hamlet of
about 400 people near the
Texas-New Mexico border.
The paper’s long-time owner is
James Lynch, 86, a local ranch-
er whose wife, Mary, served as
the paper’s editor for a genera-
tion until she died in 2006.
Andrew Stuart, 35, took
over as editor last year after he
moved into a small recreational
vehicle he placed on land he
purchased about 20 miles west
of Dell City. Stuart’s living
quarters are nothing if not
spartan. When he stands up his
head touches the ceiling inside
his Toyota Dolphin camper,
which is powered by solar and
a 12-volt battery. Every month
or so, he trucks water to a stor-
age tank.
Raised in Austin, Stuart had
worked as a print and radio
journalist in Alpine and Marfa
for several years. He graduated
from Brown University with a
degree in religious studies and,
on a Fulbright Scholarship,
conducted field research on
Hindu monks in India.
He decided to move to
remote Hudspeth County to
devote his spare time to nature
writing. (Among his favorite
writers: Edward Abbey, Aldo
Leopold and Henry David
Thoreau.)
The newspaper job pays just
$500 a month before taxes, not
including possible ad commis-
sions, Stuart says. As the
paper’s only paid employee, he
writes stories, edits columns
and letters, designs pages and
tries to sell advertising. It is sup-
posed to be part-time, about 25
hours a week.
Before Stuart’s arrival, the
newspaper rarely, if ever, report-
ed negative news about locals,
but Stuart says that has begun to
change. For example, in May
2009 he reported about two
indictments handed up from a
county grand jury: A former
clerk was accused of misappli-
cation of county funds and two
local youths were accused of
shooting and beating a couple of
Mexican workers during a
drunken spree.
“For the most part the
responses have been: ‘We need
to see that stuff; that’s what a
newspaper is for,’” Stuart says.
“They were appreciative that
we printed it.”
Lynch, the owner and pub-
lisher, says he considers the
newspaper “a community serv-
ice. It’s one minor contribution
we give the county. We ask for
support. We solicit advertising,
but there are times when it is
quite hungry.”
Stuart has begun a second
job with the 2010 Census,
training teams of census takers
in order to supplement his
income. This has meant
recently driving to El Paso for
training during the day and
putting the paper out at night.
A Web site seems out of the
question. Friends have offered
to help design the paper’s first
Web site, but he has declined.
“It’s more work for one person
to do,” Stuart says. “I already
feel like I’m maxed out.”
The
enlightened Bean
Café
Great Music
Fabulous Food
Reasonable Prices
serving breakfast and lunch
6:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
432.229.3131
201 W. o’Reilly, Presidio
We ship anywhere
608 1/2 E Holland Ave. • Alpine
(432) 837-5000
fresh local produce, crafts, sweets and surprises
WEEkLY NEWSPAPERS OF THE BIG BEND REGION
Circulation Founded
Repair • Tack • Jewelry • Rodeo
Motorcycle Gear • Gifts and more!
B Ig B end t HrIft s tore
And f ArMers M Arket
FYI :
Newspaper
S PriggS B ooT & S AddLE
saturdays 9 a.m. - noon, all year
104 W. Ave. A, Alpine, 432.837.5599
Editor, Publisher Benefitting the Alpine Humane Society
The best beef hot dogs in the Big Bend
th. fr. sat. 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Alpine Avalanche 3,000 1891 Mike Perry
Owner: Granite Publications
(Taylor)
Big Bend Sentinel (Marfa) 2,604 1926 Robert and Rosario Halpern
Jeff Davis County Mountain
Dispatch (Fort Davis) 1,175 1983* Bob and Christi Dillard
Van Horn Advocate 900 1910 Larry and Dawn Simpson
Terrell County News Leader
(Sanderson) 800 1997 Jim Street
The Presidio International 796 1986 Robert and Rosario Halpern
Hudspeth County Herald
(Dell City) 750 1956 Andrew Stuart (editor), James Lynch
(publisher and owner)
And Now...
Cow Dog
Sources: Newspapers and Texas Press Association
*According to the Texas Press Association; owner Bob Dillard said it was later, in the late 1980s, but didn’t
immediately have the exact date.
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2010
27