Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” - A.J. Liebling
My father Bob Wilson took this to heart, and bought one and started his own newspaper, the Prairie Post of Maroa, Illinois in 1958, and ran it until he died in 1972. It never had a circulation of more than 2500 or so, but every week, he would fire off editorials at everyone and everything from local events to the actions of the nations of the world.
He may have been a Quaker peace activist in a Republican district, but his love and support of the farming communities garnered him enough respect that he eventually ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, though he lost. (He might have tried again, had he not died of an accident while only 49.) Many of his views ring true today. And he might have been willing to change the ones that fell behind the times. Although raised in the casual racism of the 1920s and 1930s, at the age of 15 he took stock of what he was being taught and discarded much of it as being wrong, and lived his life with respect for all.
I decided to transcribe his old editorials (I may make a book for some of my relatives) and every once in a while I will repost one here, as a view of how the world has changed wildly, or remained stubbornly the same.
September 5, 1963
CHEAP THRILLS
A trick-shot artist, billed as “The World's Greatest,” has just shot his 14-year-old daughter between the eyes, killing her almost instantly. He was doing a quick draw with two .32 calibre revolvers, shooting two balloons off her head with one gun in each hand.
It is not our intention to intrude upon the grief of this horror-stricken father, but we do wonder if a finding of “Accidental death” is adequate to the occasion.
He didn't intent to shoot his own daughter, we'll take his word on that; but what DID he intend to do? He intended to shot very close to her head, with two guns at the same time, in such a way as to thrill and frighten a paying audience with the possibility that he MIGHT shoot his own daughter in the head. This kind of thrill-seeking can only be compared with bull-fighting or automobile racing. People may force themselves to engage in such “sports” from doubts of their own manhood, which they seek to prove by their willingness to flirt with death.
The man who knows himself can pass off an affront, or smile at a challenge which involves foolish risk. There is danger enough waiting for all of us; the drowning swimmer, the berserk bull, the mad dog, the midnight prowler. Most any of us is amazed afterward to discover we could be quick of foot and resolute of action when the time comes. The most timid mother would defend her child against lions, 100-pound weaklings have been known to lift automobiles off crushed victims, and everyone is familiar with stories of people who rushed out of burning buildings with bulky furniture that two good men could scarcely lift afterward! Normal people living normally dangerous lives will many times hear the trumpets call, and feel the blood rush to their temples, without any need of walking Niagara on a tightrope or shooting chalk out of each other's mouths.
A little late, we begin to ask ourselves whether a girl of fourteen is old enough to choose this kind of risk; or whether a girl of ten can be said to have chosen to thrill audiences by lying on the sawdust while an elephant poises with foot above her face? A grown woman would be another thing, a great many wives would think twice before presenting their spouse – no matter how steady his aim – with a target of this sort.
Shall we add to the tractor rodeos an event in which farmers place their infant children on the track and roar past them with their tractors, making the crowd gasp by proving how close they can come without actually crushing the little ones? Could any man be adjudged guiltless who caused the death of his own child in such a manner?