`Last American Newspaper’ being developed for the stage

Girard returns to Syracuse and silences all of those boos

I signed a contract last week with the Adirondack Theater Festival to develop my second book - The Last American Newspaper - into a dramatic production for the local Glens Falls theater company.

Something they call a “World Premiere.”

I guess I’m in the theater business now.

Since retiring in 2020, I’ve written three books and have ideas for several more, but thanks to you readers I’ve taken a detour.

Last year, while talking to groups about the stories in The Last American Newspaper, I noticed something about the people in the audience.

They were riveted.

No one was shifting in their seats.

No one was looking at the clock.

No one yawned.

People laughed at the funny parts and shook their heads over another tragic news story.

It was not me or my delivery, it was the power of the stories.

The Last American Newspaper is a collection of stories about the men and women who worked at The Post-Star during my two decades as editor. It was about their passion and the difference their reporting and writing made in local communities.

There are 30 or so chapters in The Last American Newspaper.

There is the coverage of the 2000 tanker spill in Fort Edward and Pam Brooks’ account of being evacuated from her home in the middle of the night.

There is Matt Sturdevant’s “Growing Up Gay” series that shocked an appalled the community in equal measure and started the conversation about gay rights way back in 2002.

There was Darren Youker’s careful and humane approach to interview a mother who had just lost four children in a 2002 fire and then Lydia Wheeler remembering the look on a fireman’s face after he told her six children were in the smoldering wreckage of a 2010 fire in Hudson Falls.

There was the newsroom-wide effort to address the rite-of-passage conversation on underage drinking in 2004.

There was Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney’s 2005 experience witnessing a murder at the Bay Road Cumberland Farms with his three daughters.

And Konrad Marshall’s reporting on the domestic violence series that followed.

There is the story of T.J. Hooker’s mad dash to the Ethan Allen sinking in 2005 where he captured a heartbreaking photo for the ages.

And there was Projects Editor Will Doolittle living “The Alzheimer’s Chronicles” with his wife Bella. It was heartbreaking and important for anyone dealing with a loved one fading away before their eyes.

There was a lot of news in those two decades, but the biggest story may have been the one we didn’t cover.

Maybe we didn’t see it, or maybe we just didn’t want to see it.

It was the unfortunate and gradual decline of our own newspaper as staff and resources were eliminated.

We can all see it now.

So after I retired, I wrote that story. I wanted readers to remember all the good the editors and reporters had done for the community and ask them the most important question of all: Who would do the journalism in the future.

So I wrote a play, not because I always wanted to be a playwright, but because I thought dramatizing our plight might get readers to appreciate the importance of local journalism.

I took it to Miriam Weisfeld at the Adirondack Theater Festival.

She gave me homework.

She told me to read plays about documentary theater.

I wrote a second draft, and then a third draft.

The characters - colleagues like Will Doolittle, Mark Mahoney and Don Lehman - came to life easily because I worked with them for so long. Others continue to develop.

This was writing I had never done before.

Miriam Weisfeld announced Adirondack Theater Festival was commissioning Ken Tingley to adapt “The Last American Newspaper” to the stage.

Late last year, Miriam said they wanted to “commission” the work.

I didn’t know what that meant. Essentially, ATF is buying the rights to develop the production and do an original world premiere.

Hopefully, right here in Glens Falls.

Hopefully, next summer.

There are no guarantees. It’s up to me to get the story right. I’ve got a lot to learn, but the story is a good one that needs to be told.

It’s the story of Hometown, USA.

It’s the story of Smalltown, USA.

It’s life, and death, triumphs and tragedies.

I can’t wait to see it.

Calling out DA

When Albany County District Attorney David Soares was asked about a $22,000 bonus he had approved for himself, he told an Albany radio station he had done nothing wrong and would be happy to talk to anyone about the issue.

So the Times Union took him up on the issue and called him.

This is what they wrote:

“The Times Union requested an interview with Soares through his spokesman after he said on WAMC he was happy to talk to anyone about the raise, but the request was not granted.”

The value of newspapers is still to hold public officials accountable. That’s what the Times Union was doing here.

Girard returns home

After beating third-ranked North Carolina earlier in the week, Joe Girard III returned to Syracuse where he had played the previous four seasons.

Pete Tobey of The Post-Star did a nice preview of the game with an interview of the Glens Falls native, then covered the game Saturday.

Every time Girard touched the ball on Saturday, there was a chorus of boos from the student section in the Dome.

It did not deter Girard, who hit his first four shots and then four clutch free throws down the stretch as Clemson pulled away to win by nine. Girard led Clemson with 18 points.

After Girard hit a 3-pointer in the second half, he put an index finger to his lips while running down the court to shush the booing.

Girard, who scored 4,763 points in high school to become New York’s all-time leading scorer, has now scored 2,000 points in his five-year college career. He is also third on the Atlantic Coast Conference scoring list for 3-pointers.

Not bad.

https://poststar.com/sports/area-fans-enjoy-girards-final-trip-back-home-to-syracuse/article_36a5c8f8-c88b-11ee-bf81-d374fa2bd1fa.html

Stefanik criticized

This week, Elise Stefanik - it’s always something outrageous with Stefanik - told CNN if she was the vice president instead of Mike Pence, she would not have certified the election.

That didn’t sit well with colleague and fellow Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas.

He called Stefanik’s comment “totally wrong.”

“I would not have done what Mike Pence did,” Stefanik said. “I don’t think that was the right approach.”

Crenshaw countered that it was the only approach.

“The only reason I’m not worried is because what she’s saying is so completely incorrect,” Crenshaw told CNN Friday. “The Constitution gives you no power - you, being the vice president - gives you no power to decertify the election. It’s very clear. I mean we could pull it up on the screen and read it. Mike Pence read it, and he came to the conclusion that he has no power to decertify.”

Maybe Stefanik should read that section of the Constitution before she answers that question in the future.

About that sign…

When I complained about the missing “Hometown, USA” reference on the new Glens Falls National Bank sign downtown, I neglected to look at both sides of the side.

An attentive reader pointed out that the flip side of the sign has: “Glens Falls, N.Y. Hometown, USA” on the other side.

So I stand corrected.

Here are both signs:

The old sign at Glens Falls National Bank.

The flip side of the Glens Falls National Bank sign has retained the Hometown, USA label.

Rosemary Armao podcast

For those of you that followed the link to Rosemary Armao’s podcast last week, I actually used the wrong link.

I have since corrected it in the newsletter. Here is the correct link:

More subscriptions

It has been so satisfying to see so many readers opt to pay for a subscription even though The Front Page continues to be free. What has surprised Will and I is the number of free subscriptions continue to grow as well. That means more people will be reading the newsletter across the region. The ultimate goal is to keep as many people around the region informed.