Screaming Eagle

November 25, 2008 2:45 PM

When I heard NPR's remembrance of Tom Gish yesterday, I figured someone would beat me to posting about him here on the Blue for sure, but apparently not. Gish, who died last week at 82, was the editor and publisher of The Mountain Eagle, a rural Kentucky newspaper. While still covering typical small-town happenings over the last 50+ years, he and his wife Pat (and eventually their kids) brought to light myriad injustices, from political corruption to poverty, safety violations in local mines to illiteracy. I found this appreciation, with bottom line proof of the Gish's popularity and influence, despite the death threats, firebombing, boycotts, and other hardships they endured:

"The population of Letcher is less than half what it was when they moved up here," said Ben Gish, editor of The Mountain Eagle and the couple's son. "But circulation has more than tripled."
posted by yiftach (6 comments total)

I heard about this on NPR as well, and wanted to find out more. Thanks for the post!
posted by amarie at 4:02 PM on November 25, 2008

I heard about this on NPR as well, and wanted to find out more. Thanks for the post!

Ditto!
posted by Big_B at 4:03 PM on November 25, 2008

If Tom Gish didn't exist, NPR would have had to invent him.
posted by Faze at 4:18 PM on November 25, 2008

.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:43 PM on November 25, 2008

.
posted by longsleeves at 10:23 PM on November 25, 2008

I'm glad his son is continuing the tradition. Mr and Mrs Gish were an amazing inspiration to small town journalists everywhere. Thanks for the post.
posted by dejah420 at 7:35 AM on November 26, 2008