Why Democrat won

The story on Walter Hussman retiring from the Democrat-Gazette brought back a lot of memories. I was transferred to Little Rock with J.C. Penney, to University Mall in 1982. I became assistant manager of the store and, as such, handled the advertising for both JCP stores in Little Rock and North Little Rock. When I got to Little Rock in 1982, the newspaper war was just heating up. Most of our ads went to the Gazette, but we started to duplicate most of everything in both papers.

In the story that was published last Sunday, Mr. Hussman was quoted as saying the people at the Gazette had gotten “arrogant.” I don’t want to upset any business acquaintances from so long ago, so I will say the Gazette had gotten, at least, complacent. As the months and years progressed, it became apparent to me that our business meant more to the Democrat than it did to the Gazette.

The Democrat people were in our store and in my office several times a month. I had many lunches with the management of the Democrat, good guys of integrity, such as John Morgan, John Mobbs, and even Paul Smith. I also met some of the “newsside” people of the paper, such as Wally Hall, John Robert Starr, and even met Mr. Hussman several times.

The article spelled out how the Democrat won the newspaper war in detail, but I believe the people I mentioned were the most important reason they won. As all really good managers, Walter Hussman knew how to get the best people in the best jobs for them and the paper. Congratulations to Mr. Hussman!

JAY COOK

Cabot