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THE UTAH NEWSPAPER HALL OF FAME Prairie, Kansas, where Claude became publisher of the weekly Times. He would continue to do so until his death in 1950. Charles, who not surprisingly was nicknamed 'Charlie' by some - but preferred, as his family did, 'Clay' -- graduated from Kansas State University in 1926 with a degree in journalism. For a time he was newspaper-employed in Orlando, Florida, then moved to the Ochiltree County Herald of Perry-ton, Texas, as advertising manager. His publisher there, Van Stewart, was 'a great influence on my life,' Clay frequently observed. It was in Perryton that he met his wife, Peggy Alwayne Pansy Conley, known to her friends as 'Waynie.' They were married June 1, 1927 in Hutchison, Kansas. In December, 1935, they moved to Liberal, Kansas, where Clay became part-owner and editor of the Southwest Daily Times. "It was a small paper," he reminisced, "and Waynie and I, together with Bill Long, who was my city editor, often worked 24-hour days getting it together, printed and delivered." Those were depression years across the nation and times of drought, dust-storms and crop failures for the agriculturally-oriented Midwest. Even keeping the paper in operation was a challenge, he remembered, pointing out: "You could buy a ton of newsprint for only $25; the problem was finding the $25." Here he began a program he would religiously follow throughout his publishing career -- selecting young men of promising potential to train in the mechanical department as printers. With remarkably few exceptions, each of them became skilled Linotype operators and 'backshop' people under his tutelage and proved to be not only capable but loyal employees. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the Clay-baughs and Bill and Jane Long purchased the News and Journal from owner Ed Ryan. The paper, a coalition formed in 1938, was the survivor of six different mastheads, the first of which dated back to 1890. Selling his interest in Liberal, Clay moved to Hayes, Kansas, where he was a flying instructor while awaiting call to active duty in the Navy, which came in June, 1943. Though he'd hoped to be assigned as a pilot or 459 |
