Last week, I mentioned that the late Jim Hale was the last truly high-profile publisher of The Star. (Apologies to Art Brisbane, who entered the publisher’s job with a profile that he had molded during his days as a columnist.)
If you knew Hale, you know he was quite a character. When he retired from The Star in 1992, after 15 years as publisher, he left a lot of friends and a trail of stories behind. One the things that endeared people to Hale was his easy-going, loose manner, if you will. Also, he had an endearing southern drawl that he brought with him from his native east Texas.
Hale wasn’t a bit stuffy, his door was open to everyone, and he always had time to chat, when approached. As his slow gait indicated, he never seemed to be in a hurry. You knew he had everything under control, and he delegated exceptionally well. He appointed good people to upper management jobs, and he mostly stayed out of their way.
I was lucky enough to have established a relationship, of sorts, with Hale. Whenever I felt the need or the urge, I’d go up to his third-floor office and take up with him whatever issue was on my mind. He was always receptive.
With that, I’d like to share with you a few of my favorite memories of Hale, who died in 2003.
— One or our top editors was Michael (O.J.) Nelson, who recently retired as editor of the Lincoln Journal Star in Lincoln, Neb. O.J. admired Hale so much that he patterned himself after Hale, right down to walking with shoulders hunched forward, his head slightly preceding the rest of his body. It looked odd, because where Hale was kind of dumpy and had a beer gut, O.J. was slender and had no excuse for bad posture.
At any rate, O.J. was a nervous, smothering type of editor who was always worried that he might be exposed as dispensable, so he worked very hard at seeming to be indispensable. On one occasion, there was a big screw-up in the features department, which O.J. headed, and Hale blew his top. He did that occasionally, but it was hard to tell when he was really mad and when he was just blowing smoke for effect.
As I recall, Hale either told O.J. he was fired or that he was going to be fired. That put O.J. into a frenzy. However, executive editor Mike Waller then stepped in — he knew Hale front and backward and was his equal in histrionics — and went into Hale’s office to talk him down. “If you’re going to fire O.J. you’re going to fire me, too,” he told Hale.
With that, Hale became quiet and turned his attention to other matters…And O.J. was able to continue his very successful career at The Star.
— One time when I was City Hall reporter (’85-’95), an editor either sent me to cover a board meeting of the Chamber of Commerce or I went on my own because they were taking up an issue that was on my radar. I walked into the meeting in one of the downtown office buildings and got myself a nice, leather-upholstered chair at the big table. About 20 civic big shots were gathered around, and one was Hale, who was on the board. I gave him a smile and a wave, he reciprocated.
Shortly after the meeting got underway, I notice that a few people were engaged in some whispered conversations with one of the board members, who was the manager at KMBC-TV, Channel 9, I believe.
Pretty soon, the station manager came around and asked me to step outside. In the lobby, he apologized for the interruption but told me that board meetings were closed to the press and that, unfortunately, I’d have to leave. I was taken aback but not totally surprised because I’d never been to a Chamber board meeting and didn’t know the drill.
As I recall, I was still in the elevator lobby when Hale emerged from the meeting and came up to me and said something like, “I’m leaving, too. If the place isn’t good enough for you, it’s not good enough for me, either.”
Of course, I was thrilled that the publisher had backed me up. It had to take some courage to get up and walk out of a meeting with some of the most powerful c.e.o.’s in Kansas City. Later, Hale wrote a letter to the Chamber expressing his chagrin at my ouster. I’ll never forget, too, that in the letter he referred to me as “one of our most competent reporters.”
Again, I appreciated the back-up, but from that point on, I thought that perhaps I wasn’t the hotshot that I envisioned myself. I was just competent.
— Around the same period, as I would return to The Star building at 18th and Grand from City Hall, I saw that our dark-brick building was looking very shabby because the green paint on the big window frames had faded and was peeling. I always took pride in our building and wanted it to look first class, in keeping with the paper’s standing in the community.
I marched up to Hale’s office one day, sat down and said, “Jim, our building looks like hell; the windows need painting.”
He laughed and said he’d see what he could do. It was no small project, of course, because it’s a large, three-story building with probably 100 or more windows, each of which is about six feet tall and three or four feet wide.
Within weeks, work crews were out there scraping and painting, and the building regained its eminent appearance.
A few weeks later, I was chatting with Scott Whiteside, who was our in-house attorney and sort of Haley’s right-hand man. Laughing, Whiteside remarked that I was “the most powerful reporter” at The Star because I had been able to initiate a job, not budgeted, that cost the company thousands of dollars.
— One more quickie. Back in the late 80s, I think it was, we had what would have been the first offer of buyouts. Of course, I was many years from being eligible, but it caught my attention because I heard that our architecture critic (yes, we had one back then), Donald Hoffmann — a brilliant writer and critic — intended to take the buyout, while another, much inferior, arts department writer — also eligible — meant to stay.
Once again I marched into Hale’s office. “If Donald Hoffmann leaves and so-and-so stays,” I said, “it’s a miscarriage of journalism.”
Hale leaned back and laughed and said: “There’s nothing I can do about it, Fitz. The offer is out there for anyone who is eligible, and legally we can’t pick and choose.”
As it came to pass, Hoffmann retired and the other writer stayed on.
I didn’t win that battle, but I dearly wished Hoffmann had stayed. For, to me, that was the day The Star started to go downhill.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Fitz, forgive me if I’ve told you this one before, but one of my favorite Hale stories dates to when I was a reporter with the KC Business Journal some two decades ago. Someone anonymously mailed me The Star’s financials for that particular year, a secret more closely guarded than the gold at Fort Knox. I phoned Jim, who always took my calls, and knowing that he’d just returned from a vacation on Cape Cod, schmoozed him up about how wonderful the weather was at that time of year, etc., etc. Then, acting as if it were perfectly natural for me to have access to The Star’s internal financial information, I got down to brass tacks. “Jim,” I said, “I’m looking at The Star’s financials and I’m amazed at how you were able to get newsprint costs down this year.” “Pretty good, aren’t they?” he blurted out in his east Texas drawl. Then he paused for about five seconds. “Hey, how the hell do you know that?” he bellowed. And that’s how I authenticated the information. To this day, I don’t know who sent it to me, but I’ve always thought that Hale was not entirely displeased I’d gotten my hands on it.
Dan Margolies
Dan — Two minutes ago, I rang off with Julius, who told me the story, exactly as you described it. What a great one! And I agree with you that Hale probably didn’t mind. He loved to brag about how successful The Star and Times were. I remember one time he and I were chatting about that subject generally, and he said, “Do you have any idea how much money we made last year?
“No,” I replied.
He opened his mouth as if to divulge the figure but then stopped and said, “Ah, I guess I’d better not say.”
I’m sure, back then, that it was in the tens of millions.
Ah, I still miss my days of tangling over Don Hoffman’s reviews for shows at the Nelson. And our long lunches that followed the arguments.
Don would have held his fire on the Bloch addition and reviewed it after it was finished instead of rushing to the premature judgment (put forth by some) that it looked like a Butler building.
Your column brought back a lot of great memories, Fitz! And if the person who sent Dan Margolies those top-secret Kansas City Star financials will now come forward and admit it, Dan and I will take that person out and treat him/her to a few rounds of drinks and many more delightful tales of yore. Come on folks, Which one of you did it?!!!
Fitz,
If I recall correctly, the information I got showed that The Star’s top-line revenue was some $90 million through November, which was when the document was produced. (I can’t remember the year, but Julius, who preserved my article as if it were a precious heirloom, could probably tell us.) Extrapolating from that, I calculated that The Star’s revenues for the entire year would easily exceed $100 million since December was by far the paper’s biggest advertising month in those halcyon days.
Breathtaking.
Larry Luper left the following comment, but I inadvertently trashed the entire comment while trying to edit it.
Here’s the edited version…
I remember how Mr. Hale and Tom Williams of Guranteed Foods used to battle every year at the American Royal Auction raising each other’s bid for the top steer.
Fitz, you were one of our best! Whether the paint on the windows needed a fresh coat or not.
Merry Christmas,
Larry
P.S. Merry Christmas to you, Larry. Sorry about the bad editing.
Dan, I think your article ran in the Business Journal in December 1992. But not only did I save that issue of the Biz Journal to preserve all that top-secret information – I presented it to you with great pomp and ceremony when I was laid off from the Star in 2008. Surely, surely you still have that, Dan. On the living room wall over the hearth, right?
Thank God you saved some of these treasures, Jullius, including this one — https://jimmycsays.com/2010/04/21/punch-sulzberger-speaks-from-out-of-the-past/ — in which Arthur Ochs Sulzberger pooh-poohed the prospects of the Internet in a 1994 speech in Kansas City.
You’re welcome, Fitz. The best part was that I totally scooped the Business Journal on that story. I think Dan was out making his courthouse rounds that night.
Nice reflections Fitz. I’m feeling a burning desire to go watch old episodes of Lou Grant on Hulu.
I think the Peter Principled Art Brisbane destroyed the Star and by extension began the downward spiral of Gotham on the plains.
I met a friend for drinks at Manny’s many years ago. As we were libating, a friend of his who worked at the Star happened by and joined us. Many drinks later he mentioned his unhappiness with the organization and mentioned a statement that Art Brisbane had made at a recent employee meeting. Art said, “it was not the job of the Star to report the news but to “shape” it”. Interpreted by the employee that meant that I, (Art), have an agenda and you will tailor your writing and reportage towards that.
I have heard that Mr. Brisbane fancies himself an intellectual. Unfortunately supposition of intellect has never been found as a substitute for the real thing, which is why common sense is not so “common”.
Social engineering is best left in the hands of God and not Publishers.
I don’t believe that Art said that, Smartman. Not at all. Didn’t happen, I can guarantee it…I’ve never heard a KC Star editor ever say anything like that, and if they did, there would be a revolt in the newsroom.
Art did have a vision for The Star, and part of that was to focus public attention on the crying need to improve the city’s core. He succeeded, and the core is a lot stronger than it was before he and Kay Barnes came into positions of power. He could “shape” the focus, as you say, through the editorial page; the editorial page editor — first Rich Hood, then Miriam Pepper — reported directly to him.
Also, Art is, indeed, an intellectual, Smartman. He’s a brilliant guy. I think you’re putting too much stock in what some disgruntled Star employee told you after emboldening himself with cocktails. There are lots of people out there who will tell you what they think will make them sound like authorities on any given subject.
Julius,
Problem is, I don’t have a hearth. Now that you mention it, I do recall your ceremonious presentation of the article to me. Unfortunately, I don’t recall where I put it.
Fitz,
I have known Donald Hoffmann for 40 of the 48 years that I have been on this planet. I still call him “Mr. Hoffmann”. I grew up across the street from him and two of his sons remain among my closest friends. He and my mother still live in their respective houses in Brookside. As you probably know, Mr. Hoffmann has never suffered fools gladly. We have spent many years exchanging stories about the newsroom and the people there. The one he mentions the most is Jim Fisher, who I never knew. He was certainly an institution and he would not be the least bit afraid to take on the likes of Mike Fannin.
Good addition to the Hoffmann part of the story, Mike.
(And thanks very much for very subtly correcting me on Donald’s last name. I went back in the text and added the second “n.”)
As for Fisher…what an unusual guy he was. Also brilliant, like Hoffmann and wrote some of the greatest human interest stories I ever came across. I remember one, in particular, in the early 70s, when he wrote about runaway kids at Christmas time. Very touching.
I remember another time, though, when he was “acting Sunday editor” on a day when it was snowing like hell — about six inches and rising. I barely made it to work, and after I had removed my golashes, coat, scarf and gloves and sat down at my desk, Fisher called out, “Hey, Fitz…car on fire at 22nd and Gillham. Go check it out.”
I couldn’t believe he was sending me out on a possible car fire in the snow. But I pulled on the boots and picked up my coat and headed for the door. When I got to Hospital Hill, there was nothing to be found — no car, no smoke, nothing. Just snow.
Driving back to the office, I thought, “This is it; I’m getting out of this business.”
Just for the record, Mr. Hoffmann’s last day at the paper was February 28, 1990, the last day the Kansas City paper consisted of both a morning edition in the form of The Times and an evening edition in the form of The Star. Mr. Hoffmann was one of eight employees who officially retired that day, Dad (“Nick” Nichols) being among the other seven. I never met Mr. Hale, of course, but I know that Dad was asked to pick him up at the airport on at least one occasion. At any rate, these are some great stories, Jim. To be sure, during these trying times in the newspaper industry The Star could really use a man (or woman) like Mr. Hale at the helm, a high-profile publisher who effectively delegates responsibility, makes sure the “ship” stays on course and is in good order 24/7, and inspires confidence in both his/her employees and, equally important, the general public.
Beautifully expressed, Rick…I don’t understand why your Dad would have be drafted into duty as Jim Hale’s chauffeur, though.
Also, I was trying to recall why The Star would have been buying out employees way back then, and you provided the answer.
Not to worry, Dan. You’ve probably got it stashed away with your weekend/holiday metro duty schedule. If you can’t find that call Bob Lynn. See you at Rosedale.
Fitz, with all due respect, downtown, the urban core, is a joke. Better? Perhaps in the way Stage 3 cancer is better than Stage 4, but nowhere near the economic juggernaut we were promised. Without unleashing my manifesto, the current utilization of downtown is regressive and a reflection of big ego, not good economics. The new “train” is another illustration of ego over economics. I really, really doubt that Jim Hale would have agreed with Art Brisbane’s “vision” for the Star or Kansas City.
Don Hoffman sent me this comment this morning, but he posted it on the “About Me” page. I’m taking the liberty of moving it…Here it is:
Hi, Jim — Michael Rice sent your piece on Hale to my son in Bermuda, who bounced it back to me. Thanks for such high praise. I often remember you telling me that you went to see Hale when I decided to quit. (No one else went to bat, and the late Joe McGuff, then the editor, told OJ not to try to talk me into staying on, because the next time I got mad I’d blame him for costing me what they considered a massive “buyout” sum of around $65,000.)
Remember that when they announced in 1989 they intended to collapse the two papers into one, they set up a question-line on the computers. I immediately wrote that “surely it won’t take an editorial staff of 300 people to put out one paper a day. When will you announce buyout offers?”
The late Jerry Heaster, a great guy, came right over and said I had just cooked my goose by merely hinting that I’d be interested in a buyout. It was such hypocrisy of The Star to expect total “loyalty” from employees but not to grant any loyalty in return.
Best wishes, Don Hoffman
Great to hear from you, Don…I have a “buyout story” myself. In the mid 2000s, I was ready for a buyout and thought surely one would come along after the announcement in March 2006 that McClatchy was buying the Knight Ridder papers, including The Star. After the announcement, then-McClatchy c.e.o. Gary Pruitt came to town and addressed us in the newsroom. Naturally, there was a big crowd, 100 or more people gathered around the elevated reception area in the newsroom. He talked about what a grand future he expected from the union of McClatchy and The Star. Then he asked if anyone had any questions. My hand shot up and he recognized me.
“Mr. Pruitt,” I said, “are there any plans for buyouts?”
Howls of laughter went up, partly because that subject was on a lot of people’s minds.
“Why, no,” Pruitt said, seemingly taken aback. “When we buy a property we do so in hopes of growing it, not cutting back.”
Then he paused and said, “Why do you ask…Were you hoping for one?”
More laughter.
“Well,” I said, “these last few years under Knight Ridder have been pretty tough.”
At that moment, though, I realized that I was going to have make my own arrangements, and three months later — in June, the same month the McClatchy deal closed — I retired.
Mr. Hoffmann: I came to work at the Kansas City Times as the real estate writer on the Times business desk in 1987. After you left the paper I came into possession of a book entitled “Kansas City, A Place in Time,” published by the Landmarks Commission of Kansas City in 1977. Your name, “D. Hoffmann, Esq..” is written in the upper right-hand corner of the title page. I brought the book home with me when I was laid off from the Star in 2008, and it has stood in my book shelf ever since. If you would like it back, please give me your address and I will mail it to you.
While not an ‘insider,’I found myself cutting up old jackpots yesterday morning with a family member of newspaper royalty. Ellen Butler called my place of business to inquire about kitchen counter top materials. During our chat, a reference to a movie quote revealed that Ellen’s husband is Robert Butler, and her father was Bill Vaughn. My favorite cousin was Don ‘Casey’ Jones, and I was an acquaintance of Hugh Hadley. That conversation prompted me to Google Don, and in doing so, I discovered this blog. Don loved the newspaper and all the characters with whom he worked. While not an insider, it has been fun being a bit of a voyeur in your world!
Very rare to come across a relative of Casey Jones; he had such a small family.
Great guy, he was, in my eyes, Chris. He hired me in the fall of 1969. When he would interview reportorial candidates, he would write on copy paper “half-sheets” with a blue, flair pen. It was one of his hallmarks. Also, he’d ask, “What books have you read lately,” and “What magazines do you read?” I’m convinced to this day that I got the job partly because I was a subscriber to and a regular reader of The New Yorker.
The last time I talked with him, as I recall, was when he was in a cancer hospital in Little Rock. I was down there to go to the races at Oaklawn Park, and I stopped in to see him. Before leaving I thanked him for hiring me and, in the process, giving me a lifetime job at The Star.
“Ah, Fitzpatrick,” he said, “you were one of the good hires.”
That was great to hear.
Although an only child, his family was actually quite large and gregarious. Most of us are convinced his ‘real’ family occupied a beautiful brick building at 18th and Grand. Still, he was very special to us and is sorely missed. I treasure spending time with him toward the end, and appreciate your apparent fondness and regard.
All the best.
I met Hale in 1977, when Cap Cities brought him here from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, [from which Wesley Turner just recently retired as publisher]. He brought Gerald Garcia with him. Gerald’s main function as assistant publisher (I think that was his title) was to trim excess people from the payroll to make the papers lean and mean. I started representing the Star in 1979. One of my first assignments was to defend a regulatory action by the EPA against the Star because it was discovered that we had polychlorinated biphenyls (a banned carcinogen) in some of the electrical transformers in the building. While this was going on, I was surprised to open the paper one morning to read a story about it in which an enterprising reporter (someone like you, Fitz) simply went around building interviewing anyone who knew anything about it. I complained to Hale, saying “Good Lord, when you are in litigation, it’s not a good idea to have your employees talking to the other side.” He told me there was not a damned he could do about it. “If I tried to tell a reporter what to write, they’ll all quit. You’ll just have to live with it the best you can.” We settled.
When the society editor, Elsie Allison was fired, she sued for age discrimination. We tried the case to a jury in federal court. Elsie’s lawyer tried to intimate that Hale was having an affair with a young, attractive anchor woman at one of the local television stations. She was married to another young, attractive anchorman who looked like a movie star. I had him sit on the front row while she testified. That killed their theory. All I had to say about that in closing was “Really?” Afterwards, Hale told me that he thought that was the first jury trial the Star had won in the last 40 years. I guess their losing streak started with the WDAF antitrust case. Hale always felt bad about firing her, and she literally, but unintentionally, haunted him: after that trial, he said he ran into her everywhere he went, and would see her driving down the street in her beat up old Thunderbird.
I do remember the episode in which O.J. got fired. Actually, O.J. tells this story better than anyone, and with a great deal of self-deprecation. There was another person, I can’t remember who, involved, but they were both sitting and Hale’s office when Hale said to Waller: “and these 2 assholes should be fired!” I think O.J. just kept coming to work until Hale started to speak to him again, as if nothing had happened.
I think the guy that asked you to leave the Chamber of Commerce Board meeting was Dino Agnos. Hale hated going to those meetings anyway and absolutely detested attending the dinners because everyone read their speeches. He thought if they were going to write the speeches out word for word ahead of time, they should just send them to him and he could read them in his spare time. The final straw was when they sent him a list of Chamber of Commerce members who were delinquent on their dues. He said, “They want me to call some guy that owns a body shop and tell him to pay his dues. Not gonna happen.” He would much rather sit around and drink Ushers Green Stripe Scotch with Charlie Price and John Latshaw, until he got a little put out with Latshaw who called to tell him that he had just bought the prize steer at the American royal and Hale owed him half.
Hale thought very highly of Arthur Brisbane. In 2000, when discussions began about the new production plant, Art asked me to handle the legal side. It was very clear that the paper could have saved $10-$15 million by building the plant in Lenexa, and Tony Ridder couldn’t understand why, from a business perspective, that wasn’t a no-brainer. Art stuck doggedly to his guns, reasoning that the paper had editorialized against urban sprawl and excessive economic incentives and that it would’ve been hypocritical in the extreme to just look at the bottom line. Furthermore, the incentive package that we finally negotiated was just enough to pay for the excessive costs for building the plant where it is today, which was very difficult. I told Art I could have negotiated a better deal, but he turned it down.
I agree with you that Hale was a character and a reporter’s publisher. That comes as no surprise given that he had about every job in the newspaper business as he rose through the ranks. He was also very successful. But let’s not forget that he took over the papers at a very opportune time when profits could be increased by adopting modern technology, eliminating the Times, and raising the price. Brisbane, on the other hand, had the misfortune of being at the helm when the Internet really began to take off.
Hale did two things that, while simple, exemplify his style: he had the first paper off the press delivered to his door every morning and he signed every non-payroll check. More later, when I get time.