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best reporter, said he has no plans for fetirement./ “What would 1 do? This is' Pot only my business, it's my hobby,” he said.; Ranchers and residents in outlying districts will be glad to hear it. They rely on the paper for a weekly summary of county happenings. Urban readers depend on the International’s personal columns to keep them informed as to Who has been where doing What.“People call the personals corny,” Pottinger said. “But that’s what they like to read.”Fladenna,Dillurer Rtpublto Phot* tor Alma itotfyCraig Pottinger Sr. behind newspaper deskLTintheala.nele:IIHe should know. Circulation figures have been highly satisfactory since tht paper first made its appearance at 7:10 a.m. May 25,1925.Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of that event. It was also the birthday of Craig Pottinger Jr.“That was a pretty hectic night,” Pottinger recalled. “Craig was born just before dayligh^ but somehow we managed to get the paper oilt before breakfast.”3a ]Trcavaonsher:urtobrarwPitoC(inA framed copy of that first issue greets visitors just inside the door of the unpretentious front office. Pictures of several U.S. presidents and other federal and state officials decorate the walls, many of them autographed.Arizona Democrat in Phoenix in 1010. He was hired for six weeks, he said, to replace the Democrat’s regular reporter, Sidney P. Osborn, who was covering the Arizona Constitutional Convention.Osborn never came back. Instead, he became Arizona’s first secretary of state and, eventually, a governor of the state. Pottinger stayed on until the heat got him.gales Herald, and Sisk offered him a job as city editor. Pottinger never went back to Phoenix.After 1% years on the Herald, he landed a job with the Arizona Daily Star of Tucson, working as their Nogales correspondent, circulation manager and collection agent.(1ccdPCtIAn aisle between a big double desk and a glass-enclosed linotype machine leads to the press room. The desk is bare except for a telephone.Pottinger, slim and neat in a jacket and tie, stands behind the high counter. Wearing a hat, he appears to have just dropped in on his way to some other appointment.During that period, he met and married Sarah Louise White, a Kentuckian and daughter of the local sheriff.One of his assignments was to walk from the old Ford Hotel in Phoenix to the State House in the wake of Arizona’s first governor, George P. Hunt, and his inaugural party-That was oil Feb. 14, 1912, the original Arizona Admission Day. Amid all the excitement, Pottinger was able to note that the city streets definitely needed improving.She encouraged him to accept a friend's offer to loan him 2111the down payment if he would take over the printing plant of the defunct Oasis and start a weekly paper.Scenting a story, be produces a pad. A blunt-pointed pencil appears. He writes across the page and around the margins. Before the visitor leaves, the story is written and filed out of sight.“Started writing when I was in grammar school back in Indiana,” he said.Born in New Hope, Ky., Pottinger was brought up by his grandmother, who later encouraged him to join her and another member of the family in Phoenix.“Hottest plpce in the world then,” he said. “No coolers.Pottinger said the most exciting event of his career was the 60-day Sonoran revolution in 1929.“Reporters were here from all over the United States,” he said. “The rebels had an air force of one plane. Kept it based in Naco.“I helped lead the fight for paved streets in Phoenix.” he recalled. “Did it agaik in Flagstaff. Did the same thing here in Nogales,”- he said.Sidewalks were paved when he came here in 1921, he said, but the streets were in prettybad shap.Pottinger had come“Each day, when they took off, Naco would, wire an alert and we-’d all pile out to watch the bombing. They never did any damage. After the raid we’d go over and pick up the bomb fragments for souvenirs.Couldn’t stand it. Went up to down with a party to cele-Flagstaff. Started the North- brate in Nogales, Sonora. Hesaid he doesn’t remember just what they were celebrat-He was introduced to the late Hanson Ray Sisk,publislier-editor of the No-ern Arizona Leader. Couldn’t stand the cold winters. Finally came hack to Phoenix and The Gazette.”Only person ever- killed was a woman from across the line. Ran half way down Morley Avenue and fell over. Scared to death.” /litPottinger started with thePottinger has always been faithful to the Democratic .Party.#He was county chairman for 19 years and attended five national conventions as a delegate from Arizona.Oak Creek couple ived 50 yearsSEDONA - Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Mott of Indian Springs, Oak Creek Canyon,celebrated their 50th wedding . . ‘*~ahnivefearywas appointedtura, ,Cali«^;.^uotoag;- U.S. .collector of Customs for19a), in-- the di^tric of Arizona by ■f former' -President Harry S.g to Sedona, *. Truman.- •' yto Ramsey, S- —-—marriedPhoenix;1'
Newspaper Details
Phoenix Arizona Republic
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Tue, May 26, 1970
Page 21
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
AZ, USA 05 Oct 2018
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