CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When John Veasey starts his day at the Times West Virginian newsroom, it hardly ever goes according to plan.
“I walk in and before I can make a phone call, someone calls me. I’m here about a minute, and I get a phone call. I might plan on something and get it done later or last or put it down until tomorrow.”
This is the last day for Veasey’s plans to delightfully come undone.
Veasey is retiring as editor emeritus after more than 58 years, although he’ll keep writing his popular “Notebook” column once a week.
“I’ll miss the association with people,” he said Thursday. “I always consider myself a people person, and people call me at least once a month or every two months. People come in all the time. I’ve made a lot of friends that way over the years.”
Veasey started in the sports department at Fairmont’s West Virginian afternoon newspaper on Oct. 3, 1958, fresh out of West Virginia University.
By 1970, he was managing editor of the morning Fairmont Times, and when the two newspapers combined in 1976 as the Times West Virginian, he was at the helm as editor.
The current Times West Virginian staff — challenged by math as many journalists are — endeavored to calculate that Veasey has played a major role in 22,000 editions of the paper.
“John Veasey’s career is a true representation of the generations of editors, columnists and journalists who made community newspapers invaluable in West Virginia,” said Don Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Press Association.
“Many of the great things that have happened in Fairmont — and in other similar communities around the state — became a reality because they were championed by writers such as John Veasey.”
With community spirit and an outlet to express it, Veasey spearheaded events still remembered and admired:
- a welcome home for local troops coming home from Desert Storm, along with 10,000 attendees
- an “Adopt Marion County” project to benefit counties of that name in Iowa and Missouri after they were ravaged by floods
- a project to collect money for what became “For the Kids Soccer Complex,” which now hosts thousands of players, parents and fans
“I think John really has a heart for the community and community service,” said longtime West Virginia business journalist George Hohmann, who worked with Veasey in at least three phases of life and who was, at one point, Veasey’s brother-in-law.
“He feels the newspaper can do things that might otherwise fall through the cracks. Instead of wishing somebody would do it, he would get it to happen.”
Veasey might be best known in the Fairmont area for his daily “Notebook” column, which features tidbits of community life.
The column — plus a chance to just to chat with Veasey — are why he gets all those calls and visits.
“It was Facebook before Facebook existed,” said Misty Poe, the current editor and general manager of the Times West Virginian.
“We get telephone calls all the time, people stop by — ‘Hey, can we get this in John’s column?’ It’s community journalism. We’ll continue that on Sundays, and we think it’s important to do that — that dialogue with our readers.”
Veasey says he’ll be writing the column — just once a week now rather than seven days a week — from his home.
“Go on the computer, push the button that says ‘send’ and send it down there,” he said.
Simple as that. But without as many wonderful interruptions.