Guest Opinion: Fond thoughts about the Almanac, and Carol Ivie Guest Opinion: Fond thoughts about the Almanac, and Carol Ivie (June 29, 2005)

By Bill Lane

For some time I have been doodling with a draft for a very sincere thank you to the Almanac for its unique and quality role with editorial and advertising content.

In my book, and experience with media, it is an exceptionally fine local community newspaper. And Carol Ivie's sudden death now adds a sad priority to include with my thoughts.

For many years, Sunset hosted the California Newspaper Editors Conference held at Stanford. Along with my travels throughout the West, this gives me a pretty good basis for judgment of weekly community newspapers. My wife and I encouraged the three founders, Hedy Boissevain, Betty Fry and Jean Heflin, to tackle the job and launch the Country Almanac on a shoestring.

We, and many others, felt the need to address the bonding benefits of a really local newspaper vis-a-vis the excellent and more widely circulated Palo Alto Times. Also, the Times' competitiveness with other newspapers prompted a penchant for inflaming controversy by accentuating the negative in a normal democratic debate.

And, we did indeed have lots of controversy over incorporation of the Town of Portola Valley and our tough ordinances for rural open space development. We wanted families to have current and accurate information -- rather than word-of-mouth, which often carried unfounded rumors and factual inaccuracies. We needed a reliable, tangible, local "voice" to report about incorporation, school, church, children's athletics, and other activities, and in the process help our families work together as a well-informed community.

And in my book, the infant Country Almanac and the newer version, with broader editorial coverage and a shorter name, has done just that. The paper has maintained a level of quality, accuracy, and broad community coverage, with a high batting average of excellent editorial content and helpful advertising information for local businesses. Realistically, in a democracy, of course, there are always differences of opinion that should be reported.

Carol Ivie was a remarkable example of those qualities with a very warm and cheerful human, creative touch. And, I feel those qualities, in different ways, have been shared by countless correspondents, photographers, and others on the staff over the years. I also include the current and past owners that set the boundaries, policies, and character of the publication.

Print media has a long life of usefulness and easy tangible reference, such as a September 21, 1983 photograph I have in a file of me taken by Carol Ivie. It accompanied a very accurate and interesting article (at least I thought so!) by still active Jane Knoerle about my efforts to help restore the historic Red Barn at the Stanford Equestrian Center. Without this work, the Loma Prieta earthquake a few years later would surely have shaken it down and the last historic icon of the world famous Palo Alto Stock Farm would have been lost forever.

Carol's unique qualities and skills, in one way or another, are reflected in diverse ways with a long list of Almanac members working together. That synergy of 1 + 1 equals 4 or more, when a team effort is the modus operandi, helped Sunset Magazine and Books grow and prosper while constantly adapting to changes in the dynamic western market.

My wife and I agree with all the thoughts that have been published in the Almanac about Carol Ivie by management and fellow staff members (always an enviable compliment), and many readers that knew her personally or admired and appreciated her creative photography. In a far more peaceful and local environment, she ranks with Life's Margaret Bourke-White's unique qualities of World War II wartime photography.

Bill Lane lives in Portola Valley and is the former publisher of Sunset Magazine.

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