Jawin'

About the Book

John Whalen recalls an occasion when, at about the age of seven, he went about his childhood domain in Elma, Iowa, with tablet in hand seeking out news for his single-issue: “Home Newspaper.” By the time he had reached high school, he was writing a school column for the home town newspaper, The Elma New Era, and serving as area correspondent for the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Next came Loras College at Dubuque, editorship of the student newspaper, The Lorian, and membership on the staff of the Purgold, the college yearbook.

Through it all, he fostered an abiding desire to own his own weekly newspaper, stoked by the fiery editorials and civic leadership of the home town editor, Frank Howard, and the encouragement of his high school English teacher, Sister M. Lorenz, and his freshman English professor at college, the Rev. William Rowan, who was also the outspoken editorial writer for The Witness, official newspaper of the archdiocese of Dubuque.

During the severe economic impact of the Great Depression and its long-drawn-out aftermath, Whalen worked for others on weekly and daily newspapers for years before finally being able to buy a viable newspaper of his own, the Tyndall, South Dakota, Tribune and Register. He immediately had an artist draw up a heading for the column, called Jawin’, based on his initials: J. A. W. Throughout the subsequent ownership of five other newspapers, Jawin’ was his trademark, appearing with reasonable consistency on the left hand column of the front page of all his papers. In it, he reminisced about days gone by, he enthused or grieved over the fortunes and misfortunes of his readers, he shared with them the comings and goings of the Whalen clan, he explained policies of the paper. He cajoled and flattered civic leaders in the interest of community progress, he editorialized, he shard snippets of homey poetry which he liked, likewise prose by other columnists and family members.

Now, a decade after his retirement, J. A. W. selects a sampling of his favorite columns to share with you.

About the Author