40-plus years on the job

He's turned molten lead into newsprint and keystrokes into the same. That's the umbrella that John Elliott has worked under and created in the 40-plus years at the Northern Wyoming Daily News. Elliott retired Thursday.

Elliott started at the Daily News as a printer's devil. "That meant you did all the dirty work," he said, adding it was all part of being an apprentice.

His work in the newspaper business didn't start with the Daily News. At age 14, he began working for a newspaper in Yukon, Okla.

He was born in Canada, grew up mostly in Montana and then the family moved from Oklahoma to Wyoming. "My parents were divorced and my mom's second husband was in the newspaper business. He took a job at the Daily News," Elliott said.

When a job came up his senior year of high school a teacher recommended he apply. "I started the last week of high school," he said. "I've come and gone a few times over the last 46 years." If you add it up, he said it amounts to just over 44 years.

Elliott said he had many mentors while working at the Daily News - Peary Gaskill, Bill Frederick (who eventually became publisher of the Daily News), Nash Mercado and Vince Tonkovich.

He started with the letterpress, worked on Linotype, offset press, CompuGraphic typesetters and eventually to PCs with all layout and typesetting being done on the computer.

He said working as a pressman apprentice he learned how to repair the Linotype machines, and since he was repairing them he wanted to learn how to use them.

"It was basically typesetting. The title has changed a number of times. I don't feel like I'm a graphic artist," Elliott said of his final title and role at the Daily News that included designing ads, laying out legals, comics, stocks and classifieds.

"The first 20-25 years I was excited to go to work. We had 16 people in our department. Now there's Jane (Elliott) and I and two pressmen.

"Basically the business has outgrown me. It's not as fun anymore," Elliott said, but added that the people at the Daily News are "great" and he has enjoyed working with them all.

Elliott talks fondly of the Linotype days. "When we gave a tour it was great. Everything had moving parts," he said.

He added, "We had four Linotype machines; three just for news copy, and we had one on the end with multiple keyboards and about eight different fonts. If you wanted to change fonts you had to literally take this magazine that weighed about 50 pounds and replace it with another," he said.

The editors would hand them the story. They would typeset it with the linotype, then form the page.

The next day the lead from the previous day would be melted down to be used again.

He remembered one time when Tonkovich was gone and he and Mercado were handling the pages. Mercado was casting the plate for the press and Elliott was to "do the rest of it." He went through the process of tailing, routing and cooling the plate. When it was in the sink to cool he noticed a sunken spot which would have left a blank spot on the page. He moved it to the pile of used lead. He said he told Mercado not to use it since it was wet, but he must not have heard him.

He said Mercado put the plate in the 700 degree molten lead vat and "it exploded," fortunately Mercado only suffered a few burns where drops of lead landed on his arms and face.

"I couldn't help but laugh when he turned around and looked at me. I felt horrible but there was solid lead all the way down him. I felt bad for laughing. We immediately got cold water on him," Elliott said.

Elliott has come through his newspaper days pretty much unscathed. "The worst I had, a few years ago I noticed a bump (pointing to his left bicep)." It turned out to be a piece of lead about a quarter-inch long. He said they used to use a table saw to cut the lead the right lengths and he believes a piece of lead shaving must have got in his arm without him ever realizing it.

A hot lead printer, he said, was a specialized position. "You could get a job as a hot lead printer anywhere in the country. Now with desktop publishing everyone has become an expert."

What's next? First is a trip to Sturgis, S.D., something he has done every year since 1997, except last year. He said he is excited for this year as he is meeting some photography friends at Sturgis as well as this being the 75th anniversary of the motorcycle rally there.

"I'm going to enjoy my free time. I like to shoot photos and travel and ride my motorcycle," Elliott said.

He and his wife Ruth have two sons, Gabe and John Jr., both of Worland, and they have seven grandchildren.