The closing of a door

By Mike VanBuren
From the Late September 2014 edition of The North Woods Call

     Dreams die hard.
     Such is the case for our grand experiment in publishing The North Woods Call.
   Owning the publication has been a dream of mine since I was a boy—one that serendipitously came to pass a few years ago, following the death of longtime publisher Glen Sheppard.
     I figured we could make a go of it and I’m pleased with our progress over the past 24 months.  Yet, that’s a rather short run if you consider The Call’s 61-plus year legacy.
       A couple more years and some additional financial resources would likely boost our chances for success.
      If only we could keep at it.
     But sometimes the master of the universe has other plans.
      The dream began to fade a bit last year when a medical scare put me in the hospital for a couple of days—staring at my own mortality.  But that was minor compared to what happened next.
     My mother’s unexpected illness and subsequent death last December changed a lot of things about our world and forced our family to pay greater attention to numerous things we would rather not confront.  Now my wife’s life-threatening cancer struggle has further driven us to re-examine priorities and time commitments.
     Like it or not, I must—for the forseeable future—expand my role as caregiver, and tend to myriad other personal and family obligations that have come my way.
     This is not to complain.  There are still many blessings in our lives for which I am thankful.  But circumstances dictate that I free up some time and sidestep the relentless deadlines that come with owning and operating a small newspaper.
    It’s a stab in the heart on numerous levels, but something that has to be done.
     It could be that the glory days of print publishing were already long past by the time we purchased The North Woods Call in 2012 and set about trying to resurrect it.  The Internet and associated information revolution—not to mention the rapidly changing habits and preferences of information consumers—have already kicked many once-proud publications in the teeth and forced some of them out-of-business.
     While we still believe there is a niche for a specialty publication like The North Woods Call, we have nevertheless witnessed declining readership trends, and the disturbing tendency of citizens and public servants to turn away from voices that cry in the wilderness, but don’t necessarily reflect the prevailing “wisdom” of the chattering crowd.
     Still, it’s important that these voices be heard and we hope this newspaper can—in the near future—continue to be one that helps inject truth and sanity back into the civic debate.
     Until further notice, however, we’ll be out to pasture with other retired race horses—still writing and working on special projects, I expect, but looking over the proverbial fence just the same.
     When I first approached the late Mary Lou Sheppard about buying The Call after Shep’s untimely death, she looked at me incredulously.
     “Why would you want to take on all that work?” she asked.
     I guess because it’s good work, I told her, and something that can keep me occupied and make a difference.
     Today, I find myself pulled toward more ominous activities that also promise to keep me occupied and make a difference.  I don’t know where this journey will lead, but it’s a road I must follow.
     Such is the fate of dreamers, I suppose, particularly those whose fantasies aren’t fulfilled until later in life.
    I trust that those of you who love The North Woods Call as much as I do will understand the painful urgency of this decision.