Editorial: 137 and still serving Sonoma Valley

Would you believe that the Sonoma Index-Tribune is 137 years old? It was founded in 1878 and changed owners and editors many times before my great-grandfather, Harry Granice, bought it in 1884.

From 1884 to 2012, nearly 130 of those years, the I-T was owned and edited by members of my family, including my tenure there for more than 45 years.

That run ended, I thought, two years ago, when my brother Jim and I, realizing none of our children were interested in carrying on the family business, sold the newspaper and Sonoma Magazine to our friends and fellow Sonomans, Darius and Sarah Anderson.

Several months after purchasing the I-T, Darius put together a small group of investors, including several local residents, to buy the Press Democrat and Argus Courier. This Sonoma Media group has been the owner of the I-T since then.

Fast forward to this week and here I am, in a seat I thought was no longer mine.

I was happily retired. Dottie and I enjoy spending time with our four children and seven grandchildren. We travel, and do some fly-fishing. I volunteer for some local nonprofits and write columns for the I-T.

So what happened? Why am I back, albeit only for a short time?

The short answer is David Bolling, my friend, colleague, and successor at the helm of the paper, decided to resign. David had his reasons and it is not for me to comment on them. David is a good man, a true Sonoman, one of the best journalists I’ve ever known, and was the I-T’s very capable and dedicated editor for nearly a decade.

My preference was that he remain the paper’s editor, and I stay happily retired. The title Publisher Emeritus suited me just fine.

But we don’t always get what we want,

So here I am, back at the editors desk at the request of my friend, Darius, who believes, as do I, that the incredible run of Sonoma Valley’s newspaper must continue, through good times and bad, from editor to editor.

No matter what, this newspaper, which has for 137 years served Sonoma Valley, my birthplace and home, will carry on.

That said, I’m a little rusty. I’m grateful to have some longtime I-T staffers like Mikki Finn, Bill Hoban, Robbi Pengelly, Steve Serafini and Yvonne Soto-Pomeroy still here to stand with me. We also have a talented team of newer staffers who I will get to know.

I will need them all, plus the patience and support of our readers, to help guide the I-T through this challenging and, I hope, brief transition.

Suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

My email is blynch@sonomanews.com.