1993: The year the Light went out
Robert Kolarik
Jan. 26, 2013 Updated: Jan. 28, 2013 11:39 a.m.
1of1551989 photograph of the San Antonio Light building on Broadway and McCullough. The photograph was taken by former Light staff photographer James Blaylock.James Blaylock/Light file photoShow MoreShow Less
To mark the 20th anniversary of the San Antonio Light's last edition on Jan. 28, 1993, we've combed through the archives to bring you 100 Light covers chronicling historic events from the 19th and 20th centuries. Enjoy! Compiled by Merrisa Brown, mySA.com.
Warning: Some words used on older newspapers are considered offensive today. Note: Dates are the date of the San Antonio Light edition, not necessarily the event.
Sources: San Antonio Light archives, Handbook of Texas Online, Texas Transportation Museum, San Antonio River Walk, Fairmount Hotel and Wikipedia.
San Antonio Express-News photo illustrationShow MoreShow Less
THURSDAY, JAN. 20, 1881: In James P. Newcomb's first edition of the Evening Light, he promises readers the paper "shall tread on old toes; we shall cry aloud and spare not."
San Antonio Light archivesShow MoreShow Less
SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1898: The United States celebrates after Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, who trained in San Antonio, are victorious at San Juan Hill, a decisive battle in the Spanish-American War, which ended nearly two months later.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 14, 1901: "The President is Dead," the San Antonio Daily Light declared, after William McKinley, who was shot in July, succumbs to his assassin's bullet.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1906: News of the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fires in San Francisco hits San Antonio. About 3,000 people died in the disaster.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1909: San Antonio was excited for the Battle of Flowers Parade, the first to feature the Order of the Alamo.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1910: Thousands flock to Fort Sam Houston to witness the first U.S. flight of a military-owned plane, piloted by Lt. Benjamin Foulois.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1911: Lt. George Kelly, "killed by fall from aeroplane," becomes the first military pilot killed in a plane crash. Later, Kelly AFB is named for him.
MONDAY, MARCH 18, 1912: Twenty-six people die when a Southern Pacific Railroad locomotive's boiler explodes at the roundhouse in San Antonio.
TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1912: News of the Titanic's casualties reaches San Antonio. The day before, the San Antonio Light received an early report that most of the passengers were saved. However, more than 1,500 people would die in one of the world's largest and best known maritime disasters.
FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1915: Americans are killed when the Lusitania is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat during World War I. The ship's sinking fueled calls for American involvement in the war.
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1917: The United States declares war on Germany, officially joining World War I.
MONDAY, NOV. 11, 1918: A cease fire ends the fighting in World War I. The Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war, would be signed six months later.
THURSDAY, OCT. 9, 1919: The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago White Sox in Game 8 to win the 1919 World Series. Soon after, scandal rocked the nation when it was learned that eight players from the White Sox — dubbed the Black Sox — threw the game (or knew about the fix). The eight would received lifetime bans from professional baseball.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 10, 1921: The San Antonio Light fills the entire front page with news of the most disastrous flood in the history of San Antonio, in which about 50 people would die. The Light reports the flood, "which comes without warning after cloudburst in Olmos Valley ... floods business district for many blocks while San Pedro and Alazan creeks sweep wide path through West Side residence district ... thousands rescued by police, firemen, soldiers and volunteer workers."
FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1923: Pancho Villa, hero of the Mexican Revolution, is killed in an ambush.
MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1924: William Randolph Hearst, called the "world's greatest publisher," buys the San Antonio Light on May 25, 1924. This is the Light's first edition as a Hearst newspaper, with a photo of a "fearless maid" who "battled tide to save two lives."
THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1924: Lt. Stewart L. Thomson, a pilot, is killed when two planes collide at 1,300 feet at Kelly AFB. Jose Maria Ramos, an 11-year-old boy who was chopping cotton, is crushed when the wreckage falls to the ground. The other pilot, Lt. W.W. White, is able to parachute to safety.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5, 1924: Miriam "Ma" Ferguson is elected the first female governor of Texas. Ma promises voters she will follow the advice of her husband, former Gov. Jim Ferguson, who resigned the office after he was impeached and convicted of 10 counts, including misapplication of public funds.
SUNDAY, MAY 21, 1927: Charles Lindbergh is hailed by a cheering crowd in France after completing the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight. Meanwhile, in San Antonio, the father of 16-year-old Alicia Estrada del Campo seeks an annulment of her marriage to pilot Capt. Elisco M. del Campo.
THURSDAY, FEB. 14, 1929: Seven Chicago mobsters are killed by a firing squad in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. Al Capone's gang is known to be responsible for the attack, but no one is ever tried or convicted for the crime.
FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1930: Thousands flock to Randolph Field for the field's dedication, which includes maneuvers by 233 planes. At the time, the so-called "West Point of the Air" is the world's largest air field and training center.
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1932: The body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., son of pilot and national hero Charles Lindbergh, is found in the woods near the Lindbergh home two months after he was kidnapped. President Herbert Hoover orders law enforcement "never to be relaxed until those criminals are implacably brought to justice." Bruno Hauptmann would be executed for the crime in 1936.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 15, 1933: Beer from San Antonio's Pearl Brewery hits the streets at 12:01 a.m. as prohibition is finally lifted in the Alamo City.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1934: Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker's murder and robbery spree ends when they are killed by a Texas posse's ambush in Louisiana.
MONDAY, JULY 23, 1934: Bank robber John Dillinger is killed in front Biograph Theater in Chicago after a tip from girlfriend.
FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1937: A natural gas explosion at the New London School in Rusk County, Texas, kills nearly 300 students and teachers. It remains the deadliest school disaster in U.S. history. The disaster lead the Texas Legislature to mandate a scent be added to natural gas, which was odorless and colorless, so leaks could be detected.
FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1937: The German airship the Hindenburg catches fire, killing 35 people. The event is caught on film, and the phrase, "Oh, the humanity!" cried by radio announcer Herbert Morrison becomes a pop culture staple.
SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1937: Pilot Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, goes missing over the Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world. She and navigator Fred Noonan are never seen or heard from again. Meanwhile, Elmendorf farmer Frank Mitchell is accused of hitching his 14-year-old son to a plow.
MONDAY, OCT. 31, 1938: Orson Welles' fictional alien invasion radio broadcast, "War of the Worlds," causes panic across the United States.
MONDAY, DEC. 8, 1941: After Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,400, the United States declares war, officially entering World War II. In San Antonio, the Light reports, "before dawn Monday, men stood in line at Army and Navy recruitment stations."
50of155TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1944:
Allied forces invade the beaches in Normandy, France, in the operation known as D-Day. It turned the tide toward an Allied victory in World War II.
52of155TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1945:
Germany surrenders to the Allies in World War II. In San Antonio, the Light reported, "there were a few loud yelps and rebel yells as sirens blared at 8:05 a.m. while President Truman was broadcasting over the radio that the Germans had surrendered unconditionally," but otherwise the city "took V-E Day calmly and formally."
53of155MONDAY, AUG. 6, 1945:
The United States drops the first of two atomic bombs on Japan, in Hiroshima. A headline in the Light declares the weapon to be the equivalent of "20,000 tons TNT." A second bomb would be dropped on Nagasaki three days later.
55of155TUESDAY, SEPT. 14, 1945:
Japan accepts the terms of surrender, ending the fighting in World War II.
56of155FRIDAY, SEPT. 27, 1946:
Several people are killed when San Antonio floods, but the bypass channels of the River Walk prevent catastrophic damage. "At Market and Cass streets," the Light reports, "a home was lifted from its foundations and at 9 a.m. began to float down Alazan Creek."
58of155THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1947:
A fire aboard a ship in the Port of Texas City detonates ammonium nitrate, resulting in a chain of fires and explosions that kills more than 575 people, in the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history.
59of155MONDAY, JULY 11, 1949:
Texas Gov. Beauford Jester dies aboard a train, becoming the first and only Texas governor to die in office.
61of155SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 1950:
North Korea invades South Korea, beginning the Korean War.
62of155TUESDAY, AUG. 14, 1951:
San Antonio Light publisher William Randolph Hearst dies. Maj. Gen. Clements McMullen, commander of the San Antonio Air Materiel Area, says "the tragic news of the death of Mr. Hearst leaves us with a profound sense of grief and regret. As one of the foremost publishers and exponents of a safe America through adequate air power, his loss to the country and to its defense is inestimable. He was truly a great American."
64of155TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1953:
Martial law is ordered after more than 100 are killed by a tornado in Waco. In San Antonio, residents were on edge as tornado conditions were forecast for the area.
65of155FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1953:
The U.S. Supreme Court refuses a stay of execution for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. They are put to death later the same day.
67of155MONDAY, MAY 17, 1954:
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., that separate in education is not equal, beginning the integration of schools around the country.
68of155TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1955:
Dr. Jonas Salk unveils his polio vaccine, which will nearly eradicate the disease in the United States.
70of155SATURDAY, SEPT. 24, 1955:
Half-brothers Roy Bryant and John Milam of Mississippi are found innocent by a white, male jury in the murder of Emmitt Till, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago. Anger over the trial's verdict — and the pair's confession to the murder in a magazine interview the next year — is a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Meanwhile, in San Antonio, a gasoline leak from a nearby tank truck causes an explosion at police headquarters. No one is hurt.
71of155SATURDAY, OCT. 1, 1955:
Actor James Dean dies in a car accident in California, as San Antonian Audie Winfred Smith becomes the Alamo City's 44th traffic death of the year.
The world swoons as actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.
74of155WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25, 1957:
President Dwight Eisenhower dispatches federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., to enforce integration at Little Rock Central High School, after nine black students are denied entry by Gov. Orval Faubus and the Arkansas National Guard. In San Antonio, 50 streets were closed due to flooding after the city received several inches of rain over the week.
The Soviet Union launches a satellite Sputnik. "Roy Hutchenson, KTSA radio engineer," the Light reported, said "he had heard the radio signals he believed to have emanated from" Sputnik at 10:56 p.m. Friday.
77of155TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1962:
Three convicts — Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin — escape from Alcatraz on a raft after breaking out of the prison through a tunnel dug with a spoon. They are never seen again, and it's unknown if they survived.
The death of actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe shocks the nation. Meanwhile, San Antonio was two weeks into a heat wave.
80of155SATURDAY, OCT. 27, 1962:
The United States turns down a deal from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to end the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis. The next day, Kennedy and Khrushchev reach an agreement to end the standoff.
82of155WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28, 1963:
Hundreds of thousands participate in the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
83of155MONDAY, SEPT. 16, 1963:
Four girls are killed in an explosion at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., a racially motivated act of terrorism. The deaths of the children help the nation realize the seriousness of the Civil Rights Movement.
85of155FRIDAY, NOV. 22, 1963:
Thousands greet President John F. Kennedy as he visits San Antonio to deliver a speech at Brooks AFB. It is his last speech.
86of155SATURDAY, NOV. 23, 1963:
President John F. Kennedy is killed and Texas Gov. John Connally is wounded when they are shot by Lee Harvey Oswald during a motorcade through Dallas' Dealey Plaza. "They killed the man I loved," one San Antonio woman cried, according to the Light.
The crash of Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 kills 118, but in San Antonio, high school football fans are talking about the bi-district game between Lee and Brackenridge. Lee won the match, which would be dubbed "The Game of the Century" by the Dallas Morning News, 55-48.
89of155THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1965:
San Antonio native Ed White, an astronaut on Gemini 4, becomes the first American to walk in space.
91of155WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1965:
Remarking "this is war," President Lyndon B. Johnson orders 50,000 more troops to Vietnam, marking the beginning of the United States' full-scale war.
92of155TUESDAY, AUG. 2, 1966:
Fourteen people are killed and 32 are injured when University of Texas student Charles Whitman goes on a shooting rampage in and atop of the UT Tower. Whitman also killed his wife and mother before climbing the tower.
94of155FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1968:
Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tenn.
95of155SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 1968:
First Lady Lady Bird Johnson opens HemisFair, the official 1968 world's exhibition, in San Antonio.
97of155WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1968:
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is shot by Sirhan Sirhan. He dies the next day.
98of155SUNDAY, JULY 20, 1969:
Sen. Ted Kennedy crashes his car, killing his secretary Mary Jo Kopechne.
100of155MONDAY, JULY 21, 1969:
President Richard Nixon and the rest of the country watch as Neil Armstrong takes the first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Unable to contain the news to the regular edition, the San Antonio Light prints a "Lunar Extra" later in the day.
101of155SUNDAY, AUG. 10, 1969:
Actress Sharon Tate, heiress Abigail Folger and three others are killed at director Roman Polanski's home in Los Angeles. Although William Garretson is initially accused of the crime, it is later proved to be the work of Charles Manson and his followers.
103of155THURSDAY, NOV. 25, 1971:
Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachutes off a plane en route from Seattle to Reno after stealing $200,000. He and the money have never been found, and investigation into the hijacking is ongoing.
104of155TUESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1972:
Members of the Israeli Olympic team are taken hostage at the Summer Games in Munich. Eventually, 11 team members and a German police officer are killed by the Palestinian terror group Black September.
106of155TUESDAY, JAN. 23, 1973:
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson dies en route to Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio.
107of155SUNDAY, JAN. 28, 1973:
A cease fire ends fighting in the Vietnam War. San Antonian Adlyn Wilson told the Light that her husband, Maj. Glenn Wilson, had been confirmed as a prisoner of war and would be coming home soon. "I'll still be waiting, but this time it's happy waiting," Wilson said. "I've been waiting for years. This time a few weeks or months isn't going to be anything."
109of155FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 1973:
Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match in Houston.
110of155THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1974:
A warrant is issued for kidnapping victim Patty Hearst, granddaughter of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, after a security camera captures her robbing a bank in San Francisco with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Meanwhile in San Antonio, two guards at the Bexar County Jail were overpowered, gagged and bound by up to a dozen inmates in what prisoners called "a joke."
112of155SUNDAY, AUG. 4, 1974:
Four are dead after an 11-day siege at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary led by inmate Fred Gomez Carrasco.
113of155THURSDAY, AUG. 8, 1974:
It is announced that President Richard Nixon will resign amid the Watergate scandal. In San Antonio, more than five inches of rain lead to flooding in the city.
115of155SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 1976:
Kidnapping victim Patty Hearst, granddaughter of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, is convicted of bank robbery in San Francisco. Four out of six San Antonians polled tell the Light she received a fair trial and "will never see a day in prison." In fact, Hearst will end up serving 22 months.
116of155WEDNESDAY, AUG. 17, 1977:
Radio stations around the world pay tribute after Elvis Presley is found dead.
118of155TUESDAY, OCT. 17, 1978:
The Catholic Church makes history by selected Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland, a Communist-controlled country, as the next pope, John Paul II. San Antonio Archbishop Francis J. Furey told the Light he was not surprised the next pope will not be an Italian. "The pope is an international figure," Furey said.
119of155MONDAY, NOV. 20, 1978:
Members of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple in Guyana commit a mass suicide, resulting in more than 900 dead. In San Antonio, hundreds mourned the death of slain San Antonio Police Officer Bernabe Salazar, who was killed during a narcotics raid Thursday.
121of155SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1979:
Two are killed and more than 50 are injured when Ira Attebury opens fire at Broadway and Grayson during the Battle of Flowers Parade. Attebury then apparently took his own life.
122of155TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1979:
U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. is assassinated near his home in San Antonio. Wood is the first federal judge killed in the 20th Century. Hitman Charles Harrelson, estranged father of actor Woody Harrelson, is later convicted of the murder.
124of155MONDAY, NOV. 5, 1979:
Dozens of Americans are taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran. They would be held for 444 days, finally released when Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president in 1981.
125of155TUESDAY, DEC. 9, 1980:
Former Beatle John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in New York. In San Antonio, Lila Cockrell announces she will not seek a fourth term as mayor of San Antonio.
127of155TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1981:
President Ronald Reagan is wounded by would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. Hinckley bought the gun used in the assassination attempt in a Dallas pawn shop.
128of155WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1981:
Pope John Paul II is seriously wounded by a would-be assassin in Saint Peter's Square. "This is a further sign of the sickness of our times ... such a tragic thing because the present pope has been such a figure of leadership and conscience for the entire world," said Rev. Don Baugh, executive director of the San Antonio Community of Churches.
130of155WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1981:
The world watches as Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. In San Antonio, homeowner Baxter Wilson shoots and kills off-duty San Antonio Police Officer Frank P. Casarez when Wilson says he caught Casarez burglarizing his home.
131of155SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 1983:
Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first U.S. woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger. Meanwhile, San Antonian Henry Thomas, the actor who played Elliott in the 1982 movie "E.T.," is bored with the fame.
"Unbelievable," the Light exclaimed. And it was: The Alamo City was covered with more than 13 inches of snow after the worst snowfall in South Texas history. But most San Antonians weren't complaining: they got a snow day on Monday.
134of155MONDAY, APRIL 1, 1985:
Hundreds of spectators watch as the Fairmount Hotel crosses the Market Street Bridge during its record-setting six-day, five-block move. The hotel finally reaches its new home on April 4.
Millions watch as Space Shuttle Challenger explodes after liftoff, killing its seven crew members, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.
137of155SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1987:
President Ronald Reagan, visiting West Berlin, gives his speech including the famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
139of155MONDAY, SEPT. 14, 1987:
Hundreds of thousands line the streets to see Pope John Paul II during his one-day visit to San Antonio. The Light marks his departure with a special edition.
140of155THURSDAY, DEC. 22, 1988:
Pan Am Flight 103 goes down in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing more than 250 people. The plane crash is later determined to be a bombing, the work of Libyan terrorists.
142of155SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 1989:
Hundreds of protesters are killed during a massacre in China's Tiananmen Square.
143of155FRIDAY, NOV. 10, 1989:
Millions around the world watch as the Berlin Wall comes down.
145of155WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6, 1990:
Ann Richards is elected governor of Texas, the first woman to carry the title in her own right.
146of155THURSDAY, JAN. 17, 1991:
The United States begins the Gulf War against Iraq with an extensive aerial bombing campaign. The San Antonio Light is the first South Texas newspaper to send staffers to the Persian Gulf.
148of155FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1991:
A cease fire in the Gulf War is declared.
149of155FRIDAY, NOV. 8, 1991:
NBA star Magic Johnson announces his retirement from the league after he tested positive for HIV.
The Soviet Union dissolves.
152of155WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7, 1992:
A headline announces Hearst's intention to buy the San Antonio Express-News and sell the San Antonio Light. Meanwhile, President George H.W. Bush and the leaders of Canada and Mexico were in San Antonio to initial the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A commemorative last edition of the San Antonio Light is printed.
Twenty years ago, daily life in San Antonio changed forever.
On Jan. 27, 1993, the San Antonio Light — a newspaper that had been a part of the city's fabric for more than a century — closed.
The Light folded toward the end of an era when most American cities became one-newspaper towns. Changing reader preferences and shrinking advertising revenue were among the forces that had worked against it.
In an unusual move, the Light's owner, the Hearst Corp., had announced Oct. 6, 1992, that it planned to buy the rival San Antonio Express-News for $185 million.
The next day's Express-News reported, "A Hearst official said the Light will be put up for sale and, 'if a qualified buyer is not found ... (Hearst) would reluctantly close the newspaper.'"
In the end, the paper wasn't sold.
"It's really weird how long (the process) stretched out," said Mary Ann Horne, the last executive news editor of the Light and head of the news copy desk. "I remember clearly the day the announcement was made. People were just walking around in a state of shock.
"In the days after that, everyone thought it would be just a matter of days or a couple weeks before (the Light) closed. Strangely, everyone was sort of energized at first — they wanted to go out in style."
Horne, who now works at MetroPlan Orlando, a regional transportation planning agency in Florida, added: "The longer the paper went on, the more dispirited people became. I never had to deal with anyone who was defiant or refused to do a job, but people were disconnected. It was very painful — it was a grieving thing."
On Saturday night, a group of former San Antonio Light workers gathered at the Blue Star on the South Side to commemorate the anniversary.
This weekend also marks a return of the Light's name to San Antonio. The Express-News is offering some nonsubscribers a once-a-week look at an edition that contains sample items taken from the paper. It's called the San Antonio Light.
Newspaper wars
When the original Light was born as an afternoon paper on Jan. 20, 1881, the company that became the Express-News was already 15 years old. The first issue of the morning San Antonio Express came out Sept. 27, 1865.
Both companies went through multiple ownerships, and the Express launched its own afternoon paper, the San Antonio Evening News, before William Randolph Hearst purchased the Light in 1924. By the time of his death in 1951, the paper was lagging in the circulation race.
The next year, however, the Light jumped far ahead of either the Express or the News when it snagged the rights to several of its competitors' most popular comic strips. It kept that lead for years.
"We always thought we'd wind up winning" the newspaper war, said Sonia Granato, who worked in the Light's diagramming department.
The people there were in charge of determining the size of each day's paper, which was based to a large degree on the amount of advertising space sold.
In its final edition, the Light reported that in the years immediately preceding the paper's death, it had been trailing the Express-News in advertising, 55 percent to 45 percent. And after the Oct. 6 announcement, advertisers deserted the Light in droves.
"It got to the point where we could diagram the whole paper in 20 minutes or so," said Granato, who was known as Sonia Gutierrez at the Light and who now works at Border Media.
Although it lasted just over a century, the most interesting part of the San Antonio newspaper war was fought in its last 20 years.
In December 1973, Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch bought the Express and the News for $20 million and reportedly issued orders to turn the operation "into a screamer."
That was only partly implemented. The Express remained a traditional paper of record, focused on the world at large. However, the News was repackaged in the style of Murdoch's beloved tabloid journalism. Screaming headlines announced local stories told in breathless prose.
The Light didn't go that far. But it did go far enough that the late David Randall, an Iowa native who worked at the Light in the 1980s, once observed: "I learned journalism in Des Moines, but I learned newspapering in San Antonio."
When he looks at the Light's closing, former reporter Michael Pearson takes a big-picture approach.
"Of course it was sad to say goodbye to everyone I worked with," said the man who's now news director at Austin's 24-hour cable news channel YNN. "But more than that, it was the end of a special time, a historical time. I don't think we'll ever see that again."
Pearson believes there was a secret ingredient employed by each paper during the San Antonio newspaper war: entertainment value.
"During the war, we were still doing journalism — sometimes it was good journalism and sometimes it was crappy journalism, but it was always entertaining, and that attracted readers," he said.
The last two decades of the newspaper war were waged on multiple fronts, with gossipy tabloid sections, new page designs and bingo-type games.
And since it was obvious that readers were switching to morning newspapers, the Light launched a.m. editions. But when the Express and the News merged in 1984, the Light trailed in circulation.
Employees move on
Printer Noe Cazares was an eight-year veteran of the Light's composing room when the newspaper closed. He applied and eventually got a job at the Express-News.
What Cazares got, though, was far from ideal. He took a 30 percent pay cut and faced animosity from some E-N employees.
"We'd been the competition, so they didn't like that, and also some of them were afraid that we were going to take their jobs," he said.
Technology eliminated the Express-News composing room in 1999, and Cazares now is a prepress specialist whose main job is to repair and maintain the machines that produce the printing plates.
Several other former Light employees currently work at the E-N, including Metro Editor Nora López, Senior Reporter Richard Marini, Day Production Editor Carole Chiles-Fuller, Home & Garden Editor Tracy Lehmann, Copy Editor Nancy Floeck Wilson, Assistant Sports Editor Travis Tingle, Sports Columnist Buck Harvey, Senior Sports Reporter Jerry Briggs, and Joe Alexander of mySA.com.
One of those who couldn't make Saturday's reunion was former Copy Editor Marc Bona, who's now assistant entertainment editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"I've been through a lot in my career — a sale, a shutdown and a strike," he said. "I try not to look back too often, and to keep going forward."
Just why does Bona stay with it?
"It's like in the original 'Rocky,'" Bona explained. "Adrian asks him why he fought, and Rocky says, 'Because I can't sing or dance.' Well, I can't sing or dance."
bkolarik@express-news.net
Robert Kolarik was news desk copy chief at the Light from 1982 to 1992.
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