Published: April 18, 2008 09:53 am            

Remembering Van Golden

1949-2008

Richard Van Golden was laid to rest Thursday in Calumet. His name will not be familiar to most NewsPress readers, but he was one of the people behind the scenes who make it possible to produce a daily newspaper.

Van, as he was known to his co-workers, was killed Sunday in an automobile collision on state Highway 51 east of Stillwater. Karen, his wife, was injured but survived the wreck.

Van was initially hired to help create the advertisements you see in the newspaper every day. Advertising is how newspapers make most of their money and there is an entire team of people who produce those ads who never get to see their name in print.

It doesn’t take much to throw together some words, draw a box around it and call it an ad. But it takes insight and creativity to design an ad that will draw the attention of readers who are in a hurry, get them to pause long enough to look at the ad and then drive home the main point before the reader’s attention moves on. That is what Van was hired to do, and he did it well.

But Van also came to have a role in bringing you the news every day by taking on many duties associated with the NewsPress’ Web site. Before now, you may not have heard of Van, but he knew you were there and he spent his days — and nights — trying to please you.

We miss Van. And though you may not know it, you miss Van, too.

        

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