Lynn, Susan

Susan Lynn is editor and publisher of The Iola Register. She studied journalism at the University of Kansas, 1974-78, and received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, in 1979, and a master’s in library science from Wayne State University, Detroit, in 1995. She worked as a reporter and then as a reference librarian in Holland, Michigan, before returning to her hometown of Iola in 2000 to assume the role of publisher at the Register. She is a fourth-generation publisher.

Susan serves on the executive board of Iola Industries and has been a member of the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct since July 2013.

Sixty-five years ago, Wally, the pressman for The Bowie News, made me a makeshift bed of shredded newspapers placed in a wide and shallow cardboard box.

Even today, I remember drifting off to the rhythmic drumming of the press while my three older brothers and parents inserted and bundled the weekly paper.

Once I became old enough, about age 6, I joined the workforce. My mother would marvel how “fast and nimble” my fingers could insert grocery ads, swelling my head.

We then loaded the bundles into our stationwagon and delivered them to post offices across Montague County, Texas.

As a special treat, mother would let us eat TV dinners while watching the “Beverly Hillbillies” on those Wednesday evenings before we headed off to the paper.

It was truly a family affair.

We weren’t always welcome in Bowie.

When my dad, Emerson Lynn, wrote editorials supporting John F. Kennedy as president, people threw stones at our house and shouted mean things.

But I also remember a teacher telling me how “brave” she thought Dad was.

Though my dad never lost that fire in the belly, he also taught me that newspapers serve many roles, none of which includes rabble-rousing. He was a master of constructive criticism.

I joined my dad at the Iola Register in the year 2000. I was 44 and had been working as a reference librarian in Holland, Michigan.

I was a single mother of three.

My mother worried that I didn’t have the “spine” for the job, mirroring my own doubts.

After one year, I became publisher, the family’s fourth generation at the helm. After 10 years, I had paid it off.

Those were the years.

In 2006, my life took another positive turn when I married Brian Wolfe. After 11 years of single-hood, I was pretty convinced that was my fate. I’m happy to say I was terribly wrong.

Dad and I worked side by side for 13 years, continually talking shop, discussing politics, family and friends, and enjoying a rewarding relationship.

When he died in 2013, I realized all those years he was grooming me for that eventuality. And sure enough, the newspaper continues to thrive.

I hope to be able to do the same for my son, Tim Stauffer and his wife, Violeta. Though the industry challenges seem far greater today, so is our purpose.

Keeping people in the know is what weaves the fabric of a community. We are fact-checkers and observers. Promoters and consolers.

And yes, at times, it is our duty to stir the fire in everyone’s belly, believing only an empowered society can best serve.

I thank you all for this privilege of being inducted into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame. It’s an honor beyond my dreams.