Synopses & Reviews
Kay Woodruff Field, 38, an ex-debutante once called "the Grace Kelly of Chicago," loaded her three children into a battered station wagon and headed north to Alaska in 1965 after her divorce. Looking for a new life, she found it at the Anchorage Daily News, a morning newspaper struggling against the powerful Anchorage Times, voice of the establishment. She and her new husband, Larry Fanning, bought the News, ignoring predictions that the paper wouldn't survive. Kay explained later: "Profit is not the purpose of the press..the free, unfettered flow of ideas is." Public interest became the paper's specialty. This is the story of a courageous publisher who backed gun control, environmental protection, and Native rights - controversial issues in a conservative state. Fanning refused to bend under pressure from advertisers and politicians, and won a Pulitzer Prize. Kay Fanning died before finishing her memoir. Eighteen personal stories about her written by friends and colleagues complete the portrait of a gracious, compassionate, and persistent newspaperwoman of integrity who left an indelible mark on Alaska.
Synopsis
In 1965, Kay Woodruff Field, 38, a newly divorced former debutante once described as the "Grace Kelly of Chicago," loaded her three children into a Buick station wagon and headed north to start a fresh life in Alaska. Little did she know that she would became the most influential woman in Alaska. Fanning took a job at the Anchorage Daily News, a struggling morning newspaper that she and her new husband, Larry Fanning, later bought. After Larry’s death, Kay became editor and publisher. She pressed for settlement of Alaska’s Native land claims, alienated advertisers by covering environmental issues deemed to threaten development, and in 1976 won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of corruption in Alaska’s powerful Teamsters Union. Kay Fanning died in 2000, her memoir unfinished. Katherine Field Stephen, herself a reporter, was determined to finish her mother’s book. And she did, by inviting eighteen of Kay’s friends and colleagues to contribute personal stories about Kay Fanning.
Synopsis
Katherine Field Stephen, herself a reporter, was determined to finish her mother’s book. And she did, by inviting eighteen of Kay’s friends and colleagues to contribute personal stories about Kay Fanning.
About the Author
Kay Fanning loved journalism. She served as editor and publisher of the Anchorage Daily News, editor of the Christian Science Monitor, and first woman president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Katherine Field Stephen, herself a reporter, was determined to finish her mother’s book. And she did, by inviting eighteen of Kay’s friends and colleagues to contribute personal stories about Kay Fanning.