A public life comes to an end
San Benito County is a less interesting place than it was a week
ago.
Herman Wrede, one of the most enduring characters the community
has ever known, died quietly over the weekend at his Hollister
apartment.
A public life comes to an end
San Benito County is a less interesting place than it was a week ago.
Herman Wrede, one of the most enduring characters the community has ever known, died quietly over the weekend at his Hollister apartment.
No one who knew Wrede ever forgot him. More than anyone else, he was the product of his passions. Wrede loved the English language, good food, a well-sculpted woman’s calf and his adopted community.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Wrede spent most of his life working in newspapers. He came to Hollister to serve as the editor of the Free Lance in the 1960s, when it was owned by Millard Hoyle. He served in that capacity longer than any other editor but one in the paper’s 134-year history.
An exacting and demanding editor, Wrede was never complacent about a deadline. On one occasion, struggling with an impossible workload and a looming deadline, he confronted a passerby outside of the Free Lance. The man’s crime? He was whistling as he passed, creating a distraction that Wrede found intolerable.
But the same passion influenced everything he did. Whenever a reader took the paper to task in a letter, Wrede would study it for a moment, then politely ask the letter writer if he would mind if the grammatical and spelling errors in his letter were corrected.
Wrede’s devotion to language was unquenchable. There was often a paperback sticking out of the back pocket of his well-worn trousers. He could talk of literature with the same comfortable authority that he used discussing the day’s news.
But he did not wear his intellect on his sleeve. Most people will remember him for two things: a devotion to bad puns and his savant’s talent for dates. A birthday or anniversary never passed without Wrede’s notice. He loved to approach men to remind them that their anniversary or wife’s birthday was at hand.
Even after his retirement from editing this newspaper, Wrede was very much a public figure. He was a fixture at Chamber of Commerce mixers and a host of public events, easily trading stories, jokes and bits of news.
One of my favorites dates back to the beginning of Wrede’s career, when he was the newest reporter in a large newsroom. He unwittingly wrote something that upset one of the paper’s leading advertisers, and the man came in to complain to the city editor. Nearly as soon as the man started his rant, the city editor stopped him and marched over to Wrede’s desk.
“I’ve had it with you, Wrede,” the old newsman said. “Now pack your things and get out!”
Shaken, Wrede began to put his personal effects into a box when another reporter passed by his desk and whispered, “just walk around the block and come back.”
Wrede did as he was told, and when he returned, the city editor told him to quit fooling around and to get back to work.
Confused, Wrede did so. It was then that a reporter explained that whenever a person complained, the city editor would perform the same charade. No one ever complained twice, believing that a career was at stake.
Wrede never gave much thought to what he wore or how much money might be in his wallet. If he had a dollar someone else could use, it was theirs for the asking. His true wealth was his integrity.
Herman Wrede was manifestly not for sale, and pity upon the person who tried to sway him from what he believed to be the just course. Once earned, Wrede’s friendship and loyalty were unshakable.
His friends are the most enduring monument Wrede could have wished for. He is missed.
In other news
On to less important things and good news for all the commercial salmon fishermen in San Benito County! The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering disaster assistance to businesses affected by the 2008 California salmon season closure in selected counties.
Among them is – you guessed it – San Benito. I haven’t checked lately, but last time I looked, there was no ocean here and as a result, no commercial salmon harvest. Other landlocked counties qualifying for SBA assistance include Fresno, Glenn, Kings, Lassen, Shasta, Stanislaus, Tehama and Trinity.
Let’s see now … Since none of the salmon fishing fleet in San Juan Bautista and Hollister is working, they’re not buying newspaper ads. Maybe I should ask for some of that SBA payola.
