The Observer’s Next Leaders

My first Ann Arbor Observer article appeared in the October 1980 issue. This October will be my last as editor. Our deputy editor, Brooke Black, is already planning her first issue as editor-in-chief in November. Publisher Patricia Garcia is also retiring and will be succeeded by our media director, Danielle Jones.

When the first Observer appeared in July 1976, it was a two-person operation. Mary Hunt had been producing the West Side Neighborhood Press for Ernie Harburg, a U-M researcher and co-owner of the new Del Rio bar. At an Observer birthday party at the Top of the Park, she recalled how Harburg had told her to introduce “the hippies to the suits”—the bankers who didn’t know what to make of the shaggy newcomers who were opening bars, music venues, and idiosyncratic shops in storefronts left vacant as traditional retailers closed or moved to the new malls on the edge of town.

Don Hunt, Mary’s husband, had walked away from a PhD program in clinical psychology; it was he who suggested extending what Mary had been doing at the Press to all of downtown. They researched and wrote the stories, typed them up on an IBM Selectric typewriter, and pasted them down with rubber cement—a rookie mistake that made it all but impossible to make corrections. They had their new magazine printed in Tecumseh and distributed it in piles around town.

Early reports included firefighters’ thrifty purchase of a scrapped fire truck to keep their own elderly machines running; the U-M regents’ decision to demolish the turn-of-the-century Barbour-Waterman gym; and a two-part memoir by Al Wheeler, Ann Arbor’s first (and so far only) Black mayor.

They came up with a tagline: “It puts you in touch with the town.” They didn’t write editorials or publish op-eds. When people asked why, Mary would reply, “If we wanted to be advocates, we’d have called it The Advocate. We wanted to be observers.”

Related: The Observer, Observed

Don’s probing intelligence and Mary’s boundless curiosity were a powerful combination. Each month, their interesting covers, insightful reporting, and down-to-earth style drew more readers. Those readers in turn drew more advertisers.

That was essential, because the Observer has always been free to the city’s “permanent residents”—our way of saying that we delivered in the campus area only by request.

The issues grew fatter after the Hunts began delivering directly to single-family homes. They needed more writers, so in 1982 I traded my union job at a Ford factory in Wayne for a desk in a spare bedroom.

Not all of Don’s experiments worked: that year, he split off the calendar into a separate publication aimed at U-M students. It failed to thrive and he soon
canceled it—but not before hiring Patricia Garcia in 1983 to sell advertising for it.

Just back at work after running a home day care for her three daughters and neighborhood kids, she immediately made herself invaluable in other roles. By the time Don began talking about selling the magazine, she was his associate publisher.

Related: Do You Have Ann Arbor’s Lost History?

As the Observer continued to grow, so had the stress on the Hunts. Don looked for management help, but a former executive from Booth Newspapers (MLive Media Group’s precursor) came and went quickly. By 1986, talk of a sale was constant.

Newspaper groups were interested, but none had ever produced a magazine like the Observer. So Don ignored his accountant’s advice and asked Patricia and me to buy it—with the Hunts accepting monthly payments over many years for most of the price.

We’d never worked together directly, but in an accountant’s parking lot behind the Stadium Dairy Queen, we shook hands on it: we’d give it a try for a year and see how it went. She would have the final word on business decisions, I’d handle editorial, and we’d keep a wall between them.

It’s worked well ever since. Like the Hunts, some of our experiments have succeeded (the annual Ann Arbor Observer City Guide and Community Guide to Chelsea, Dexter, and Saline) and some haven’t (trying to grow the Community Guide into a quarterly magazine).

We put our information-dense guides and calendar online in 1996, but it took a dozen years to earn enough to post our articles. Because the magazine still pays most of the bills, we paywall them when the issue comes out, releasing them gradually over the course of the month.

Paid subscribers outside Ann Arbor, and our “Friends”—readers who voluntarily pay for their subscriptions—bypass the paywall. During the Great Recession, our Friends made the difference between losing money and breaking even. In an industry with high costs and low margins, they’re still an indispensable help.

In the dark first days of the pandemic, we tapped savings to publish issues full of news and resources until a federal payroll protection program loan came through. Our pandemic experiment, the weekly e-newsletter a2view, has earned a faithful following, and thanks to our loyal advertisers, magazine sales are back to their levels before the pandemic. But Patricia and I are in our early seventies, and have successors we trust.

Related: The Pandemic Year

Brooke introduced herself to me by email three years ago. She was new to the area because her fiancé, Doug Black, was studying nearby to be a wind turbine mechanic. But the writing samples on her blog, slimrims.com, were everything I hoped for in a new writer—carefully observed, compassionate, and brimming with life.

She became a valued freelancer, and when the deputy editor job opened up unexpectedly, stepped into it with aplomb. She has the rare ability to do both close proofreading and, when needed, extensive editing.

I was already talking to her about the future when Doug finished his program. Now married, they went on the road with their dog, Bug, driving a van they’d converted into an RV to wind farms across the U.S. heartland. While she did the deputy’s job as well as ever remotely, I told her, sadly, the Observer’s editor needs to be here.

So I was thrilled this spring, when they bought a house in Ypsilanti Twp.—“the Brooklyn to Ann Arbor’s Manhattan,” as she’s fond of saying.

Doug is back in classes at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, while Brooke is out meeting people across our circulation area (which now extends into townships and neighborhoods that are in the Ann Arbor school district or have Ann Arbor addresses). If you have thoughts about what we’ve written, about what we should write about next, or just want to say hi, she’s [email protected].

Danielle works more closely with Patricia, but I’ve admired her character, forthrightness, and commitment ever since she started with us as a young woman in 2001. She married Bob Jones and started a family—Lily is now at MSU and Bobby’s at Pioneer—then left to explore other work. Patricia won her back from the University Record in 2021.

Patricia and I remain the Observer’s owners for now, but hope to have news about that soon. We’ll be available to Brooke and Danielle if they need us, but as the Observer enters its fiftieth anniversary year in 2026, they’ll be in charge.

I couldn’t have imagined a better life than getting to know this endlessly fascinating and constantly evolving community so well, and to meet and get to know so many of you.

And no one could ask for a more committed, caring, and capable partner than Patricia Garcia. I’ve invited her to have the last word:

“I will always be grateful to Don and Mary Hunt for believing in us and providing this amazing opportunity. A shout-out to Chris McKenney and Chris Vaughan for their early legal and financial counsel, and to Cliff Sheldon and the late Doug Freeth for taking a risk and approving a loan to two young ‘kids’ with big dreams!

“Like John and me, Danielle and Brooke care deeply about our community. They are smart, discerning, and have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills. They understand the challenges of print and digital publishing, and most importantly, they share our unwavering commitment to journalism with integrity. I am confident that they will excel in their new roles. You can reach Danielle at [email protected] and Courtney Sidor, our newly promoted marketing and revenue director, at [email protected].

“What an incredible journey it has been! I could not have asked for a more dedicated, talented, and caring staff. “To our Observer family—staff, writers, artists, and freelancers past and present—thank you for your passion, loyalty, and hard work. It’s been a privilege to work with you. “Thanks also to our community of readers, advertisers, and Observer Friends. Your support makes it all possible.”