Mr. D was a decent human being and a good publisher

Image by Del Stone Jr.

We had a memorial service for Marvin DeBolt on Saturday.

Maybe you remember him. He was the publisher of the Playground Daily News, then the Northwest Florida Daily News, from 1980 to 2004.

Mr. D was known for many things – for instance, he loved golf. They named a golf tournament after him. He was responsible for the Empty Stocking Fund, which continues to this day and has raised millions of dollars for The Salvation Army. He loved his big boat, which he sailed from his home in Cinco Bayou.

And of course, he loved being publisher of the Daily News. In the 24 years he worked there, he doubled the newspaper’s circulation and oversaw a redesign and name change. Not many people know this but he was also responsible for the creation of The Walton Sun, which for a time was the most profitable newspaper in the Freedom Communications portfolio.

He was a large presence in the building, and I think I was a little bit afraid of him. He sat in that office up front like Oz, part of us yet somehow separate. Sometimes the switchboard operator, Marianne, would ring my phone and say, “Can you come up to Mr. D’s office?” With a sinking feeling I’d tell the people sitting near me, “Well, it’s been nice working with you.” He never fired me, though a couple of times he probably should have.

Sometimes people ask me why I worked at that place for so long. I had my reasons, and one of them was the culture. I’ve held lots of jobs but none of them compared to working at the Daily News. It wasn’t just a place where we clocked in at 9 and clocked out at 5. Working there was like working with a family – sometimes a dysfunctional family, a family that didn’t always get along with each other, but a family just the same.

We had a picnic every summer, and sometimes Mr. D gave out prizes, like TVs and microwave ovens. We had an annual Christmas party, and an advertiser appreciation party that even newsroom types were encouraged to attend. One year the staff bought Mr. D a movie theater-style popcorn machine. He’d pop up a batch and everybody in the building would head for the break room, much to the unhappiness of the janitor, who had to clean up that mess. Also, we got Christmas bonuses. I had thought that was a company policy, but no. That was a Marvin DeBolt policy.

We cared about each other.

One day Mr. D walked into the newsroom and asked us, “What’s the Number 1 job of a newspaper in a community?” We, being newsroom types, responded with all the high-minded answers – expose graft and corruption, report the news objectively, speak for those without a voice, and so on.

Mr. D listened patiently, then thundered, “NO! The Number 1 job of a newspaper is to MAKE MONEY! You can’t do those things without first making the money to pay for them!” I don’t think we ever gave a thought about the newspaper being a business, or that our salaries came from all those ads taking up our valuable news hole. We were too busy being high-minded. But it was something I never forgot – the business side of art, the one just as necessary as the other.

Mr. D was a good guy and a decent human being. He represented something that’s missing from the media these days – character. Though we were owned by a large company, he made it feel like a family business, one in which we all had a stake. And he was head of the household.

So farewell, Mr. D. A lot of people are still thinking about you, and that’s about the best legacy a person can ask for.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .