When the Spy was founded in 2009, a role model for the newspaper and its publisher was the legendary Henry Beetle Hough of the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette in Massachusetts. A man who had almost singlehandedly produced the highly regarded weekly newspaper for over sixty-five years.
In turns out that another potential role model was just a few miles down the road in Centreville, and in this case was still every much alive. Dan Tabler, former editor, and current columnist with the Queen Anne’s Record Observer has been writing about the Mid-Shore since he was fifteen years old. He now is ninety.
In his Spy interview, Dan talks about coming to Centreville as a child when his father helped start what is now known as the CNB Bank. With a few short trips to college and active duty in World War II, the vast majority of his time has been observing, editorializing, and cheerleading for Queen Anne’s County and the Shore in general.
This video is approximately eleven minutes in length
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Patti Willis says
What a wonderful interview with a community icon and my personal friend and mentor, Dan Tabler! When we grew up, Dan’s daughter Jan (my best friend) and I used to go with Dan to the Record Observer office on weekends (yes, it really was 24/7!) and sit at the typewriters pecking out stories for our own newspapers. We got to use discarded black and white photos (developed in the newspaper’s dark room…) to incorporate into our newspaper layouts. About the only thing we couldn’t do which the regular paper did back then was set type in the back room to actually print the little newspaper we created. I will never forget that typesetting and printing area of the building– a necessary part of any newspaper in those days! Dan Tabler introduced me to writing and journalism and no doubt influenced my future career in doing so. It is a real pleasure to view this interview with Dan in a medium that bridges the old and the new, when it comes to community reporting and — more importantly– community building. Thanks for this, SPY!