Category: Another Viewpoint || By

Editor's Note: Earle Wittpenn, founder of the Valley Mirror, the weekly newspaper serving the West Mifflin, Steel Valley and Woodland Hills school districts, announced last week that he is giving up his "Earle's Pearls" column due to illness.

Wittpenn, former editor of the Homestead Daily Messenger, sold the Mirror to fellow publisher Tony Munson in the 1990s, but continued to contribute the column and news coverage.

Author Jim O'Brien, a Hazelwood native who writes a weekly column for the Mirror, wrote this appreciation for Thursday's edition of the newspaper. It is reprinted with kind permission of Jim O'Brien.

. . .

We Will Miss Earle's Witt and Penn

By Jim O'Brien
(Originally appeared in the Valley Mirror, Sept. 3, 2009. Reprinted with permission of Jim O'Brien.)

I am going to miss reading Earle Wittpenn's column in the Valley Mirror. I spoke on the telephone with Earle last week to see how he was doing. I had heard he was up against it health-wise and not feeling as feisty and chipper as his column always suggests.

Now I am told he has decided he better take a break from writing his column until he is more up to the task.

Whenever I get my copy of the Valley Mirror in the mail each week, I must admit that the first column I read is my own. I want to see if it comes off the way I intended.

Then I read the columns of Earle Wittpenn and Darrell Hess, the editorial, the man-in-the-street or women-in-the-street questions and answers, and the stories by Jack Ruskin and Herky Cush. I love community newspapers, and believe they are the lifeblood of any neighborhood.

. . .

I go back a long way with Earle Wittpenn. I first met him when he was running The Homestead Messenger. I read his columns later in the Valley Mirror, and liked the paper so much, distributed not that far from my boyhood neighborhood of Glenwood and Hazelwood, that I thought it would be a good fit.

Earle Wittpenn invited me to write a column for the Valley Mirror. Then Tony Munson bought the paper and merged it with the Braddock Free Press, and continued to carry my columns.

I liked working with Wittpenn and I like working with Munson. Now Munson is preparing to retire to a home in Sarasota, Fla., and is trying to find a buyer to carry on the great tradition of turning out a wonderful weekly newspaper in the Mon Valley.

. . .

The newspaper business in America is hard-pressed these days to do what it does best. Many newspapers are disappearing. I don't want to see that happen with the Valley Mirror. A town without a newspaper is a town without a voice.

Earle Wittpenn's voice is strained these days, and it's difficult for him to do anything, try as he might, and with the help of his wife, Michelle.

I'm missing his column already. To me, he's the Andy Rooney of the Valley Mirror, crochety as can be at times, a genuine curmudgeon, upset as all hell about one thing or another.

. . .

I like to think that I write clearly, and that I am easy to read, but I take a back seat to Earle Wittpenn when it comes to expressing myself clearly, distinctly and with some punch. No one is ever confused about where Earle Wittpenn is coming from. He speaks his mind.

I do not always agree with Earle Wittpenn's point of view. Earle is ultra-conservative. He makes the late William F. Buckley look like a liberal.

I have some liberal leanings, but I'm not always sure my opinion is the right one; it's simply my opinion. You may be right and I may be wrong.

I'm not sure Earle ever thinks that way, but I like to read people's opinions that are contrary to mine. Some people only read the opinions they already agree with. I have friends who do that. They would rather have Wittpenn in the White House than Barack Obama.

. . .

I get a kick out of Earle Wittpenn's columns, and call him from time to time to tell him how much I enjoy the columns, or ask him how he could support such and such an opinion, or praise such a person. Mark Madden, the sports talk show host, comes to mind. Wittpenn likes his stand-up style. I don't listen to him and can't understand why anyone would give him the time of day.

I feel badly that Earle Wittpenn feels so badly. I know (from reading his columns, of course) that he is a man of faith, a proud member of the Free Hungarian Reformed Church of Homestead, and says his prayers and tries to live his life by Bible teachings. I think he has done a noble job in that respect. I am hoping his faith is a source of strength and spirit for him now as he battles cancer.

From reading his columns, I can see that he has been hearing from his many friends. It is important to be there when friends get ill, or run into difficult times. If you are a regular reader of Earle Wittpenn, this is a good time to do some writing of your own and send him an encouraging card or letter. You can send it in care of the newspaper, at 3910 Main St., Munhall, PA 15120.

Earle Wittpenn and Tony Munson and Darrell Hess have all served this community well. They genuinely care about the community. They have been catalysts through the years for positive activity in your favorite town.

. . .

I want to see Earle Wittpenn bounce back, and do his best to turn out a column whenever he feels up to it. The Valley Mirror isn't the same without Wittpenn's personal words and rants. He always had that fire in his belly.

I also love his stories on school board and township meetings in the area. He captures the spirit of the goings on with great gusto, and a recognition that our communities need good leaders to survive.

Wittpenn has seen a lot of changes in his lifetime in the Homestead, Munhall, Rankin and Braddock areas. He has seen it all and written about it with passion and compassion.

Get well, Earle Wittpenn. There's still some ink in that pen of yours. Take care, my friend, and know that one fellow journalist has always admired you greatly and gotten a genuine kick out of your acerbic and honest offerings.

Earle Wittpenn is, above all else, a newspaper man. It takes one to know one.

. . .

Writer and publisher Jim O'Brien is the author of many books about Pittsburgh, athletics and local and national sports figures and teams, including The Chief: Art Rooney and His Pittsburgh Steelers; Glory Years: A Century of Excellence; With Love and Pride: Portraits of a Pittsburgh Family; and Pittsburgh Proud: Celebrating the City's Rich Sports History.

O'Brien's wife of 42 years is the former Kathleen Churchman of McKeesport, a graduate of McKeesport High School, Grove City College and the University of Pittsburgh.

You may reach O'Brien or purchase his books through his website, Jim O'Brien: Sports Author.