Editor Brendan Moran read the following speech during a tribute to former Editor and Publisher Harry Foote Saturday afternoon in Riverbank Park during Westbrook Together Days. The newspaper presented Foote with two gifts: a framed copy of a Maine Times cover story on him and a framed copy of photo of Foote with his wife, Anne, taken on their 50th wedding anniversary.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the year Harry Foote bought the Westbrook American and the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Journal and merged them into the American Journal. Because of that anniversary, we wanted to pay tribute to Harry, the paper’s longtime editor who devoted so much of his career and so much of his life to making this newspaper one of the most well read weekly newspapers in the state. And, because the Journal has become such an integral part this community and this festival has become such a wonderful celebration for this community, we thought Together Days would be the perfect place to pay tribute to him.

I’d like to thank everyone here for joining us to pay tribute to Harry and celebrate the history of a newspaper that has become a local institution. I’d also like to thank Mayor Bruce Chuluda and the Together Days planning committee for allowing us to make this a part of this festival.

I got the opportunity last summer to sit down with Harry on several occasions for interviews. Anyone who has ever been interviewed by Harry knows that he’s not timid about asking questions. He also has a suspicious nature that served him well for years as a journalist.

So, when I arrived at the old Dana Street office for our first interview, Harry had a question for me before I got to ask any of my own.

“What’s this all about?” He asked me.

Well, I don’t recall exactly what I said. But I’m pretty sure I hedged or perhaps even made something up. I’m also pretty sure that whatever I said, Harry didn’t buy it, because he didn’t ply me with his trademark persistence. He simply said, “Thank you.”

But it was I who was grateful. I was grateful to have the opportunity to edit a paper with such a strong connection to the community it covers and such a longstanding reputation for journalistic excellence. I was also grateful for the opportunity to talk about community journalism with one of its best practitioners.

I used some of the material from those interviews in a story I wrote recently in the journal in tribute to Harry, who was known for his unique brand of journalism. He could be doggedly persistent in interviews or in pursuit of a story. He used long and accurate quotations to bring those he covered to life through their words, not his. And, in his editorials, he was not afraid to let readers know how he felt.

The American Journal was known for its social notes, its detailed and amusing police logs and for beating the Portland daily to stories. Now that Harry is retired, we’ve tried to uphold all of those traditions. As we continue to look for ways to improve the paper, we will continue to look for ways to honor its history. This newspaper is your legacy, Harry. And, we’re honored to be entrusted with it.

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