Greenwich Post eliminating its print edition. The son of the owner of the rag, Martin Hersam, hired me away from the Greenwich Citizen on the promise of more money and unfettered editorial freedom – “it’s precisely because you’re controversial that we want you”, ol’ Marty said, and he kept his word for 18 months or so, until I offended the (then) manager of Coldwell Banker here in town, who told Marty that either I went or Coldwell Banker’s advertising went. “I don’t run an independent newspaper,” Marty told him, “we’re just a vehicle for cheap advertising – of course he’s gone!” And I was, in mere seconds.
Of course, that was a huge break for me, because I moved to the Internet and went from 5,000 weekly readers, all in Greenwich, to 18,000 readers a day from around the world and my business flourished. So thanks, Marty. Still, I won’t miss your publication – you were running a weekly penny shopper, not a newspaper, and your claims to being an independent newsman were, and are, as phony as your comb-over.