[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11904-S11906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PASSING OF JAMES RUSSELL WIGGINS

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
beloved adopted son of Maine, James Russell Wiggins, whose life brought 
tremendous pride to our State, credit to the profession of journalism, 
and joy to all those fortunate to have known him.
  For all of us, a great many people pass through our lives. Few 
clearly and

[[Page S11905]]

completely present us with the qualities to which we instinctively know 
we should aspire. Few truly define and embody the standards to which 
all of us should hold ourselves, and it is a blessing when we find 
them.
  James Russell Wiggins was instantly recognizable as such a person, 
and I was blessed to have found him nearly 23 years ago. While his 
heart has ceased to beat after nearly 97 extraordinary years, his 
spirit continues to enkindle the hearts of all those whose lives he 
touched with his warmth, his enthusiasm, and his generosity.
  Russ Wiggins cast his light most broadly and brightly through the 
medium of the printed word, and perhaps most prominently in his 20-year 
career with The Washington Post. Difficult as it may be to believe 
today, there was a time when the Post was not widely held in high 
regard, even in its own hometown. That the Post is internationally 
recognized today is a testament to the vision of a man for whom the 
public's right to the best possible information was paramount and 
integral to the health of our democracy.
  Eventually reaching the position of editor, Russ Wiggins' stamp 
remains on every new edition of the Post. As Stephen Rosenfield, former 
editorial page editor of The Washington Post, wrote after Russ Wiggins' 
passing, he ``brought to the Washington Post a passion for newspapering 
and an unrelenting dedication to the public good . . . (he) set for his 
staff an unmatched standard of personal decency and integrity.''
  Just a few weeks shy of his 65th birthday, and his planned retirement 
from the Post, Russ Wiggins was tapped by President Johnson to serve as 
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. What would normally be a fitting 
and distinguished finale to a long and productive working life would 
become only a prelude to his passion for the years that remained--a 
weekly newspaper called The Ellsworth American in Ellsworth, Maine.
  Russ moved to the state in 1969, and became publisher and editor of 
The Ellsworth American shortly thereafter, building it into one of the 
most respected weekly newspapers in Maine and the Nation, and a great 
treasure for both the community and our state. As if that were not 
enough for a man ``in retirement'', he also became an active and 
integral member of his new community of Brooklin, lending his boundless 
energy and enthusiasm to a variety of civic causes.
  I first met Russ Wiggins during my first campaign for Congress in 
1977 at an editorial board meeting at the paper. He put me immediately 
at ease with his remarkable personality and wit, and I was immensely 
impressed with his extraordinary depth of knowledge.
  As I would come to discover, Russ Wiggins had an appetite for 
learning for which the term ``voracious'' may well be an inadequate 
description. He loved ideas, and loved testing his ideas against the 
opinion of others. He exemplified the concept of disagreeing without 
being disagreeable--he was the definition of a gentleman, and a 
practitioner of the kind of civility that all-too-often seems an old 
fashioned notion these days but, in reality, is needed now more than 
ever.

  His excitement over knowledge was infectious, never pretentious. If 
he was energized by a book he had just read, he would implore others to 
do likewise. He challenged people not only to assess their own beliefs, 
but to risk undermining those beliefs with the addition of new facts, 
new arguments, and new ways of seeing the world. In short, he enriched 
the minds and souls of all those who knew him, and encouraged everyone 
he met to rise to their potential.
  On that day when I first met Russ, an Ellsworth American photographer 
chronicled our discussion, particularly my reaction to Russ' comments. 
The images from that meeting later formed the basis of my first 
campaign poster--which hangs today in my Washington office and serves 
as a reminder of the time I spent with him and the example he set for 
the rest of us. And what a tremendous example that was.
  Russell never strayed from his beliefs and integrity, as demonstrated 
by the high regard with which he was held among his contemporaries. And 
with his unparalleled skill, he captured the essence of the people he 
called his neighbors.
  During his time with the Ellsworth American, he was able to bring out 
not just the news of Ellsworth and Hancock County, but also to convey 
the sensibilities and nature of a special region. Perhaps it is the 
fact that Russ saw and experienced so much of the world, that he 
continually showed that the rural coastal setting of Downeast Maine is 
anything but circumstanced. Whatever the reason, those of us in Maine 
are especially fortunate that he let us see the dynamic world through 
his eyes.
  Throughout it all, James Russell Wiggins was comfortable in any 
company, not because he changed his stripes to suit the occasion, but 
because the essence of the man was always his generosity of spirit--and 
it was apparent for all to see. He shared what he knew not to elevate 
his own standing, but rather to elevate the standing of others. He 
voiced his opinions not to hear himself talk, but rather to advance the 
level of debate. He searched for the truth not in service to his own 
ends, but rather in service to humankind.
  With his life having touched so many so deeply, it is no surprise 
that his death has done the same. Columns were written by those with 
whom he had worked. Katherine Graham, chair of the executive committee 
of The Washington Post, wrote a special piece eulogizing Russ and 
thanking him for his service. And letters to the editor expressed the 
sense of loss we all have felt in the wake of this giant's passing.
  So it is with a heavy but grateful heart that I pay whatever humble 
tribute I might to this great man whom I was privileged to know. How 
fortunate we are that he lived--and how deeply we will miss him in our 
lives. I ask that a number of articles that have appeared in the 
newspapers regarding Russ Wiggins be printed in the Record.
  The articles follow.

               [From the Washington Post, Nov. 20, 2000]

                      The Evocation of Excellence

                         (By Katherine Graham)

       Russ Wiggins, good steward, farseeing guide of The Post for 
     21 years.
       Russ Wiggins's death yesterday leaves a large hole, so 
     great was his embracing personality and a life lived 
     vigorously until five months ago, when his brave heart 
     started to weaken and then gave out.
       I feel grateful to Russ because he quite literally created 
     The Post we know today. The Pentagon Papers and Watergate 
     received so much attention that most people don't realize 
     what Russ accomplished.
       When my father purchased The Post in 1933, it was the fifth 
     newspaper in a five-newspaper town. He set out to improve The 
     Post and make it viable because he believed Washington 
     deserved a top-quality morning newspaper. However, it was 
     difficult to get people to come to work for a paper most 
     people assumed would fail. My father had found a good, old-
     fashioned, blood-and-guts editor, who began to make some 
     progress. But clearly more was needed.
       When my husband, Phil Graham, became publisher after the 
     war, he and my father tried to find a serious editor and 
     leader for the future. They heard of Russ Wiggins, who had 
     been editor of the paper in St. Paul, Minn., where he'd made 
     quite an impression. When some people accused its owner-
     publisher of being dependent on Russ, the man had walked into 
     the newsroom and summarily fired Russ.
       My father and Phil asked Russ to come to The Post, but he 
     elected instead to go to the New York Times as assistant to 
     the publisher. A year later they went back and persuaded Russ 
     to change his mind. He arrived in 1947 and stayed for 21 
     years.
       Russ immediately made several changes that had a 
     significant impact on the quality and integrity of the paper. 
     First, he eliminated taking favors--free tickets for sports 
     reporters, free admissions to theaters for critics and 
     parking tickets fixed by police reporters for people all over 
     the building. This sounds elementary, but in those days it 
     was done everywhere.
       One of Russ's most heroic accomplishments was to lead the 
     way in civil rights. He stopped the use of irrelevant racial 
     descriptions. He printed the first picture of an African 
     American bride. He started hiring minority reporters. This 
     took courage in those days.
       Despite the paper's precarious financial situation, Russ 
     and Phil together began to assemble a fine staff--attracted 
     by Russ's won professional standards and hard work. He set 
     the example. He worked seven days a week, if necessary, and 
     rarely took vacations.
       Over the years, Russ stood up to many threats to the paper, 
     and he and Phil overcame many obstacles. Not the least was my 
     mother, whose correct but inflammatory political passions 
     encouraged charges of red-baiting. As we grew more 
     successful, Russ built up a national and foreign staff.
       His ambition for the paper, Russ told me, ``was 
     unachievable. But how do you lift an

[[Page S11906]]

     institution except with unachievable ideals? If your ideals 
     are so low you can achieve them, you ought to adjust them,'' 
     he said.
       When my husband became mentally ill with manic depression, 
     Russ had to withstand Phil's destructive impulses. When Phil 
     died, Russ held the staff together and encouraged my coming 
     to work. Then he had to teach me how to understand editorial 
     and news policy, which didn't happen overnight. Russ was very 
     patient.
       One of the first major issues we confronted was the Vietnam 
     war. Russ was a thoughtful and sensitive hawk; he believed 
     the country's reputation was at stake if we abandoned our 
     allies. At one point, President Johnson said one of Russ's 
     editorials was worth two divisions. Russ was never personally 
     hostile about issues. This enabled us to get though this 
     difficult period.
       At all times, Russ was a voracious and learned reader. He 
     often would thrust books at all of us, tell us we had to read 
     them, and check in a day or two to see if we had finished. 
     Just a few years ago, Russ informed me in a letter that he 
     had just completed Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin's 
     autobiography, was up to Volume 4 of Edward Gibbon's 
     ``Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' and also had read 
     the 35,000-word Unabomber manifesto. It was repetitious, Russ 
     commented.
       Russ set a deadline for himself to retire at 65. A few 
     months before, President Johnson nominated him as ambassador 
     to the United Nations. Russ insisted on leaving without much 
     ceremony.
       Then Russ did the most admirable thing of all: He went to 
     Ellsworth, Maine, where he had vacationed, bought the paper 
     there and built it up into one of the most distinguished 
     small papers in the country. He wrote a poem for it every 
     week. And he never lost his creative editorial spirit. To 
     point out the deficiencies of the post office, for instance, 
     he mailed a letter to Ellsworth from a neighboring town and 
     had two oxen pull a cart that beat the letter.
       Even after he'd left The Post, Russ remained one of our 
     most interested readers and staunchest supporters. Shortly 
     after the Janet Cooke story erupted, Russ came to a meeting 
     of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, where we were 
     being drubbed right and left. With his usual wry humor, Russ 
     said, ``I feel great about the state of the American press. 
     Every editor I saw assured me this couldn't have happened at 
     his paper.''
       Russ lived his entire life according to the highest 
     intellectual and moral standards, with great humor and 
     compassion for others, and with panache. He was thoughtful--I 
     would even say brilliant. The words he evokes are 
     ``excellence'' and ``integrity.'' He had fun and he gave it 
     to others. He was a teacher and a friend to the very end.

               [From the Washington Post, Nov. 20, 2000]

                         James Russell Wiggins

       Almost the minute he took over as managing editor of this 
     newspaper in 1947, James Russell Wiggins jolted the city room 
     staff with his passion for rectitude and integrity. No more 
     freebies, he decreed, not even movie passes for copy aides. 
     No more fixing of tickets at police headquarters. These were 
     not the crotchety preachings of a fuddy-duddy; Russ Wiggins, 
     who died yesterday at the age of 96, was a vigorous and 
     engaged editor who cared deeply about ethical standards, old-
     fashioned honesty and the importance of a free and 
     independent press. During his 21-year stewardship here, his 
     enthusiasm for the competitive pursuit of information was 
     girded by an insistence on fairness.
       Today the news and editorial departments at The Post are 
     independently managed. In Mr. Wiggins' day, though, both fell 
     under his exacting command; he took care to maintain a sharp 
     delineation. ``The ideal newspaperman,'' he told the staff, 
     ``is a man who never forgets that he is a reporter . . . not 
     a mover and shaker. . . . Nothing could be more alarming or 
     dismaying to me . . . than to encounter repeatedly the 
     suggestion that the reader knows from the news columns what 
     the views of the newspaper are.'' The reporter ought to have 
     the commitment ``of the honest witness, the fair narrator,'' 
     he said.
       A largely self-educated, extraordinarily well-read man who 
     never went to college, Mr. Wiggins kept reporters and 
     editorial writers alike on their toes--quizzing them on 
     findings, recommending books and suggesting further questions 
     or research. Cartoonist Herblock remembers showing sketches 
     to Mr. Wiggins, who might argue about the views and then say, 
     ``God knows, I tried to reason with you''--and let them go.
       Mr. Wiggins' own editorial views, often churned out in 
     bunches on a given day, were no fence-sitters. He railed 
     against the evils of gambling, the dangers of a large 
     national debt, restrictions on the press and the slowness of 
     mail service.
       Mr. Wiggins left the Post more than three decades ago. But 
     that's not to say he retired. As publisher of the Ellsworth 
     American in Maine, Mr. Wiggins worked and wrote and read on; 
     and he kept up correspondence with this newspaper, exchanging 
     ideas, complimenting an occasional piece and reprimanding us 
     for certain stands taken.
       We paid attention, too. To the end, Russ Wiggins was 
     extraordinarily important to this newspaper.

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