[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 9, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING LARRY SILLANPA: LABOR ADVOCATE AND LIFELONG DULUTHIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD M. NOLAN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 9, 2018

  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Larry Sillanpa, of 
Duluth, Minnesota who will be retiring from the Labor World Newspaper 
after 29 years as Editor and Manager. Over the years Larry has proven 
himself to be a tireless advocate for working people and an incredibly 
dedicated and successful Editor, never missing a deadline in 668 issues 
printed. His dedicated service to The Labor World, the oldest Labor 
paper in Minnesota and one of the oldest in the country, helped guide 
the publication through uncertain times for print media and grow to 
reach even more readers across the Northland.
   Larry's career as a newspaper man began at the age of seven with his 
first job delivering newspapers for the Duluth Herald and News Tribune 
at the rate of a quarter for a days' work. He worked many paper routes 
in his younger years throughout West Duluth and the Central Hillside 
neighborhood.
   Over the next few decades, Larry worked for many of the pillars of 
Duluth's economy and community such as, the Duluth School District, the 
Norshor Theatre, the State of Minnesota, the U.S. Steel Plant in Morgan 
Park, and sailed on the Great Lakes for Republic Steel. He also 
attended the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), and wrote for the 
UMD Statesman.
   Today, after 29 years as Editor of the Labor World, he has become 
one of those pillars of the Duluth community. Also, a proud lifelong 
Duluthian, Larry has lived on the same plot of land in northern 
Minnesota for 44 years. He and his wife Jennifer built their home on 
the same land after their marriage in 1994.
   Throughout his career Larry has been an incredible advocate for 
workers and the Labor Movement. He has doggedly taken politicians and 
corporations to task for neglecting their obligations to the people who 
make our economy work, and highlighted all the efforts by working 
people to build a better life for the working class. Under his 
leadership he brought the paper from the age of type setting to the age 
of computers and carefully oversaw the reach of the Labor World grow as 
it increased in circulation by 65 percent.
   I ask my colleagues in Congress to join me in recognizing Larry 
Sillanpa for his years of service to the Labor Movement and northern 
Minnesota. I thank Larry for keeping the Labor World newspaper alive 
and leaving it in a position to thrive into the future. Although he's 
finally giving up his paper route, his printed word will live on 
forever.

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