[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18] [Senate] [Pages 27216-27218] [From the U.S. 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 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 [[Page 27217]] 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 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 [[Page 27218]] 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. ____________________