Printer's ink runs in his veins

Bob Elliston sits at his computer ready to publish another weekly edition of the Palmerton Press. He is always happy to send the e-mail publication to anyone who wants it.

Palmerton man follows in father's footsteps

By PATTIE MIHALIK

Bob Elliston got through more than seven decades of his life before he made a startling discovery: He has printer's ink in his veins.

Publishing is his siren's song, luring him to his computer to publish his weekly epistle, The Palmerton Press.

The Palmerton man actually stole both the name and the masthead.

It stole it from his father, George Richard Elliston.

But that's okay. If the late George Elliston can see his son from his heavenly perch, he must be smiling.

The elder Elliston was the founder, editor and publisher of the Palmerton Press, the town's first or second newspaper. Actually, what brought him to Palmerton in the first place was an offer from New Jersey Zinc, the company that literally built the town.

NJZ hired Elliston to run its printing department and start a weekly newspaper. With backing from the company, he opened a print shop and newspaper office in the spacious building at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Third Street, present location of Pencor Headquarters.

The first edition of the Palmerton Press was published on Dec. 17, 1912, with Elliston filling every role.

In grade school, his son Bobby had a role, too. A dirty role.

"I washed down the presses every night and removed type then recast it in ingots," says Bob who is probably one of the few who can recall the early days of setting newspaper type.

When his father had a heart attack in 1939, Bobby's brother Richard moved back to town to help his dad in the publishing business. "I was only 13 at the time but I did whatever job I could," he says.

To him, that's all publishing was. A job. He didn't share his father's great love of printing and publishing a newspaper..

It was actually his new interest in computers that led Bob Elliston to start writing.

He explains how that happened by first talking about his favorite subject, his wife Ruth, better known as his Queen.

"Over 20 years ago, I married my brother's widow. Thus, all of my stepchildren are also my nieces and nephews. Our marriage is absolutely the very best thing that ever happened to me."

Keeping in touch with geographically scattered family members got easier when Bob bought his first computer and discovered the joys of e-mail.

He started sending "news chats," detailing what was going in his life and in the town.

Those epistles kept growing longer as did the list of recipients. Bob soon found himself publishing his own electronic version of a folksy weekly newspaper.

It's an unorthodox version, to be sure, which might be part of its charm.

A typical issue always includes his personal diary of activities, including details of the food he enjoys at "the best restaurant this side of heaven." That's Bob's fond reference to his wife's home cooking. And if one gets hungry reading his posts, that's no problem. Ruth's recipes are sometimes included. "And are always available by special request," Bob promises.

Each week's edition usually includes present day news as well as a trip down memory lane. It's a little bit of Prairie Home Companion, a little bit of local history and links to other newspaper stories deemed interesting.

"The Saturday edition of the TIMES NEWS is my favorite part," says Elliston. "I like the variety of personal columns. Even if I don't agree with a particular point of view, I enjoy reading it because it makes me think." Those columns frequently are included in his weekly mailing, "by permission," he adds.

"I try to write an upbeat letter with a bit of humor and not get too confrontational in my opinions," says the 77 year old writer who is at his best when he gives his simple philosophies of life.

Love one another, value friends, stay close to family and take plenty of quiet time for personal introspection, he advises.

Each morning Bob begins his day, cup of coffee in hand and Butternut Fred at his feet, sitting on a park bench in his back yard. He watches the sun come up while he thinks about his life. "And every time I do, I feel so blessed," he says. Some of those early morning reflections find their way into his weekly newsletter.

That newsletter really took off in both appearance and popularity, Bob says when "son George and grandsons Andy and Jason encouraged me to turn this from a letter into a web page."

That means he can post pictures from his wanderings around town as well as photos from the past. It is those vintage photographs that appeal to so many of his readers, many of whom write back to share their memories and information. That, too, finds its way on the web.

When the weekly epistle is ready for publication, it first has to pass scrutiny from the proofreader, Bob's Queen.

Elliston has received many requests to put more vintage photos and stories on line from his father's earlier Palmerton Press editions. One copy of each edition is now stored at Palmerton Library. Bob has the technical ability to scan each edition onto his computer but the program results in so many mistakes that it's too time-consuming for someone to sit there making thousands of changes.

The Lehigh Gap Historical Society wants to find a feasible way of coping those old newspapers onto a computer base so people could do a word search and find what they are looking for. Anyone with suggestions is asked to contact George Ashman at gashman2@juno. com or Elliston at elliston98@yahoo.com.

"Someone will know how to do that," Elliston says. "I'm just waiting for them to share it with me."