Williams

Continued from page 1 could just say she’s got ink in her blood, too.”

When Sharla was born, her mother took five years off from fulltime work. But she continued helping the staff with work from home, and occasionally found a babysitter if needed for in-office duty.

Williams then returned full-time when her daughter started kindergarten.

Those earlier days in weekly newspapering were quite different from the present. The Graphic, like many other newspapers, was produced with the linotype-hot metal system. Williams’ principal early task was typing information to be set on the linotype. Although Williams admits some aspects of the current electronic production system are “a little difficult for me to grasp at times,” she always has enjoyed the relative ease compared to the old hot type days.

She credits IT coordinator Gerald Sanders for helping her through any technical issues. “He always explains it very patiently,” Williams said. “You had to have been there in the old days to appreciate what we have now.”

Dick Mayo was the owner of The Graphic when Williams began, but it soon was sold to Mary Clarke. Next up in ownership was Kerm Powers, before Williams began her long association with the Fisher and Wylie families.

Bob Fisher and wife Christine and Ron Wylie and wife Margaret (Christine’s sister) began publishing The Graphic in 1971, and Williams has been with the family operation for 52 years. The tradition now continues following the recent retirement of Wylie and the assumption of management by his daughter-in-law, managing editor Megan Wylie.

The Fisher-Wylie team instituted electronic production shortly after purchasing the newspaper.

“Bob Fisher was one of the best editors I ever worked for,” Williams said. “He would give you an assignment and then leave you alone. If there were any changes or improvements to be made, he had a very diplomatic way about him.”

Williams said the great working relationship continued later with Wylie as editor and publisher. “He was just so good to work for. We all worked together so long and so well that it was just like a family. I have always been treated fairly, and I just couldn’t ask for better people to work for.”

Williams needed to care for her husband Carl Williams, a Clarksville accountant, when he had health problems before passing away in 2011. “Ron was so understanding about taking care of family matters, and it is still that way under Megan. We take off if we have to, but we all know we have to do what is necessary to get the paper out each week.”

Several years after purchasing The Graphic, the Fisher-Wylie team acquired the competing Herald-Democrat and merged the two. Williams was an integral part of that competition for several years and remembers it with relish.

“I actually enjoyed it,” she said. “I’m a very competitive person. I always loved it when we got a big ad, and they didn’t. But sometimes the shoe was on the other foot.”

The Graphic eventually reached a circulation of about 9,000 and published 24 pages or more each week. “I believe at one time we were the second-largest weekly in Arkansas,” Williams said.

While those numbers understandably have declined in recent

See Williams Page 5

Arkansas Press Association Convention

DoubleTree Hotel | July 20 – 22, 2023

THURSDAY, JULY 20

Noon Arkansas Press Association Board of Directors Luncheon & Meeting

5 pm Cocktail Hour & Hors D’oeuvres at the Arkansas Press Association Headquarters

7 pm – 10 pm Dinner at Cotham’s in the City & Live Music with Brooke & Mike

FRIDAY, JULY 21

8:30 am Breakfast Social with Omelet Station

Trade Show & Arkansas Newspaper Foundation Silent Auction Open

9:30 am Session: The Trailblazer’s Guide to Digital Subscriptions: Mapping a Path to Success

Presenter: Bridget Sibthorp-Moecker, BLOX Digital

10:30 am Mimosa Break in the Trade Show

10:45 am Session: Improving Healthcare in Arkansas Through Media & Medicine

Presenters: Preston Tolliver & Katie Leath, UAMS

11:45 am Break in the Trade Show

Noon Luncheon

Keynote Speaker: Janet Harris, Executive Director/CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute

2 pm Session: Photojournalism via Smartphone

3:30 pm

Presenter: Mark Humphrey, Associated Press

Panel Discussion: Maximizing Operational Efficiencies

Moderated by: Lori Freeze

Panelist: Tom White, Rusty Fraser, Jim Holland, Rhonda Overbey

4:30 pm Cookie Break in the Trade Show

5 pm Trade Show Closes

6 pm Honorees’ Reception

Featuring Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Harpist Alisa Coffey

7 pm Arkansas Press Association Honors Banquet

• Past Presidents’ Gavel Passing

• Installation of Eliza Hussman Gaines as President

• Presentation of Journalism Educator of the Year Award

• Presentation of Golden 50 Service Awards

SATURDAY, JULY 22

8 am Registration Opens

APA Past Presidents’ Breakfast (Invitation Only)

8:30 am APA Member Business Meeting & Breakfast

9 am

Panel Discussion: Breaking Stories Using FOIA

Moderated by: Sonny Albarado

Panelists: Tamara Johnson, Ellen Kreth, Andrew Bagley, Chris Fulton

10:15 am Break

10:30 am

Panel Discussion: Investigative Reporting

Moderated by: Sonny Albarado

Panelists: Hunter Field, Tony Holt, Rick Kron

Noon Arkansas Press Association Better Newspaper Editorial Awards Luncheon

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Little Rock Room block open for reservations