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Remembering Washington's shining Star, a great newspaper that died in 1981
Local • Perspective
Remembering Washington’s shining Star, a great newspaper that died in 1981
A Washington Evening Star newsboy sells a paper announcing America’s entry into World War I. A new book recounts the history of the paper, which was published from 1852 to 1981. (Library of Congress)
By John Kelly, Columnist
Oct. 16, 2019 at 2:29 p.m. EDT
For much of its life, the newspaper you are holding in your hands — or perusing on your computer or smartphone — was nowhere near the best one in Washington. It wasn’t The Washington Post that was thick with ads, peppered with datelines from around the world, full of insider gossip, piercing editorial cartoons and the proclamations of officialdom. It was the Washington Evening Star.
The life of every star is finite, and Washington’s Star was no different. On Aug. 7, 1981, the words “FINAL EDITION” blared from above the paper’s nameplate. It really was.
The life of the paper is recounted in “The Evening Star: The Rise and Fall of a Great Washington Newspaper,” a new book by Faye Haskins, a former archivist and photo librarian in the D.C. Public Library’s Washingtoniana division.
Haskins came to the District in 1971. She admits that over the next decade, she had little interaction with the Star.
....
The Washington Star was once the capital’s top daily newspaper. The building at 11th and Pennsylvania NW that once housed the newsroom still stands, but the paper folded in 1981. A new book recounts the Star’s history. (D.C. Community Archives, Washington Star Papers, D.C. Public Library)
....
Faye Haskins will be speaking about her book at 1 p.m. Nov. 9, in the Peabody Room at the Georgetown Public Library; 6 p.m. Nov. 14, at the Historical Society of Washington in the Carnegie Library; and noon Nov. 25, at the D.C. History Conference at the University of the District of Columbia.
Twitter: @johnkelly
For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.
John Kelly writes John Kelly's Washington, a daily look at Washington's less-famous side. Born in Washington, John started at The Post in 1989 as deputy editor in the Weekend section. Follow https://twitter.com/@JohnKelly
Remembering Washington’s shining Star, a great newspaper that died in 1981
A Washington Evening Star newsboy sells a paper announcing America’s entry into World War I. A new book recounts the history of the paper, which was published from 1852 to 1981. (Library of Congress)
By John Kelly, Columnist
Oct. 16, 2019 at 2:29 p.m. EDT
For much of its life, the newspaper you are holding in your hands — or perusing on your computer or smartphone — was nowhere near the best one in Washington. It wasn’t The Washington Post that was thick with ads, peppered with datelines from around the world, full of insider gossip, piercing editorial cartoons and the proclamations of officialdom. It was the Washington Evening Star.
The life of every star is finite, and Washington’s Star was no different. On Aug. 7, 1981, the words “FINAL EDITION” blared from above the paper’s nameplate. It really was.
The life of the paper is recounted in “The Evening Star: The Rise and Fall of a Great Washington Newspaper,” a new book by Faye Haskins, a former archivist and photo librarian in the D.C. Public Library’s Washingtoniana division.
Haskins came to the District in 1971. She admits that over the next decade, she had little interaction with the Star.
....
The Washington Star was once the capital’s top daily newspaper. The building at 11th and Pennsylvania NW that once housed the newsroom still stands, but the paper folded in 1981. A new book recounts the Star’s history. (D.C. Community Archives, Washington Star Papers, D.C. Public Library)
....
Faye Haskins will be speaking about her book at 1 p.m. Nov. 9, in the Peabody Room at the Georgetown Public Library; 6 p.m. Nov. 14, at the Historical Society of Washington in the Carnegie Library; and noon Nov. 25, at the D.C. History Conference at the University of the District of Columbia.
Twitter: @johnkelly
For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.
John Kelly writes John Kelly's Washington, a daily look at Washington's less-famous side. Born in Washington, John started at The Post in 1989 as deputy editor in the Weekend section. Follow https://twitter.com/@JohnKelly
