‘30’ for newspaper columnist Martha Almen Peterson

Former Springfield Advance-Press owner and publisher Martha Almen Peterson, called it “30” last week.

“Thirty” in newspaper language used to be typed at the end of copy in the United States to signify the end of the article.  Martha died on Thursday, August 11, 2016 — four days after her ninety-eighth birthday.

Martha’s passion for the newspaper business and community went 30 times two, plus 7 years.  Martha had newspaper ink in her blood and nearly reached 70 years in the business with newspapers in Truman and Springfield.  Following retirement, she continued to write her weekly column — Column Right — that appeared in the right hand column of the editorial pages.  She gave up writing her column three years ago.

Using printers’ language, she titled her column that appeared in the Truman Tribune “Ems and Ens.”   An em is a typographical unit of measurement for which the 12 point em is the basis; an en is half of an em.  In the Springfield Advance-Press she titled her column “Column Right,” which was appropriate because Martha was a conservative, leaned right, and viewed things from the “right hand side of the aisle.”  Usage of the term “aisle” comes from the United States Congress.  In the Senate, desks are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern and the desks are divided by a wide central aisle. By tradition, Republicans sit on the right of the center aisle.

In 1996, Martha and husband Don Peterson were honored by the Minnesota Editorial Association in recognition of 50 years of faithful service in the newspaper profession. 

The Petersons owned and operated the Truman Tribune, they purchased the Springfield Advance-Press in 1965, and published both papers until 1987 when they sold the Truman Tribune.  The Advance-Press continues in the family with their daughter and son-in-law, D.J. and Peter Hedstrom, current publishers.