MINDING OUR OWN BUSINESS

The many pressures - and occasional pleasures - of publishing a country newspaper provide a chatty chronicle of the first years of independent enterprise which took Charlotte Paul, her husband, Ed, and her two youngsters from the security of a weekly paycheck in Chicago to a small town in the northwest. With more courage than cash they bought up the Record and its obsolescent shop and equipment, and were introduced to the hurried, harassed routine of the seven day work week the fifteen hour day, faltering presses unreliable printers, and complaining customers- while Charlotte was free-lance writing on the side- and selling her novel (The Gold Mountain). Building a house of their own (although all their securities had been used up) accelerated the pace here- almost a killing one for Ed- who had two heart attacks in quick succession; mumps followed- and then pollo for both the boys, to complete a strenuous year. With their economy stabilizing, their shop expanding, it was Charlotte was realized that she would have to change her life a little - in order to save Ed's - and case the years ahead.... For those who liked It Happens Every Thursday, etc. - this is again a human interest beat with a personal by- line.