Brian Hersey Interview

Brian Hersey

To preface this oral history, I would like to let the reader know I ran into some technical difficulties when recording my first interview with Brian. The recording device that was used for the first interview had some technical difficulties and did not save our first session. Therefore, I had to start a new interview with Brian. The interview included with this history is the second interview recorded that day. Emotional reactions and answers were not the same as they were in the initial recording. Fortunately, Brian was willing to re-tell the stories that he could remember, and re-answer any questions that I felt needed to be recorded. My sincerest thanks go out to Brian and Dawn at Norfolk Manor. ■ Jump to the full interview

This oral history project is about a man named Brian Hersey. Brian initially thought that our project was specifically about the history of the University of Guelph. When we first met, he excitedly told me about his Uncle Joseph Cesar Hersey. Brian remembered his Uncle Joe as a hard-working man. A large smile shone on Brian’s face when talking about him. Joseph Cesar Hersey had worked with the University’s laundry department after returning to Guelph from the war. His uncle had fallen off the back of a laundry truck, requiring him to be discharged. Brian said that his Uncle Joe had worked for the university as long he could remember. The J.C. Hersey Building on the University of Guelph campus (located behind Maids Hall) was named in his honor.  After our first discussion, Brian mentioned that he had worked for the Guelph Mercury newspaper for around twenty years. I felt this would be the focus of my interview with Brian. This job would have allowed him to experience the biggest events in Guelph's history, as well as experiencing the rise and fall of a print newspaper.

Brian Hersey worked for the Guelph Mercury Newspaper for around 19 years. When I first met Brian, he fondly recalled his morning commute down Green Street towards the concrete Guelph Mercury building.  At around the age of eighteen, Brian started working for the newspaper as a compositor. A very important role at the newspaper, Brian’s job was to arrange what a newspaper would look like. Knowing a range of fonts and the necessary sizes for the newspaper’s arrangement, Brian worked with a typesetter and an editor to create a layout of the newspaper. When interviewing Brian, he could still remember the fonts he used. 120-point font was used for the large letters at the top of the newspaper, 11-point was used for certain parts of the body, and 8-point font was used for some advertisements.   Advertisements were one of the most annoying parts of printing a newspaper according to Brian. Submissions for classified ads could be accepted right up until the newspaper would be printed. Brian’s job also consisted of creating the advertisements for the paper, printing pages and casting plates. .

Photo of Guelph Mercury Building as it appeared for sale in 2016.

Although he enjoyed the work, especially “working with [his] hands”, Brian described the job as being incredibly stressful. From the time an event took place, to the information being received at the Guelph Mercury, the information could become old news. A compositor had to work at a rapid pace for the newspapers to be printed daily 

---

During our first interview (which recording was lost), I asked Brian if he had any memories that have stuck with him over the years. The one story that he composited that has remained with him to this day is John F. Kennedy's assassination. To prepare for my interview, I brought a printed picture of the Guelph Mercury from November 22nd, 1963. Unfortunately, Brian’s reaction was lost but as soon as I brought the paper out, it seemed as if Brian had been reunited with an old friend. When given the paper he started rhyming off the font and sizes he used. The John F. Kennedy was a very important issue to Brian as it proved to be the most difficult story of his career. Due to the nature of the hot metal typesetting used at the paper, setting the size, font and layout of the paper was timely.   Brian told me that the newspaper first received the news as Kennedy had only been wounded at the parade in Dallas, Texas. Later in the day, Brian received news that the president had been heavily wounded. After compositing the paper for the second time, Brian had received the final news that the president had been fatally shot.  Brian recalled it as being the most stressful news story of his life, having to re-composite the same page three times in one day. Brian recalled the pain he felt for the Kennedy family and knew of the impact the assassination would have around the world.

November 22, 1963 issue of The Guelph Mercury. One of the many newspapers Brian Hersey composited from 1963 to 1982.

---

The Wellington Hotel fire in downtown Guelph, 1974.

Another memory that Brian recalled were the several fires that happened in downtown Guelph. The biggest fire he experienced was the Guelph Wellington Hotel in 1975. He described the fire as taking up the entire corner of downtown Wyndham Street. Brian had been working at the newspaper that day and saw the buildings smoldering remains after work. When discussing his feelings about the fire he could only say that he was “In awe. The fire was huge.” In 1979, the Wellington Hotel was restored by architect Karl Briestensky in accordance with the building's original design.[1] Brian also described experiencing the Bond Street fire in Guelph around 1964, and the fire that took out the Green Rooster restaurant.

---

With the intensity of time restraints at the newspaper, I asked Brian what would happen if you made an error. Brian explained “When you lay [the paper out] you lay it out properly. There would be no chance to mess up.” Overall, Brian said he enjoyed working at the newspaper.  Brian had many happy memories working at the paper but could feel a sense of obsoletion creeping into his workplace. When he first began working at the newspaper, he worked on a team of twenty-three people. By the time the Guelph Mercury let him go, around 1982, his team was reduced to only eight. When discussing Brian’s experience of his coworkers slowly being let go, he said that “when they reduced it down to eight, and still get the same amount of papers done, that’s a miracle in itself.” As the technology of printing shifted towards the more mechanized and digital Brian said “one person, he can replace three other people. Setting it up, processing it, it’s just un-believable”. During our first interview, Brian told me “Had I known the job would be obsolete so quickly I would have never of taken it in the first place.” He discussed the new electrotyping method by saying, “For electro-typing, you do not need to have someone on the keyboard typing. It is all done on machines” the new process was “so much faster. They don’t need near as many people to do it either. I could replace three people.”   

As documented in the 1978 documentary, Farewell, ETAOIN SHRDLU, hot metal typing newspapers were quickly becoming obsolete in the late 1970s due to advancing typesetting technology. The documentary shows a man who on the last day of his job as a typesetter, writes “It was good while it lasted / Crying won’t help” on a blackboard in their printing room.^[2] This sentiment seems to hit very close to Brian. He resented the technology for making his job obsolete but knew that advancing technology was better for society.

---

Guelph Mercury's website homepage as of April 2, 2019.

In recent years, the newspaper has faced further tough times. In 2016, the Guelph Mercury completely ceased print production of their newspaper. An online version at guelphmercury.com remains, as well as their magazines Guelph and District Homes and Guelph Life.[3] Brian does not see a future with print news. Brian expressed his feelings about print newspapers by saying “I don’t think there is a future there. I think they are going to have to go with listening to the radio and go on TV because that seems like the only way to go.”

Brian and I discussed the importance of news with communities, and that if there is not a newspaper for people to read, people will go elsewhere to remain in the know. When something happens in the world, people know about it almost instantly.

---

In 2019, there are an estimated 4.3 billion people with access to the internet.^[4] In Brian’s words, he “[does] not know what the future of newspaper is going to be”. We both agreed that newspapers and media will have to adapt to advancing technologies today's info-hungry society. With access to media being more accessible than it has ever been, he does not see a way for newspapers to keep up.

---

Click here to listen to the full interview.