BREAKING INTO THE BUSINESS

Hammond began his career humbly enough, at the age of 12.

“I got my carrier’s license two days after my twelfth birthday,” he said, “and I worked that week as an assistant carrier. I stuck around, and (eventually) got my own route. It was the biggest in the city, all of Washington Avenue, (which was) about 140 papers.”

But, because he is efficient or magnanimous, Hammond shared the route with his brother. That was back when the newspaper was the Evening Observer, so paper boys, like the Hammond boys, could complete their routes after school.

OBSERVER File Photo News Editor Bill Hammond won the 2013-2014 New York News Publishers Association’s 2013-2014 headline writing contest. His winning headline was “Kiyak jumps ship” after former City Councilwoman-At-Large Stephanie Kiyak unexpectedly resigned.

“We would hop on our bikes, each of us would race up one side of the street, and we were done in about 10 minutes,” Hammond said. “That’s because we had practice — I always played sports when I was in school.”

These early activities would serve as portents for the rest of Hammond’s career: ever after, his dual loves would be the newspaper and sports (and Patty, but we’ll come to that).

Hammond graduated from Cardinal Mindszenty High School in Dunkirk in 1968, at which time he served a stint in the newspaper’s mailroom before attending Fredonia State Continued from   Page 1

College, intending to be a teacher. In time, he would meet that goal, but not in the way he had planned.

It’s also worth noting that during Hammond’s six years as a paper carrier, he had managed to save a couple of bucks a week, and by the time he started college, he had enough to buy a new Mustang II.

Bill Hammond referees four sports and will continue after his retirement.

DIFFERENT TRACK, SAME BILL

Hammond recalled his teacher try-out, and why it didn’t pass his own test.

“I remember that I had been assigned to Gowanda for student teaching,” he said. “I was full of ambition. I wanted to teach and to coach. I told the assistant principal there that I was willing to help with the sports teams and the library club. But all he wanted me to do was sit in the back and watch for kids who were writing on the desks. Every class, he told me the same thing. ‘Be the graffiti police.’ That’s not why I wanted to be a teacher — to tattle on students all day. So I said ‘That’s it.’ And I switched my major to English.”

Hammond was already in his junior year of college, so he admits the choice did set him back a little. However, it didn’t end up negatively impacting his career. By this time he was the editor of The Leader, Fredonia State’s on-campus newspaper, and he was also writing sports stories for the Evening Observer. He had another job in the college’s athletic department, collecting sports articles (some of which he wrote) for the coaches’ scrapbooks. He also picked up refereeing as another side job. In this way, his sports-and-writing lifestyle continued. In his senior year, it would lead to what he called “a dream come true.”

“It was 1972, my senior year,” he said. “I was almost ready to graduate — I had something like three credits left to get my degree. But the sports editor at that time moved up, and I was offered the position. I was 21 years old. I took it, left college, and spent the next 25 years as the sports editor.”

Bill Hammond, sports editor at the time, holds up a newspaper to assistant news editor Jerry Reilly.

As such, Hammond got to cover what some refer to as the “golden age” of Buffalo sports teams. He saw the Bills go to the Super Bowl. He covered Sabres games and the Buffalo Braves (an NBA team that practiced at Fredonia State, and which later became the San Diego Clippers, now the Los Angeles Clippers). He saw the Bills at their local training camp (also at Fredonia State). He rubbed elbows with big-name players and coaches until the early 90s, when his role at the newspaper would evolve still further.

LOVE BETWEEN THE LINES

Hammond didn’t just find a career at the OBSERVER. He also found love.

“It was at the old building,” Hammond began, referring to the OBSERVER’s former headquarters (what is currently the newspaper office’s parking lot). “It was two stories, packed with people working on typewriters and smoking.”

“I was the one-woman art department,” said his now-wife, Patty (nee Palmerton). “I had the title of ‘advertising artist.’ I needed Bill’s help one day. I wanted to get a picture of a boxing glove for an ad that said something like ‘Knock-out prices.'”

“We started dating soon after that,” Hammond said, explaining that the employee hang-out then was Rusch’s Restaurant, where the Moose Club is now.

“That was our first date,” said Patty. “May 17, 1974. It was like a group of us that went there for Happy Hour after work … We liked each other from the beginning.”

So much so, actually, that it didn’t take long for Hammond to put a ring on Patty’s finger. They got married July 11, 1975, and daughter Erica came along a year later, followed by son Matt (who would both eventually work at the OBSERVER, though Matt sought greener pastures after his paper boy days).

Four decades later, Patty still talks about how smart Hammond is. Hammond has referred to her as his “lovely wife” to coworkers on several occasions. They enjoy spending time with their children and grandchild. They have a farm. They have a happily-ever-after that probably deserves its own story.

NIGHT BOSS

Hammond was ready to try something new in 1993, when he was offered the position of news editor. But shortly after he took the job, the Williams family sold the Evening Observer to Ogden Newspapers, and the company decided to change the paper to a morning edition and to add a Sunday paper, which it never had before. Thus, it became the OBSERVER, and after only a few months of working days and spending evenings with his family, he was back on the night shift, but this time driving the whole train — which means he’s seen a lot of reporters come and go.

Back to that teaching we mentioned.

“I was always in charge of the interns from the college,” he said. “I’ve probably (mentored) anywhere from 15 to 20 of them. Then there were all the reporters. We used to have more.”

The OBSERVER used to cover a larger area, and before the internet, many more residents had subscriptions. There were roughly eight staff reporters, plus correspondents (freelancers) and sports writers. There were bureaus (satellite offices) in Silver Creek, Fredonia and Gowanda. There were a lot of cub reporters that needed teaching.

Kyle Kubera, a former reporter and editor at the OBSERVER and the Post-Journal (Jamestown), was one of Hammond’s lucky on-the-job students:

“What I really need to say, and have never fully said to Bill, is thank you. When I was 16 he asked me to be part of the OBSERVER Sports staff and it unlocked a passion for writing, reporting, informing the public and being part of an organization that created something new every day. I didn’t know anything about being a reporter, but Bill worked with me and taught me and watched over me. He is the person responsible for giving me the only job that ever got into my heart,” Kubera stated. “He showed me how to work, how to inform, how to be a part of the public discourse. Bill will always have a special place in my memories for showing me how to be a true professional every day, even when I wasn’t the most professional. He also showed me how important it is to be open to change, as his career evolved at the newspaper. I really can’t say enough how grateful I am that he gave me a chance and showed me how to love a job.”

To Jen Osborne-Coy, Lifestyles and Chautauqua Sampler editor from 1995-1998, Hammond was “Uncle Bill.”

“When I joined the OBSERVER staff, Bill was a veteran reporter, editor and AP Stylebook rolled into a quiet, unassuming mentor who helped anyone who needed it. His sense of humor, dry sarcasm and love of his community helped elevate us all and provided stress relief when we needed it the most. I started calling Bill Hammond ‘Uncle Bill’ my second week in the newsroom because he epitomized the role of trusted teacher, colleague and friend. I am proud to have worked with him and still call him Uncle Bill 19 years later,” she said.

Osborne-Coy’s husband, who served as city editor from 1995-2007, agreed.

“I worked with Bill for 12 years and he was always a rock-solid presence in the newsroom. Neither challenging situations nor looming deadlines rattled Bill — he was the definition of ‘keep calm and carry on’ long before it became a catchphrase. When things would get tough and press time was fast-approaching, I would always think of Bill and follow the example he set,” said Doug Osborne-Coy.

April Diodato, who was a reporter and then Lifestyles editor (2005-2013), said, “Bill Hammond doesn’t suffer any fools. That’s what I love about him. I learned countless things from Bill over the years. To name a few: every rule about grammar that truly should be required as common knowledge for every literate human being, trivia on a multitude of subjects from our group trivia nights at Wing City (go team!), and about life in general thanks to his sapient advice. The paper won’t be the same without him — and I wouldn’t have become the same writer I am without him either. Cheers to you, Bill!”

Keith Sheldon, former editor of the OBSERVER, called Hammond “a very dedicated member of the staff and a good friend.”

Sheldon said, “He loved sports and enjoyed covering the local teams. He will be missed. We had a lot of fun together. We both loved working for the OBSERVER. He and I were in the same boat that way. It was a good place to work and I enjoyed all the time I spent there and I’m sure he did too.”

But, of course, one of the most important students Hammond taught was his daughter, Erica, who understands just how instrumental her father has been to those who worked with him.

“My dad has been very generous of his time with all of his reporters and designers and I’m really proud of how he didn’t let the high turnover rate get to him,” she said. “He kept training young reporters who’d eventually — usually sooner than later — leave the OBSERVER and move on to a bigger paper or a role with more responsibilities. He has been a wonderful writing and journalism coach to legions of once and future and former reporters and editors. He taught me the basics of page layout in the 1990s after I graduated college and I went on to win a newspaper design award when I worked for a paper in Princeton, N.J.”

And, Hammond’s influence can also be seen with Erica’s own child, Holden.

“When I was a kid I was obsessed with reading Nancy Drew books and devoured them by the dozen. One day (my father) gently suggested I try out some other authors and recommended I read ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and ‘Catcher in the Rye.’ Over 20 years later my husband and I went on to name our son Holden, because I loved the name of a character in a book my dad suggested I read.”

WELL-DESERVED REST

And what will the guy who’s worked for the OBSERVER since 1962 do with himself now? Well, he isn’t quite done with the sports part of his career, for one thing. He’s been refereeing since college, and he plans to continue that.

“I’ve refereed four sports over the past four decades,” said Hammond. “I enjoy that, and I’m going to keep doing it.”

Then there’s that “lovely lady” who has patiently waited for more than 40 years to have her husband home for dinner every night. There’s Erica, and Matt, and grandson Holden, and a farm, and an upcoming wedding (Congrats, Matt!). There are concerts to go to. Lazy Sundays when “paginate” won’t be on the to-do list. When AP style rules won’t matter (at least not every day). When reporters will no longer shout “Five more minutes!” to Hammond across cubicle walls after he asks how much longer their stories will take. When he won’t answer phone calls and then yell “Rebecca/Nicole/ Greg/Amanda, fire on Main!” or “Who’s on obits?!”

But the newsroom will be quieter, and emptier, without his voice in it. With Hammond’s departure comes an end to something not quite tangible. Grammar and style questions will go unanswered, and maybe unasked. Reporters will think or say “Bill would know” and then try to look for answers online. Whoever takes his place will move into “Bill’s office.” In short, there will be an absence, but after so many years spent on the job, Hammond’s coworkers will at least try to gracefully let him go.

From all of those editors, reporters and correspondents, past and present: Happy retirement, Bill. You deserve it.