Geddy Sveikauskas founded the Woodstock Times as a bi-weekly newspaper in 1972. Shortly after that it became a weekly and was quickly embraced in a community that was experiencing rapid change.
Through the decades the paper has employed high-quality writers and editors, and its brand of journalism became an important part of the glue that held this diverse community together.
When the Covid pandemic occurred in 2020, Geddy, as he is known to most, consolidated what had become four separate weeklies and created Hudson Valley One to cover a wider region and to keep local journalism relevant.
Journalist and writer Brian Hollander, who was editor of the Woodstock Times for 19 years, reminisces about Geddy, who just celebrated his 87th birthday:
“Geddy,” he says, “has performed every task that is necessary in putting out a weekly newspaper — that is, writing stories and editorials, directing layouts, doing a publisher’s daily job – you get the idea. But it’s getting more complex.”
He now has the help of assistant publisher and daughter Genia Wickwire to keep the administration of the paper on an even keel in the digital age.
Hollander also recalls that “for 19 years, my desk about 15 feet from Geddy’s, so I know what it takes to meet deadlines every week. Geddy and I never had a rift over anything newsworthy. In fact, when I was first hired, back in 2001, Geddy told me something that won me over completely. His only instruction was stated, simply, ‘make it the best paper you can’; I like to believe that I carried the flame.”
On Sunday, May 10 at 3 pm in the Sussman-Blythe Community Room at the Woodstock Public Library, 10 Dixon Avenue in Woodstock, the Historical Society of Woodstock will present a conversation with Geddy Sveikauskas, interviewed by town historian Richard Heppner, covering the community, journalism, and local history. Admission is free.
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.
Read more about journalism in New York State.
Photo of Geddy Sveikauskas provided.
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