With the Dec. 4, 2008, passing of Howard “Bill” Moore, the printing industry lost one of its veterans, a man who learned the craft of printing newspapers with hot type.
The long-time publisher and editor, without formal advanced education, worked hand in hand with emerging technology through seven decades, including more than 50 years at the Iron County Miner in Hurley.
Moore grew up in Antigo and graduated from Antigo High School. His life in the newspaper industry began in the late 1930s, before he turned 10, when he became a paperboy for the Antigo Daily Journal, delivering a morning route. He then worked as a “printer’s devil,” tearing down and melting the lead type, and worked his way into the mechanical world of the linotype. In 1951, Bill enlisted in the U.S. Army, which included a 20-month tour in Pusan, Korea, during the Korean War as one of the non-commissioned officers overseeing the production and distribution of the Pacific Stars and Stripes newspaper for the Korean Bureau.
After his marriage in 1953, he continued working in the printing industry, using his skills at the Linotype to find employment first at the Fond du Lac Reporter and then at the Detroit (Mich.) Free Press, before landing at the Miner, beginning as a linotype operator, and eventually as columnist, publisher, and owner.
By the early 1970s, he worked his way into offset printing and a decade later was among the forefront in desktop publishing.
Bill is survived by his wife, Adele, and four children.
