Vashon Island’s rich history of newspapers over the last century includes the contribution of many women editors.
While Vashon has had a variety of newspapers since Oliver Van Olinda’s first monthly newspaper, Island Home, in 1892, the two longest running papers are the Vashon Island News-Record, which published from 1919 to 1958, and The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, which began in 1957 and still serves the island 68 years later.
Agnes Smock edited the News-Record from 1928 to 1942, and a series of exceptional women have edited The Beachcomber over the last three decades. They include Allison Arthur (1996-2006), Leslie Brown (2006-2013), Natalie Martin (2013-2015), Anneli Fogt (2015-2018), Susan Reimer (2018-2019), and Elizabeth Shepherd (2021-2023).
In light of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (March 8), this is a brief history of those editors.
Agnes Smock
The News-Record, formed by the combination of the Vashon Island News and the Vashon Island Record, initially brought in P. Monroe Smock as editor. The next year, P. Monroe and his wife Agnes purchased the paper, and Agnes become owner/editor in 1928 after P. Monroe left her and their three children.
Agnes raised her two sons and daughter while working full-time as the island’s newspaper editor. She pioneered an all-women staff of reporters, and each part of the island had its own reporter providing a weekly column of news, events, and activities.
Agnes was active politically, serving as a Republican district representative at a time when the island was shifting Democratic. A staunch fighter against corruption, she editorialized about the rumored shoddy construction and materials being used to build the new Vashon Union High School, and as a result, the News-Record was excluded from the time capsule embedded in the cornerstone of the new high school building.
Agnes was also a supporter of the island’s Japanese American community, covering the Japanese American school that operated on the weekends, and the gift of 100 cherry trees to celebrate the opening of the new public high school. She editorialized that the Japanese of Vashon were not the Japanese invading China in the Sino-Japanese War, and praised the Japanese American community’s efforts to help America prepare for World War II.
Agnes wrote a stirring editorial on December 11, 1941, four days after Pearl Harbor, supporting Vashon’s Japanese American community, and in March 1942 published “The Creed of Japanese Americans”, adopted by the Japanese American Club of Vashon.
In May 1942, when Vashon’s Japanese Americans were exiled and imprisoned, she published Don Matsumoto’s letter “An Appreciation,” and two days before the removal, she printed her editorial, “We Part With Mutual Regret.”
Two young budding newsmen, Carl Nelson and John VanDevanter, founded The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber in 1957 and soon after purchased the News-Record. Nancy Nelson, married to Carl, became an important part of the early Beachcomber serving as the paper’s news editor and writing her weekly column “Gull Talk.” Jay and Joan Becker purchased The Beachcomber in 1975 and edited the paper until they sold it to Sound Publishing in 1996.
Starting in the mid-1970s, Eve Dumovich worked at newspaper, eventually becoming its news editor. She helped break the story about pollution caused by the ARSACO smelter in Tacoma.
Allison Arthur
Allison Arthur was the first editor hired by Sound Publishing after buying the paper. Jay Becker and Allison both thought Jay would help transition Allison into the new position, but Sound Publishing had different ideas, and Allison was left on her own to get the paper out each week.
The first person she met when moving into her new home in Burton pleaded with her “to do something about Mary Matthews,” the director of Island Landmarks who had a troubled relationship with island historic buildings, artifacts, and many residents.
Allison’s series of investigative reports on Island Landmarks began the long process that led to the formation of Friends of Mukai, which took control of the historic Japanese American property. During the publishing of that series, Allison and The Beachcomber were threatened with multiple lawsuits, and she was introduced to the owner of Sound Publishing as “the editor who is trying to get us sued.”
Allison also documented the extended fight over the Glacier Mine site, the development of the Vashon Community Care Center and the extensive pollution that the ASARCO smelter had deposited on the island; for the latter, she personally inserted maps into each issue of The Beachcomber the week the story broke so she could beat the Seattle Times.
Like Agnes Smock, she also held public officials accountable: When King County Council member Ron Sims “promised” to take care of parking issues at the north end ferry dock, Allison began to publish a bi-weekly editorial counting the days since the promise was made. About three months later, the north end parking lot was improved.
Leslie Brown
Leslie Brown became editor in 2006 as the island’s real estate market was booming, and she covered gentrification and the accompanying dislocation of many long-time residents. She also covered the financial collapse of the 2008 recession and how it devastated Vashon’s housing for years, and continued the saga of the Glacier battle.
At one point, when it appeared Glacier had won, she recalled walking out to the site at sunset, taking photos of the crane that Glacier had just barged in so that it could quickly begin constructing its industrial-scale pier; months later, she wrote a far different story — the decision by a federal judge that blocked the development and ultimately convinced Glacier to sell the property to King County.
“It was a dramatic turn of events that demonstrated the power of activism, the difference a handful of people could make, and the importance of the judiciary,” she said. “I still feel inspired by that story.”
She also covered the creation of the King County Ferry District, the lawsuit Water District 19 faced over its moratorium on water shares, the 2008-2010 debacle of the Vashon Fields project that nearly bankrupted the Vashon Park District, school district difficulties that led to Superintendent Mimi Walker’s dismissal, the disbanding of the Vashon Community Council, and the extended legal battle as Friends of Mukai wrested control of the Mukai property away from its Texas-based owner.
Leslie felt her skill as a journalist grew during her time at The Beachcomber because of what she called the “Thriftway effect.”
“At large newspapers, you rarely see the people you’re writing about, the people you’re quoting,” she said. “On Vashon, I couldn’t hide. I’d run into community members all the time — at Thriftway or elsewhere — who had opinions about my stories and were happy to let me know what they thought. It kept me honest and humble; it helped me realize the importance of strong journalism in a small community; and ultimately, I think it made me a better reporter.”
Natalie Martin
When Leslie Brown stepped down as editor, reporter Natalie Johnson stepped into the editor’s role on April 3, 2013. She married, becoming Natalie Martin, and edited The Beachcomber for more than two years.
Martin covered the legalization of same sex marriage, the legalization of marijuana and the development of island growing and retail businesses, and the Mukai legal case the ended with that island treasure being restored to island ownership through the Friends of Mukai. And she covered stories about loss, suicide, crime, and controversies.
In her final editorial before moving north with her husband, Martin wrote: “At this newspaper, we work to simply tell the story, regardless of the reaction it may have. At the same time, we’ve learned to treat our neighbors with the respect and fairness that’s vital if we want to keep sharing this small island. It’s a job that’s tough, challenging … that makes a difference in this place, a job that’s deeply rewarding.”
Anneli Fogt
When Natalie Martin moved to Alaska, Anneli Fogt became The Beachcomber’s editor in September 2015 as a 22-year-old just one year out of college. A team of experienced newspaper women helped her succeed. “I could hardly believe they (Sound Publishing) would trust me with that role,” she said, “and I kept surprising myself over and over again that I pulled it off.”
Anneli “always tried to do right by everyone” because she grew to understand the nature of a small island community where islanders were “interested in what is going on, and everyone cares, and everybody is engaged and invested in the community.”
In her farewell editorial, she remarked that she “wrote more stories than I can count. From the fight against a methanol plant in Tacoma to debunking a claim that Vashon is the most liberal place in the U.S., … reporting on a lawsuit against the school district and covering the important local issues like school bonds, pool cover and board elections that no other paper will cover, it’s been a pleasure and an honor to tell this community’s stories.”
At one point, Anneli worked as a waitress at Bramble House restaurant to make ends meet as a young single woman living on the island. She felt like she lived in two separate worlds, the world of the newspaper editor and the world of a service sector employee, and this “dual life” gave her insights into both that helped her become a much better editor and reporter.
Anneli left The Beachcomber in December 2017 to become the editor of the University of Puget Sound’s alumni magazine.
Susan Riemer
Susan Riemer was editor from December 2017 to June 2019, and after a false start with a new editor, again from July to September of that year. Susan started at The Beachcomber in August 2001 as an editorial assistant under editor Allison Arthur, and commented that working at a newspaper is “a curious person’s dream job. I always said I learned something new nearly every day.”
Susan covered Washington State Ferries’ new, diminished triangle route schedule, challenges to funding health care, which led to the creation of the Vashon Health Care District and new ownership of Vashon Community Care and its closure of the skilled nursing facility, and the controversy around stockpiles of asphalt millings left over from the repaving of Vashon Highway.
“I think of community journalism as a service,” Susan said. “I believe that communities are stronger and healthier when we know about important issues we face and the people we face them with.”
In her last editorial, she wrote that “community journalism is a team sport. While Sound Publishing owns this paper, it belongs to each of you as islanders and readers.”
Elizabeth Shepherd
Elizabeth Shepherd edited The Beachcomber from October 2021 to September 2023, and currently serves as the newspaper’s reporter. She began working at the paper in 2008 when she was hired as the paper’s part-time arts editor, working under editor Leslie Brown. Liz was the arts editor from 2008 to 2013, and then again from 2019 to 2020, when she worked with editor Susan Riemer.
“Leslie and Susan taught me how to be a journalist,” she said.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. As the newsroom staff shrank, Elizabeth decided to devote all her time to the newspaper and became, at times, the only reporter in the newsroom. “During a time when our community couldn’t easily come together, I wanted the Beachcomber to be a reflection of all we held dear about this place, and also chronicle all its very real challenges and changes,” she said.
As editor, Elizabeth covered investigations of two Vashon High School teachers accused of serious misconduct, leadership change in the fire district, the split between Sea Mar Community Health Center and the newly created Vashon Health Care District, and plans by the Seattle Indian Health Board to develop a treatment center in the former Vashon Community Care building, crime stories including the arrest of a Maury Island man charged with human trafficking, and much more.
“I’m not sure how I did it,” Liz said, explaining her relief when Alex Bruell was hired as editor after her decision to step down from that role in the fall of 2023.
She said she was in awe of Agnes Smock.
“Agnes set the tone and the pace, way back when,” Liz added. “Sometimes I imagine she’s looking down on us, and telling us to keep the paper rolling off the press, no matter what.”
Today, two other notable women keep The Beachcomber ticking.
Publisher Daralyn Anderson joined the paper in 2001 and has kept the paper financially afloat ever since. Patricia Seaman started in 2005 and has managed the office, sold ads and kept reporter’s grammar in tip-top shape for 20 years. Daralyn and Patricia are the behind-the-scenes force of nature that have helped keep The Beachcomber viable.
Past editors of the Vashon Beachcomber are photographed at The Beachcomber office. From the left: Liz Shepherd, Susan Reimer, Leslie Brown. (Terry Donnelly photo)
