User:Bobandgary/sandbox

The Tucson Observer was created, under its original title in response to a need for communication amidst tragedy in the Tucson gay community. On June 6, 1976 21 year old gay youth Richard Heakin, a visitor from Nebraska, was brutally killed outside of the Stonewall bar by four boys all aged 15-17. The boys were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to supervised probation until the age of 18. The Tucson gay community was left deeply affected, outraged, and terrified by the tragedy. In an effort to unite the LGBT community and promote communication and pride in the memory of Richard Heakin, Tucson locals Bob Ellis and George Rederus began circulating the Tucson Gay Newsletter which was issued weekly starting September 29th 1976, but was only intended to operate during the interim following Heakin’s murder. The newsletter was wildly popular and soon Bob and George decided to expand its distribution to Phoenix under the new name Arizona Gay News (AGN). The publication now took the form of a four page newspaper and would continue to grow for the next six years until several competing papers were established in Phoenix. In order to earn the revenue necessary to maintain weekly publication, AGN was rebranded as The New Paper beginning March 11, 1983. Four months later the paper would again change names to become Attitude but the strain of long distance publication forced the paper to resort to bi-weekly publication starting March 14th 1984. In September 1984 Bob Ellis became the sole proprietor of the paper and began working on it with his partner Gary Clark. Together they changed the name for a final time choosing The Observer and developed the paper into a more professional periodical format which once again published weekly. Under the leadership of Bob and Gary the paper grew to 12 pages, then 16 and occasionally 20. Bob and Gary did the layout of the paper by hand, formatting the issues on a large drafting table. In 1987 they switched to digital layout using a computer and printer but Gary, a skilled artist continued to hand draw much of the ads, cartoons, and even the signature header logo featuring a Southwestern figurehead. Gary’s artwork became a staple to The Observer and included hundreds of snarky, humorous, and poignant political cartoons which remain a feature of the paper. Since Gary’s passing in 2011, Bob has continued to produce the paper with the help of Assistant Editor Mark Kerr. In the spring of 2012 Bob increased the size of paper’s staff with the intent of again updating and remarketing The Observer.