Washington's historian closes the book on a storied career in a melancholy mood
John C. Hughes is, at root, a storyteller. As he marks the end of a nearly six-decade career that spanned hot-type newspapering on the coast to crafting the biographical record of Washington’s political and civic leaders, he recognizes a shift in his own disposition. Once sanguine about civic life, even with all its faults, he finds himself in a funk at this time of transition — morose, melancholy, and discouraged.
As he prepares to retire, Hughes leaves behind a shelf full of books, countless oral histories, and a warning: The decline of journalism and civic memory threatens democracy itself.
His body of work began in his hometown, where he still lives. “Grays Harbor is one of those places that has terroir, a sense of place,” Hughes said, explaining his lifelong connection to the timber town of Aberdeen, where he spent 42 years at The Daily World, eventually rising to editor and publisher. He turned down jobs at larger newspapers, including offers from The Seattle Times, out of a commitment to community journalism. “There was something in my blood,” he said. “It’s where I think I belong.”
In a wide-ranging and often poignant conversation with Austin Jenkins on TVW’s Inside Olympia, Hughes said his career began as a reporter in the mid-1960s. Washington had dozens of small daily newspapers with vibrant newsrooms. The Daily World boasted a staff of 21 reporters at its peak. Today, Hughes noted, the paper employs just three journalists and its circulation has plummeted below 5,000. “We had three great photographers on staff, we did investigative work, we went toe to toe with the big-city papers,” he recalled.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/04/washingtons-historian-closes-the-book-on-a-storied-career-in-a-melancholy-mood/