Each DPS chair, through
the end of 1958, i.e. through Newsletter #55, undertook to prepare and
disseminate the letter. Each letter was Addressed "Dear Desert Peaker", it was
dated with the day of the month and was signed by the chair. The first
Newsletter for the year, prepared by the new chair, usually talked about the
results of the election and the last letter talked about topics to be brought
up the coming annual meeting. All of the Newsletters had reports and stones of
past trips and an enthusiastic notice of future trips. There was frequently
news of conservation matters. An important topic in the early 1950's was
preparation of the Desert Peaks Guide which was finally published commercially
by Walt Wheelock in 1964.
In 1956 only two Newsletters were issued,
there was a recovery m 1957 but only three came forth in 1958. In 1959, two
letters were put out by temporary editors and in 1958, only one letter by the
chair was published. The situation was deteriorating.
A major change
occurred in 1960 (# 59) when John Robinson was appointed editor of the
Newsletter. From now on, it could be called a DPS publication, with a chair's
column and extensive trip reports written by trip leaders. Publication was
bimonthly, except for the summer. The Newsletter acquired a title block with a
stylized ram's head and the month of issue, usually Feb, Apr, Jun, Oct, Dec.
The editor, and others, drew interesting cartoons and useful sketch maps of
climbing routes. Issue 59 contained a historical sketch by John of the founding
of the DPS. He revised this in 1969 in #100. |
Harry Melts, the DPS
chair for 1961, stated in his column in #59, that a better name was wanted for
the Newsletter and that a member who suggested a name that was accepted would
be given a life subscription. The minutes of a Feb 32, 1961 meeting state that
John Robinson was made chair of a committee to select a name. Suggestions made
at the meeting were: Ramshorn, Desert Call, Cactus Chatter, Desert Wind, Sand
& Stars. Nothing more seems to have been done on this matter so the
publication remained the Newsletter until Nov 1974 (#125) when Norman Schmidt
won a contest with the name The Desert Sage.
Robinson served as
editor for 3.5 years, through #77. There was no immediate successor so Bob
Greenawalt, the DPS chair became acting editor starting with #78 of Oct 1964.
He continued as editor after his year as chair and served through #97 of Jun
1968 for a total of 4 years. A characteristic of his Newsletters was edge to
edge text. Who needs margins? Neko Colevins took over for #98 in Dec 64 and
produced two issues in 1965 but did not have time to continue.
The
Chairman's Corner by Art de Goede in #101 of Jan 1970 is a plea for someone to
volunteer to be editor. He emphasized the importance of the Newsletter to the
health of the Section. He had composed #101 and did one more in Feb, 1970.
There were no more issues until Dec 1970 when John Vitz, who seems to have been
elected Chair in May of 70, produced #103. It is a very plain version without a
title block, date or issue number. He served as editor for 2.5 years, through
#117 , dated May-Jun [197:3]. His climbing friend, Jerry Haven produced two
more |