Alfredisms
The Polk Progress was a Nebraska treasure that ceased publication in late 1989 after 82 years as a weekly newspaper. From 1955 until its last issue, the editor and publisher was the late Norris Alfred. In its last few months, the Progress had 900 subscribers in 45 states. Alfred was a remarkable Nebraskan with an uncanny eye for connecting the present with the future. Prairie Fire has collaborated with the Alfred family, the University of Nebraska School of Journalism and the Nebraska State Historical Society to locate and archive many of Norris's writings. We are capitalizing on our good fortune to present many of the Norris Alfred writings to our readership. We believe that his observations are as fresh and relevant to today's world as they were when originally written.
“Polking Around”
Oct. 5, 1972
Perhaps our truthfulness is not dependable, but there are subscribers who depend on our knowledge of Polk families when ordering the paper. One letter, enclosing a $5 check, stated: “Please renew my sister’s subscription. I believe it runs out this time of year.” Our only clue was the $5. That meant an out-of-state subscription. Fortunately, we did know who is the sister and where she lives. Another letter from California requested: “Please change the address of my mother’s subscription. She lives with us and we have moved to [address given].” With the help of a couple other “oldsters” (A letter in this Progress tells how somebody referred to us as an “oldster.”), we worked through a few local family trees and came up with the correct name. But the one request we never did manage to fulfill was in an envelope stamped with “Postal Service” rather than the name of the post office. The letter had no identifying town or address, and the writer’s name was unfamiliar. The letter requested: “Please discontinue my uncle’s Progress subscription. We buried him last week.”
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