http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100625/NEWS02/706259911
Published June 25, 2010 in the Rutland Herald
Longtime Vermont news editor dies at 58
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The former longtime editor of The Vermont Standard, Woodstock’s venerable weekly newspaper, who died last week after a nine-year battle with cancer, was remembered by friends, colleagues and the people he covered for his professionalism, kindness and “wicked sense of humor.”
Kevin M. Forrest, 58, died at his home in Springfield Saturday. At the time of his death, he was the program director at Springfield Area Public Access Television, the local station that brings the Springfield area local news and programming by the people of the region.
Forrest had retired from the Vermont Standard in 2009, after close to 30 years at the Woodstock paper, where he did everything but deliver the paper. He wrote editorials, laid out pages, edited correspondent’s copy, answered the phone and opened the mail, as well as wrote his own stories, all the time with an enthusiasm and humor that can be rare in a business always on deadline.
At the same time he was famous for his special April Fool’s editions, when he poked fun at himself — and others — in the once-a-year SubStandard.
He moved back to his hometown of Springfield about four years ago, and had quickly gotten involved with the Springfield community, first volunteering with SAPA-TV, and later taking a part-time job, which developed into a full time position once he left The Standard, according to Bruce Johnson, executive director of the station.
Johnson said Forrest took to the new medium like the proverbial duck to water, and quickly worked to expand the station’s offerings by recruiting community members to produce or host new shows.
He also did his share of the grunt work, Johnson said.
“Right off the bat, he saw community television as a real opportunity to serve the local community,” said Johnson. “Kevin was an honest, decent human being who always gave people an opportunity have their say,” he said.
It was Forrest’s long tenure at The Standard, his dedication to childhood friends from Springfield , and his love of rock ’n’ roll that people remembered most vividly this week. Forrest started his career at the weekly Springfield Reporter, worked at The Eagle-Times of Claremont, N.H., in two brief stints, and also worked for many years as a freelancer for The Rutland Herald, covering the Woodstock area. But weeklies were his real love.
“He had a very gentle local touch,” recalled U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., of Hartland, who first met Forrest in 1980 when he was running for Windsor County Senate.
Welch was running against Forrest’s boss at the time, South Woodstock businessman Ed Bennett, a Republican, Welch recalled, and Forrest handled the delicate situation perfectly.
“His publisher was running, it was ‘Bennett For Senate,’ and I was running against his boss,” Welch recalled during a telephone interview. Election Night, Bennett’s Jeep ended up in the Kedron Brook, which was about halfway between Bennett’s South Woodstock home and the Kedron Valley Inn. “I never asked Kevin about what happened,” Welch said.
Later, when Welch was in leadership positions in the Vermont Senate, and then was elected to the U.S. House, Forrest was devoted to getting the story.
“He would test me, push me and probe me. He never relented on doing his job. He challenged me, but he never challenged my motive,” said Welch, who lives in neighboring Hartland.
“He had a very gentle local touch. My dealings with him were mainly as a politician, and he was always much more excited about who won the basketball game or the big debate on the recreation center in Woodstock. He was very close to the community and he loved the characters in the community and in Woodstock, there is no shortage of characters,” Welch said.
Howard Coffin of Montpelier , a former press secretary to retired U.S. Senator James Jeffords, R-Vt., and a Woodstock native, first met Forrest when he became editor of his hometown newspaper, where Coffin himself first wrote when he was in high school.
“Kevin had the printer’s ink in his veins,” said Coffin, a former political reporter for the Rutland Herald. “There isn’t a harder job than running a small town paper and in Woodstock, where a lot of people have too much time on their hands, to do it for as long as he did and as well as he did, with a sense of humor and common sense — it was remarkable,” said Coffin.
“I loved the guy, I really did. He understood that behind the small town personals and the sports news and the Rotary news, there is a basic principal of freedom of the press and our democracy,” Coffin said.
Forrest convinced him to write for him on occasion, when Woodstock philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller died, and again when Jeffords retired from the U.S. Senate, for little or no compensation, Coffin remembered with a laugh.
Johnson said Forrest, who had battled mouth cancer nine years ago, felt a lump in his neck this winter, after he fell off a ladder getting ice off his roof. He went to his former cancer doctors at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and ended up having surgery in March. Complications set in with a vengeance and he never returned to work, Johnson said.
Close friend John Tracy of Burlington, an aide for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., grew up with Forrest in Springfield, and was with him when he died.
“Kevin lost two siblings to cancer and it was never ‘Woe is me,’” Tracy said. “He just sucked it up.”
Tracy said Forrest was an English major at Castleton State College. “The written word was very important to him and he always had a real desire to find out what was going on. “
Tracy said Forrest played in several bands over the years, including his high school band, “The Illusion” which still plays together on occasion. “He was an incredibly loyal, loyal friend,” Tracy said, who noted that he and Forrest were going to celebrate their 40th reunion at Springfield High School this weekend.
Five years ago, at a high school reunion, Forrest renewed a friendship with Linda LaBonte, a Springfield school teacher, and they’ve been together ever since, Tracy said.
As Forrest was in the grip of the disease in what turned out to be his final days, his biggest frustration, his friend said, was not being able to play his guitar.
“Music was close to his heart,” Tracy said.
Friends and family have planned a special celebration of Forrest’s life. It will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. July 2 at the Hartness House Inn in Springfield.
Longtime Vermont news editor dies at 58
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The former longtime editor of The Vermont Standard, Woodstock’s venerable weekly newspaper, who died last week after a nine-year battle with cancer, was remembered by friends, colleagues and the people he covered for his professionalism, kindness and “wicked sense of humor.”
Kevin M. Forrest, 58, died at his home in Springfield Saturday. At the time of his death, he was the program director at Springfield Area Public Access Television, the local station that brings the Springfield area local news and programming by the people of the region.
Forrest had retired from the Vermont Standard in 2009, after close to 30 years at the Woodstock paper, where he did everything but deliver the paper. He wrote editorials, laid out pages, edited correspondent’s copy, answered the phone and opened the mail, as well as wrote his own stories, all the time with an enthusiasm and humor that can be rare in a business always on deadline.
At the same time he was famous for his special April Fool’s editions, when he poked fun at himself — and others — in the once-a-year SubStandard.
He moved back to his hometown of Springfield about four years ago, and had quickly gotten involved with the Springfield community, first volunteering with SAPA-TV, and later taking a part-time job, which developed into a full time position once he left The Standard, according to Bruce Johnson, executive director of the station.
Johnson said Forrest took to the new medium like the proverbial duck to water, and quickly worked to expand the station’s offerings by recruiting community members to produce or host new shows.
He also did his share of the grunt work, Johnson said.
“Right off the bat, he saw community television as a real opportunity to serve the local community,” said Johnson. “Kevin was an honest, decent human being who always gave people an opportunity have their say,” he said.
It was Forrest’s long tenure at The Standard, his dedication to childhood friends from Springfield , and his love of rock ’n’ roll that people remembered most vividly this week. Forrest started his career at the weekly Springfield Reporter, worked at The Eagle-Times of Claremont, N.H., in two brief stints, and also worked for many years as a freelancer for The Rutland Herald, covering the Woodstock area. But weeklies were his real love.
“He had a very gentle local touch,” recalled U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., of Hartland, who first met Forrest in 1980 when he was running for Windsor County Senate.
Welch was running against Forrest’s boss at the time, South Woodstock businessman Ed Bennett, a Republican, Welch recalled, and Forrest handled the delicate situation perfectly.
“His publisher was running, it was ‘Bennett For Senate,’ and I was running against his boss,” Welch recalled during a telephone interview. Election Night, Bennett’s Jeep ended up in the Kedron Brook, which was about halfway between Bennett’s South Woodstock home and the Kedron Valley Inn. “I never asked Kevin about what happened,” Welch said.
Later, when Welch was in leadership positions in the Vermont Senate, and then was elected to the U.S. House, Forrest was devoted to getting the story.
“He would test me, push me and probe me. He never relented on doing his job. He challenged me, but he never challenged my motive,” said Welch, who lives in neighboring Hartland.
“He had a very gentle local touch. My dealings with him were mainly as a politician, and he was always much more excited about who won the basketball game or the big debate on the recreation center in Woodstock. He was very close to the community and he loved the characters in the community and in Woodstock, there is no shortage of characters,” Welch said.
Howard Coffin of Montpelier , a former press secretary to retired U.S. Senator James Jeffords, R-Vt., and a Woodstock native, first met Forrest when he became editor of his hometown newspaper, where Coffin himself first wrote when he was in high school.
“Kevin had the printer’s ink in his veins,” said Coffin, a former political reporter for the Rutland Herald. “There isn’t a harder job than running a small town paper and in Woodstock, where a lot of people have too much time on their hands, to do it for as long as he did and as well as he did, with a sense of humor and common sense — it was remarkable,” said Coffin.
“I loved the guy, I really did. He understood that behind the small town personals and the sports news and the Rotary news, there is a basic principal of freedom of the press and our democracy,” Coffin said.
Forrest convinced him to write for him on occasion, when Woodstock philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller died, and again when Jeffords retired from the U.S. Senate, for little or no compensation, Coffin remembered with a laugh.
Johnson said Forrest, who had battled mouth cancer nine years ago, felt a lump in his neck this winter, after he fell off a ladder getting ice off his roof. He went to his former cancer doctors at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and ended up having surgery in March. Complications set in with a vengeance and he never returned to work, Johnson said.
Close friend John Tracy of Burlington, an aide for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., grew up with Forrest in Springfield, and was with him when he died.
“Kevin lost two siblings to cancer and it was never ‘Woe is me,’” Tracy said. “He just sucked it up.”
Tracy said Forrest was an English major at Castleton State College. “The written word was very important to him and he always had a real desire to find out what was going on. “
Tracy said Forrest played in several bands over the years, including his high school band, “The Illusion” which still plays together on occasion. “He was an incredibly loyal, loyal friend,” Tracy said, who noted that he and Forrest were going to celebrate their 40th reunion at Springfield High School this weekend.
Five years ago, at a high school reunion, Forrest renewed a friendship with Linda LaBonte, a Springfield school teacher, and they’ve been together ever since, Tracy said.
As Forrest was in the grip of the disease in what turned out to be his final days, his biggest frustration, his friend said, was not being able to play his guitar.
“Music was close to his heart,” Tracy said.
Friends and family have planned a special celebration of Forrest’s life. It will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. July 2 at the Hartness House Inn in Springfield.
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