Hard Way

Unlike many who have bought small-town weekly newspapers, Brook was a New York City executive without a journalistic background when in 1958 he and a partner acquired the Kennebunk Star in Maine. Twenty years and several partners later, he sold the newspaper (the New York Times now owns it), his borrowed $30,000 investment returning more than $1 million in profit. In this memoir Brook recalls his daring exposes of the malfeasance of local politicians, who were often his neighbors. The Kennebunk Star won regional and national awards as well as a letter of commendation from the Nieman Fellows at Harvard. Especially memorable is Brook's defense of an unpopular, obnoxious local gadfly named Herman Cohen who correctly challenged such seemingly innocuous matters as the purchase of an ambulance with tax money, re-zoning and the like. Journalists will love this delightful reminiscence. Photos not seen by PW. (May)