Western New York writer has penned nearly 1000 columns as a public service!
By Bob Confer
In the late-spring of 2005 I reached out to Tim Marren, editor of the Lockport Union Sun and Journal at the time, and asked him if he needed a columnist. Lockport native and WNY media icon Clip Smith passed away 11 months earlier and without his contributions there were no local columnists. I told Tim I would follow in Clip’s shoes and write the column for free.
So, here I am 20 years later, still writing for the Lockport paper and its sister publication, the Niagara Gazette…as well as the Wellsville Sun.
Did I ever think I’d make it this far?
I’d like to think so. It was always my goal to write as long as newspapers, or their legitimate substitutes, existed.
For the most part I have — there were two years, though, when my columns were intermittent due to the time constraints of raising multiple babies.
And, there may have been a few times where I wondered if the well would go dry and I would have nothing to opine upon. But, that never happened and never will: We live and work in New York…Albany will always serve up something for me. Plus, you never know what will happen in this world. When I signed on did anyone think I’d be writing about something called the Great Recession and, then, not too many years later a global pandemic?
The world is a fluid place.
It’s always changing.
We’re always changing.
To keep abreast of that change and to become an agent of change, newspapers — or their online replacements like the great Wellsville Sun – are invaluable tools. Our constitutional republic (which some call a democracy) thrives from their vibrancy and power.
I can attest to their value in that regard. Not every one of my columns has been a victory (some actually stunk), but there have been enough to have a measurable impact and reinforce the importance of the press. For example…
In 2011, a column about the Obama Administration’s plan to exclude almost all minors from most agricultural work and all animal husbandry — which would have destroyed farming’s future as well as 4-H and the FFA – went absolutely viral across the country and became a critical cog in the machine that brought down the rules in the public comment period.
That same year, the federal government proposed that all farm workers get a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in order to drive farm equipment. This column brought that to light and we managed to beat that, too.
Six years ago, the state legislature passed a bill that would have prevented Boy Scouts from using the shooting ranges at summer camps. The sponsor of the bill admitted to the New York Times that my column changed her mind. She brought an amendment to the floor that passed.
Then, during the pandemic, I scored some wins around unemployment benefits and organizational re-openings, as Governor Cuomo’s team made it a point to read my columns and social media posts in 2020.
Mixed among those columns and others were less traceable wins – those you can’t see in the legislative chambers but those that hopefully encouraged people to rethink the way they view the world and the people in it.
Through the years, this column has received responses and exposure from all over the world. It’s exciting to wonder whose attention I might attract next. Rebuttals from Charles Schumer and Louise Slaughter appeared in the paper. Staffers from the Reagan Administration spoke out about a column. I’ve appeared on radio shows across the country. Supermodel-turned-super-businesswoman Kathy Ireland and I shared a nice dialogue after she read one of my articles. The largest newspapers in Germany and China have quoted me. And, what really makes me proud: schools, colleges, and departments of education across the US and Canada have included my essays or quotes in their textbooks and curriculum.
I thank you, the reader, for being there, week in and week out. Over the years I’ve heard from hundreds of you. Some write me in agreement. Others respectfully disagree. And, a few have disrespectfully disagreed to the point of anonymously mailing me my column with expletives written all over it. Be it to the positive or negative, I love your feedback.
I’d also like to thank all the editors and publishers of these newspapers and the Wellsville Sun for allowing me to pursue my dream and share my ideas. Your support – and the weekly designation of space on the opinion page — means a lot to me.
20 years is a long time. It’s not the end. I’ll be here as long as you can all put up with me.
Bob Confer is one of the most prolific writers in Western New York. From public policy to the great outdoors, Bob publishes in multiple media outlets and never takes a dime. He writes as a public service and continues to make a positive impact on the world around him. Shoot him a thanks or a question anytime, Bob@ConferPlastics.com
