The lasting impact of Bob Estabrook and a new generation of journalists

LAKEVILLE — Four years ago, I stepped into The Lakeville Journal offices as a freshman from Housatonic Valley Regional High School. The room was nearly empty, as deadline day was far away. A single reporter sat at his desk.

Patrick L. Sullivan was an impressive man, and always dressed for the occasion. The only person in the office wearing a full seersucker suit, his presence was marked by the unmistakable shh-click of his seltzer cans. “Vintage seltzer,” he would say. “Not those wimpy brands.”

He took it upon himself to show me the ropes, with bluntness I have come to expect and appreciate. We sat at his desk as he highlighted an entire article I had just written. “You should rework this,” he said, pressing the delete key.

I learned that writing should be concise, straightforward and — when appropriate — conversational. Never precious. I began to navigate the murky pursuit of interviews, and often followed up with a phone call to get information I’d missed the first time. “I’m sorry,” I would say. “I forgot to ask for your name.”

Slowly, I learned. Interviews lasted longer. I abandoned any fear of stopping people on the street and pulling out a notebook. My photographs improved, if only slightly.

All these benefits I owe to the culture of The Lakeville Journal offices — and the high standards that came with them. I have been told that Robert Estabrook, editor and publisher emeritus of The Lakeville Journal, was the man responsible.

We never met, though I wish we had. Estabrook led The Lakeville Journal’s campaign to reveal dubious police behavior in a 1973 murder case, when a teenage boy was falsely charged with the murder of his mother. Coverage of the case contributed to both the boy’s exoneration and numerous press awards. 

At The Washington Post, Estabrook had been a thunderous opponent of Joseph McCarthy and his namesake campaign against supposed communists, calling the senator’s actions “ferocious assaults upon civil liberties.”

It is clear Estabrook considered his work in Lakeville, both as an owner of the newspaper and a columnist, as equally important to his work at national publications. While I was never privileged to meet Estabrook, his famously high standards for writing and research were certainly evident from the moment I began work. 

I am the first recipient of the Robert Estabrook Memorial Scholarship, generously given by the Salisbury Rotary Club, a group to which Estabrook was deeply devoted. I am certainly not the first person to benefit from Estabrook’s tireless effort. 

For both these reasons, I am in debt to a man I never met. The gift I have received in his name has made it feasible for me to return to The Lakeville Journal once again. It’s a fine send-off before I leave for American University in the fall. 

While I will never have the chance to speak to him, I have learned a great deal about Estabrook over the years. I hope I can do his memory justice.