Former Record-Courier reporter named to newspaper hall of fame

When Gardnerville Editor Tom Wixon asked Joyce Hollister if she had paste-up experience when she was hired at The Record-Courier in 1976, she could honestly say yes.

Of course, it was only a weekend's worth she learned from her mother when they produced a publication for Graham Hollister Sr.'s 1968 run for the Nevada Senate.

Since then, however, Hollister has compiled a resume covering every aspect of the newspaper business -- especially about getting the community cares to read.

On Sept. 20, Hollister and Las Vegas Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick will be inducted into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame.

"I was just doing my job," she said of her 25-year career with the biweekly newspaper. "I always felt that if something was important to somebody, then it was important to me."

Presently associate editor of Nevada Magazine, Hollister has continued her association with the Gardnerville newspaper as editor of the annual magazine she started, the Carson Valley Almanac.

Hollister, who is married to longtime Genoa resident Graham Hollister Jr., first worked part time at the newspaper in 1971 for editor Roberta McConnell.

She sold and took ads, wrote copy and did proofing for the newspaper, which was produced on a Linotype machine and printed in the Eddy Street building.

"The staff was so small then that we could all meet in the little room where our newsroom later was," she said. "The draft board had an office in the building."

Hollister covered Douglas County schools for most of her 25 years with the newspaper and one of her fondest memories comes from the beat.

"When Bill Zabelsky was music teacher of Gardnerville Elementary School, he asked if I would take pictures at the Christmas program," she said. "I was tired, a mother with two kids, and working part time, but I felt I should go. I was taking pictures as Bill looked at me and mouthed 'thank you.' That made it all worth it."

During the time Hollister worked at the newspaper, Douglas County changed substantially.

"We used to interview new teachers when they came to work, because there would only be two or three," she said. "There were only four schools, so I could literally go to every school program."

She is philosophical about the growth that has occurred over the years.

"I started out in a small town, but I wouldn't have gone anywhere if it hadn't grown," she said.

Hollister was named Nevada outstanding weekly journalist in 1993 and a Distinguished Nevadan by university regents in 1999 for her support for the Douglas County campus of Western Nevada Community College.