By Jack Houvouras
HQ 127 | AUTUMN 2024
“Take care of all your memories, for you cannot relive them.” — Bob Dylan
Publishing a magazine for 35 years yields a wealth of memories. Looking back, I count myself fortunate that most of mine are fond. And while it would be impossible to recall them all in the confines of this column, these are the moments I remember most.
My first memory dates back to 1989 and the afternoon I spent interviewing Mike Perry at his farm in Wayne County. The lawyer, banker and businessman was the subject of the first article I wrote for this magazine. A highly respected civic leader, he would go on to build Heritage Farm Museum & Village, serve as interim president of Marshall University and emerge as one of Huntington’s greatest advocates. I was honored to call him a mentor and a friend.
After publishing an article about Huntington businessman Bill Campbell in 1990, I was invited to join him for a round of golf at the exclusive Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, where he was a member. Walking the fairways of the picturesque oceanside course with the gentleman many consider to be America’s last great amateur golfer was a day I will never forget. What struck me most was that his favorite subject to discuss wasn’t golf, business or politics. Instead, it was his love of Huntington.
In 1991 the HQ staff traveled to New York City to interview and photograph Huntington native Mark McVey who was starring in the musical Les Misérables. I had never been to a Broadway show and wasn’t particularly looking forward to the three-hour production. However, my apprehension disappeared as soon as McVey took the stage. His amazing voice left me humbled and awakened in me a newfound appreciation for the power of music.
Interviewing Academy Award-winning actor Paul Newman in 1993 about his visit to Huntington while preparing for the film Cool Hand Luke was a revelation. I learned that beyond his talent, good looks and notorious blue eyes, he was, most importantly, a humanitarian who leveraged his fame to raise money for charity. As of 2022, his Newman’s Own food products had donated $600 million to various causes, most notably for seriously ill children and their families.
I read Chuck Yeager’s autobiography in college and was immediately starstruck by the man I consider to be West Virginia’s most accomplished individual. I never thought I would have the chance to meet him, but that changed in 1998 when I decided to write a cover story about him for this magazine. Since then, I have written several articles about Gen. Yeager for various publications, and even got to spend a day with him at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada while on a freelance writing assignment for United Airlines’ magazine. It is one of my most treasured memories.
In 2015 I traveled to Silicon Valley to interview Intuit CEO Brad Smith. I was impressed with the size of the Fortune 500 company’s sprawling campus but was even more impacted by my time with the proud Kenova native. He was warm, humble and generous with his time. An hour into our interview his assistant entered the room to inform him that the White House was on the phone. When I thanked him for his time and told him I should go, he said, “No, this will only take a minute. I will be right back.” That, in essence, sums up the man who today serves as Marshall University’s president.
You can’t publish a magazine for 35 years without making mistakes along the way. We published an article on Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the scholar from Huntington who founded Black History Month, in 1993. However, we did not put him on the cover, and that was a decision I regretted for years. In 2021 I decided to make amends and commissioned a local artist to paint a portrait of Woodson for the magazine’s cover. Both the painting and the article turned out beautifully, and publishing that edition is one of my proudest moments.
I don’t know if I’ll be around when the magazine marks its 70th anniversary, but if I am I’ll count myself lucky to recall more memories like these.
