Robert Fiege, 64, completed his final day as production director of the News-Leader this week. He is retiring after 48 years with the newspaper. Fiege began working as a paper boy in middle school and later as an office gofer while still attending Fernandina Beach High School. He worked his way up under the supervision of four publishers and multiple editors to his final position, in which he was responsible for layout, design and distribution of the newspaper.
“In my 29 years of working with Robert at the News-Leader, I have never worried about the production of the paper or getting to press on time or about the office. Robert always had things under control,” said Publisher Foy Maloy.
Accustomed to working under pressure Fiege took the stories, photos and advertising for each issue, fit them into space available and rushed the final product to meet late afternoon printer deadlines. The News-Leader is printed in Palatka overnight and then returned to Fernandina for distribution the next morning. For Fiege, the job wasn’t complete until the delivery truck was safely back in town.
Born and raised in Fernandina Beach, Fiege entered the world at the former Humphreys Memorial Hospital. The eldest of three brothers, he describes their mother as “our rock” and credits her with his strong work ethic. In the early days, he worked two jobs, at the newspaper during the day and at a local movie theater at night.
Fiege has witnessed many changes in newspaper production since he entered the business. The News-Leader building once housed a darkroom for processing its own photographs, which Fiege learned to do. Digital photography made that process obsolete. He used to have a crew of three graphic designers under him to create newspaper layouts. Once design and layout moved to digital production on a computer, one person could do the job.
“Personally, I still miss the days when we laid out the paper by cut and paste. It felt more creative somehow when we did everything with our hands,” said Fiege. When the News-Leader was owned by the New York Times, he recalls, “As their ‘baby’ paper, we were the test site for new technology. Before they introduced new technology systemwide, they tried it out on us.” In the years since, Fiege has had to master seven over-hauls of the organization’s computer system.
Fiege has won numerous awards, not only for layout and design but also for photography. Some of his most memorable moments were when he was called upon to photograph breaking news stories. He has photographed head-on car collisions and the recovery of victims from an offshore plane crash. He has been known to wait with his camera inside businesses and alleyways, biding his time for the right moment. One award-winning shot was of a murder victim’s casket being carried down the long stairway of the Methodist church on Centre Street after her funeral. Another time he lay in wait behind the federal courthouse in Jacksonville to photograph a former Nassau County sheriff in handcuffs
as he was being led out after a court appearance. He was subsequently convicted of his crimes and served jail time and was released. Fiege has enjoyed fringe benefits of press passes that enabled him to ride in a blimp and to hobnob with celebrities.
“Working at the newspaper has been a family kind of thing,” reflected Fiege. Before the paper moved from a single weekly issue to two issues a week, there was more time for staff to be involved in community activities. For example, he remembers bonding with coworkers as they created floats twice a year for parades. There’s less time for extracirrulicar activities with a semi-weekly schedule.
He remains in contact with several former coworkers who have moved on. He and former editor Michael Love have remained friends since 1989, when Love came to the News-Leader as the youngest editor with the New York Times.
Said Love, “Robert had so much knowledge about Nassau County. We used to pitch story ideas in a focus group including Robert, and he always knew whether the paper had already done a related story and when. I would lay out an idea, and he would have an even better idea. We won so many awards during those days. He turned out to be my best friend, but then I think a lot of other people think of him as their best friend, too. He’s a talented, hardworking, good guy.”
Fiege also maintains contact with the publisher who first hired him, Paul Lindsey. Fiege had little patience with colleagues who messed with his deadlines.
“Everything I did at the newspaper was around deadlines, and I was harsh at times,” admitted Fiege. He laughed that Former publisher Bett Yates-Adams signed him up for a Dale Carnegie course. “I guess it didn’t take because they made me go to another class after that,” he joked.
As Hurricane Floyd approached our coast in 1999 just at deadline time, the staff remained committed to getting the paper out on time. They loaded up a van and evacuated all their computer equipment to the other side of the county for safekeeping. Fiege and his editor at the time, Tony Quesada, were not yet finished with the front page of the Wednesday, Sept. 17, issue so they drove to Ocala, where they finished the front page at the Ocala Star Banner. Just as the first issues came off the press, they saw a huge mistake in the headline. Instead of reading “It Could Have Been Worse” (about local hurricane damage) it read “It Coule Have Been Worse.”
Said Fiege, “Tony and I saw the error but the press was already running so we didn’t think it would be possible to make a change. We reconciled ourselves that the front page was going to make us look bad.”
After Fiege and Quesada left the building, the press crew interrupted the run to change the mistake. A few issues had already been stamped for the mail and went out with the error, but most went out with the corrected headline. Fiege keeps a copy of the flawed headline as a souvenir.
Some readers may recall Fiege’s early, but short-lived, stint as a performer while in high school. He played bass clarinet in the band, sang with the acapella choir and acted a part in the school play “My Fair Lady.” Although he enjoyed performing with a group, he was “too shy” to perform on his own. He has fond memories of Bill and Marge Mason, who mentored him and other stu-dents in band and the theater.
“They touched thousands of lives here,” said Fiege.
Currently he enjoys hanging out with friends. Many of his former classmates who moved away are now returning home to retire. “My friends are happy about my retirement,” he said.
Fiege once vowed he would die at his desk with his boots on. His four-year battle with cancer and the loss of a younger brother last year led him to re-think his plans. He is now in remission and in anticipation of an autologous bone marrow transplant this summer that offers a cure. He has decided he wants to travel in retirement. As a youth, he traveled to Austria and England. The first trip on his agenda is to visit the town in Germany that may be the home of his paternal ancestors.
Recognizable by his year-round signature attire of bright tropical shirts and shorts, no matter what the temperature, Fiege won’t need a new wardrobe. He already looks the part of tourist. (Yes, he owns two pair of trousers, but he reserves them for weddings and funerals.) Fiege said a favorite uncle was the inspiration for his own Key West-themed attire.
Continued Maloy, “For the past 48 years, he has been a cornerstone of the paper. He is the kind of person you could always count on to get the job done. Plus, he had all of the local history of Fernandina Beach that kept us historically correct in our reporting on the community. This a huge transition for all of us. I will miss having Robert around.”
pbushnell@fbnewsleader.com