Opinion: Reminiscing with Rusty

Editor’s note: I first met Joe McAdoo, aka Rusty Saber, in 1999 as an intern in Springfield Business Journal’s newsroom. As a green journalist still learning the ropes, I said hello, told him that I enjoyed reading his column and was glad to meet him. The next time Joe came in, he brought me a signed copy of his book, “McAdoo about Nothing,” a compilation of some of his earlier columns. That act of kindness has stuck with me, and in the years since, Joe and I have enjoyed visiting with each other on his visits to SBJ. My daughter, Kaitlyn, shares Joe’s birthday, so he often asks about the latest antics of his birthday pal, and we also have something else in common in that we are Kansas City Royals fans.

What’s your professional background?

I went to Drury in 1968, teaching in the communications department, and I retired in 1996. Before that, I was in Kansas. When I came to Drury, I was the debate coach, and the communications department was pretty much the theater department. By the time I left, it had journalism, television, broadcasting and public relations.

What led you to pitch the idea for your column to publisher Dianne Elizabeth Osis?

When you’re a college professor, you write a master’s thesis and a doctoral dissertation, and a lot of other writing that lacks any real humor. I have a decided sense of humor – always have. … I just got really tired of the kind of writing that I did, even the memos.

Dianne remembers me saying I wanted to be the Andy Rooney (of the Ozarks). Well, I may have said that, but I never liked Andy Rooney. My favorite columnist was Lewis Grizzard … because he had a sense of humor very similar to mine. He was funny, but he always had a point. I had already written an article on public relations before that. I (wanted) to be able to write something that’s not serious, and be able to have a humorous take on it.

Why is the column called Rusty Saber?

The idea is that I will make fun of people occasionally. But I don’t take after them with a sharp saber. It’s rusty, so it’ll only poke. It can’t cut or slice.

In your column, you commemorated Rusty Saber’s 18th birthday, and also the 21st, and it’s almost like you’re writing about a person. Why?

He’s my alter ego. It’s part of the mystery, like using the sketch (instead of a guest column photo) with the column. If people see the sketch, or the name Rusty Saber, I want them to know what it is.

In Rusty Saber, your political commentary is limited, and very general. Why?

For one thing, I don’t think Springfield Business Journal has a political stand. A few years ago, the (American Civil Liberties Union) came to town, and I have absolutely zero use for the ACLU. They … found that there was a law on the books that hadn’t been used for years, against public profanity. They demanded that City Council get rid of it, and (council) didn’t do it right away (so ACLU) threatened to sue. I wrote a political column, and referred to them as the Lone Ranger and Tonto riding into town, and they were going to clean up the town. And the first thing they were going to do was make sure people could cuss all they wanted to. I got a letter back from the ACLU that took my hide off. One of the things in the letter was pointing out how much money they saved the city because the city didn’t have to defend itself (in a lawsuit). I had a follow-up to that, and then … I just left it alone, because (SBJ) is not a political publication. I have political beliefs, but I don’t think they belong in (SBJ).

Among your columns, do you have any particular favorites?

Well, that’s sort of like, “Which child do you like best?” Early on, though, I wrote a column about our little dog, Sammy. That was written the summer that I started this column, and I still hear about and remember it. It’s hard for me to go back and pick out real favorites, but … I picked my favorites to go in the book.

Tell us about some of the feedback you’ve had.

I’d written a column somewhere along the line about my being a Nero Wolfe fan. Nero Wolfe is a (fictional) detective from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Rex Stout is the author. I collect his … paperbacks, and I felt that maybe there were other people out there who still remember Nero Wolfe books. I got a letter from (former Springfield city manager) Tom Finnie, and he said, “Anybody who is wise enough to leave Springfield, Missouri, in the wintertime to go to Maui and read Nero Wolf is just my kind of person.” I really was touched by that letter. I’ve gotten letters over time from people who were very kind – and occasionally not kind, but not very many of those.

When you started, did you have any idea that you’d still be writing Rusty Saber a quarter-century later?

Quite honestly … I didn’t think it would last long. I thought I’d get tired of it, or (SBJ) would get tired of me, and if you would have said (it would last) 25 years, I’d have said, “Come on, be serious.” I didn’t know I would like it as much as I did. One of the things I like best is watching the newspaper grow. The secret has always been good people.