Ric Swihart reported for his first day of work on Dec. 8, 1969, and he says it’s not quite true that he was at the same desk for 42 years. But until he retired earlier this month, Ric never left theLethbridge Heraldand while he covered many beats in his career, he was best known for his favourite – agriculture.
Though theHeraldenjoyed the fruit of most of his labours, Ric has freelanced for others includingAlberta Farmer,theWestern Producer,and the CBC.
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A graduate of Fort Macleod High School, Ric completed a journalism course at Mount Royal College before earning a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. After graduating, Ric came home to Fort Macleod and worked in his father’s welding shop before joining theHerald.
Ric says that despite the long hours and intense deadlines, he loved his job as soon as he started.
“It was an exciting time because it was the time of Harold Cardinal and the Indian Association of Alberta and they were rallying. It was the protest times in the United States so there was lots of activity going on,” Ric said.
By spending the summers at his grandric parents’ farm south of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Ric knew a little about agriculture, but moving to the farm beat was pure chance.
“Our farm writer went off to Nelson, B.C. for a weekend and fell in love and he phoned in on Sunday that he was quitting,” Ric said.
After spending time as the business editor and covering the farm beat, Ric was able to raise agriculture’s profile within the pages of the newspaper.
“It was in about 1986, there had been a kerfuffle at theHeraldand I went to the managing editor and I said, ‘Lookit, it’s time. We’re in a grain area here, let’s create a daily farm page and make me the ag editor and let me run with it.’ And he did.”
Ric was, and still is, one of the best-known reporters within agriculture, something he credits to his willingness to cover the beat enthusiastically. “I realized that in agriculture news even then, there were not a lot of agriculture writers or people who wanted to do farming or ranching to write about as a career. They were more interested in the police beat, or politics or city hall, those were considered the glamour beats.”
At one point in his career, Ric registered for the agriculture program at Lethbridge College to enhance his understanding of the industry, but later changed his mind for fear the knowledge may make him less willing to explore the issues with the same zest.
“I dropped it simply because I did not want to be the expert,” he said. “If I tried to understand issues, then I could empathize with people in their crisis or their joy.”
Right decision
“Ric was a true joy to work with,” saidLethbridge Heraldeditor Craig Albrecht, who worked alongside Ric for more than 20 years. “Not only was he a font of knowledge when it came to all things agriculture, Ric always had a smile on his face and never once hesitated to lend a helping hand on newsroom projects no matter how many things he already had on his plate.
“Even more importantly as a colleague, he shared the same interest in your personal well-being as he did in the countless southern Albertans he interviewed over the years.”
Ric, now 65, says there were many highlights to his career but knows retirement was the right decision at this stage of his life.
In 1972, he married his wife Sharon and they had five children – a son and four daughters.
As for retirement, “We’re just nicely into it, so we don’t know what to expect really, but we’re enjoying what we’re doing,” he said.
Ric will still continue to work on a part-time freelance basis for theHeraldand other publications. Despite the freedom that retirement brings, Ric and Sharon plan to stay mostly close to home as they enjoy their new-found time together. “We’re not globetrotters, but P.E.I. holds a special attraction for us and we’ll sure go down there and we have friends in Ottawa and we like Montana.
“And there’s acres and acres of Alberta I’d love to see,” he said.
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“Ricalwayshada smileonhisfaceand neveroncehesitatedto lendahelpinghandon newsroomprojectsno matterhowmanythings healreadyhadonhis plate.”
CRAIG ALBRECHT CALGARY HERALD
