< Previous page

Early on, she wanted to change what Jones described as the "very primitive, Grandma Moses-type" masthead she had drawn to something "slicker." Jones says he persuaded her to leave it alone, and it looks the same today: "I said, 'Part of the appeal of The Mini Page is the fact that it looks natural, like it was done by children.' "

The big time

Eventually, she took the idea to Charlotte and then to Norfolk, Va., ultimately hooking up with United Press and branching into books on various topics. A major breakthrough came, she says, when The Washington Post picked up The Mini Page in 1981. "A lot of our sources were in Washington, so the fact that we were in The Post helped, particularly locally," she says.

She also allowed sources to view proofs of her pieces before they are published -- a no-no for traditional newspaper reporters -- to make sure she got it factually right. "They like that. That's another reason we got good sources," she says. But The Mini Page never dropped a story because of any pressure from a source.

Universal Press gave her help. Longtime editor Alan McDermott recalls the Debnam "system."

"Every week I would get this big package full of her layout sheets, her copy sheets and any kind of illustrations or photos," he says. "It was a big jumble. It was like a big puzzle we assembled every week."

Even as the staff grew to include a managing editor and others, Debnam remained so central to the feature that imagining it without her is like imagining the Dave Matthews Band without Dave Matthews.

She had been weighing the decision to step aside for some time. Her husband, retired Marine Col. Richard Hunt, was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Hunt was a former N&O reporter, a military adviser to the late Vice President Hubert Humphrey and a lobbyist. He died in July at age 92.

"I just decided that this was a good time," says Debnam Hunt, who says she had nearly sold The Mini Page several times.

The constant deadline pressure had worn on her, bringing to mind a line by the late Charles Schulz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip: "You always felt it was Sunday night, and you had a quiz on Monday morning."

Future editions

Protective of her creation, she is keenly interested in where it is headed. Managing editor Lisa Tarry says the long relationship between the syndication company and Debnam Hunt has allowed her to step aside with a sense of trust that The Mini Page will not be dramatically altered. Indeed, Tarry says, no major changes are planned except for an increased online presence, which Debnam Hunt endorses.

Debnam Hunt, who will split time between homes in Washington and Raleigh, says that while the art has gotten better, The Mini Page has preserved its educational approach. It's the newspaper approach that raises doubts about its future, given the industry's overall circulation losses. Asked whether she had detected any corresponding loss of relevance in the Internet age, she gives it a moment's thought.

"No," she says.

Tarry says The Mini Page has remained more stable than newspapers in general because many papers sell ads for it, more than making up for the cost. "It has sort of an extra value that some things don't," she says.

It remains relevant "because it's something that kids can easily read in newspapers, which don't have a whole lot that kids can easily read," says Lesley Richardson, media and Web librarian for Learn NC, a network of educators brought together by UNC-Chapel Hill.

Beyond the hard copy, Debnam Hunt can envision a Web site, a Mini Page television show, more books, ideally. At the same time, she is worried about the time that many children devote to hand-held games, "so I'll be interested to see what sort of future" awaits The Mini Page and the partnership of newspapers and educators.

There is much to learn, and Betty Debnam Hunt is wrapping her arms around it.

< Previous page