Twelve summers ago a man stopped me in the grocery store. He had noticed that I was wearing a Daily Princetonian sweatshirt and asked if I worked for the university’s student paper. I did, I told him. He introduced himself and mentioned that he also had worked for the paper in the 1960s. We went our separate ways.
That man turned out to be Richard K. Rein, the founding editor of U.S. 1, and as you’ll see in his trip down memory lane, merely saying he “worked” for the Princetonian was a significant understatement. His story chronicles the tumultuous events of his four years at Princeton, from 1965 to 1969 — many experienced through his lens as a reporter and later editor of the Prince — that had a transformative effect on his life.
Forty years later, in 2009, I graduated in a time of relative cultural calm but great economic uncertainty. But I had at least one job prospect: two weeks after graduating I found myself in the offices of U.S. 1 — a paper I’d had little exposure to despite my nearly two decades as a Princeton resident. A series of connections had led Rein to bring me in on a trial basis.
That was 10 years ago. Now Rein and I are both graduating to new roles: he as a biographer and I as the editor of the paper he has led for the past 35 years. Supporting me are business editor Diccon Hyatt, dhyatt@princetoninfo.com; and arts editor Dan Aubrey, dan@princetoninfo.com. Reach me at hastings@princetoninfo.com or 609-452-7000.
Sara Hastings, Editor
