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COLERIDGE — For generations of Cedar County newspaper readers, the Coleridge Blade didn’t just arrive each week — it showed up, steady and reliable, because Bob Yost made sure it did.
Yost, who spent a lifetime in the newspaper and printing business, died Sunday at age 89.
His passing marks the end of an era for Coleridge and for anyone who ever waited on ink-stained pages to tell the town’s story.
Former Coleridge Blade Editor Alisha Stone said Yost was the epitome of a small town newspaper man.
“Such a genuine man - Bob was a great mentor, teacher, historian and most importantly, friend,” Stone said. “ I wish I would have written down all of the wonderful knowledge of Coleridge that he shared with me over the years. He was always deeply respected in our community and he will be sorely missed,’’ A 1953 graduate of Coleridge High School, Yost got his start the old-fashioned way in the early 1950s, sweeping floors, learning type and earning his keep as a printer’s devil before moving up to full-time printer under Vance Viergutz at the Coleridge Blade.
It was hands-on work — long hours, heavy presses and little room for mistakes — but it was work Yost took pride in.
When Viergutz purchased the Randolph Times in December 1959, Yost came back to his hometown from a newspaper job in Lexington to buy the Blade.
