The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Tull one of city's biggest boosters
Founder of newspaper remembered as positive and upbeat
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: July 10, 2008
Every Thursday, thousands of Saline residents hold Paul Tull's legacy in their hands.
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Tull, who died last week at the age of 91, carried the distinction of being Saline's most prominent and influential newspaperman and was one of the city's biggest boosters during its transformative years.
Tull founded The Saline Reporter in 1948 at the age of 31 and dedicated the next 47 years of his life to chronicling and promoting the city he loved.
"He wanted the paper to be a positive influence and that was the direction he took it," said his daughter Anne Kirvan, who with her sisters, Jody and Nancy, grew up around the newspaper business. "He very much had a vision of how he wanted Saline to be and he helped make Saline what it is."
In his role as the city's booster, Tull was instrumental in helping to bring the Ford Motor Co. plastics plant to Saline in the mid-1960s, an economic coup that doubled the city's tax base and allowed for broader services and improved schools.
"He devoted himself to promoting Saline," said longtime city attorney Allan Grossman, who worked with Tull and other civic leaders to influence Ford's decision. "The direction of his business was always promoting Saline. He wasn't out for the startling story. He was out for the truth and for what would benefit his beloved Saline. He didn't look for flaws to make news -- he looked for stories that would make Saline better."
Tull and his wife, Jackie, to whom he was married for 60 years, embraced his role as an influential and constructive force in the community. His passion for trumpeting the positive was an extension of his upbeat and optimistic personality.
"He always had a good word to say about everybody," said Carl Weller, who became friends with Tull more than 40 years ago. "He was an upright citizen, and honest as the day is long. He was a good scout. He was a great friend."
"Paul spoke well for the community," said Woodie Merchant, who wrote for the newspaper, including a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" feature for many years. "He was a builder-upper, not a tearer-downer."
He helped build careers as well as community, providing many area youth with their first job and budding journalists with their first beat.
"Many, many of us who worked for (Tull) can say we owe our careers to his unique brand of community journalism," said Renee Lapham Collins, who was associate editor of the paper for years and is now a journalism adviser at Adrian College. "Paul gave me a lot of opportunities to grow ... he treated me with respect and kindness and was always encouraging."
From his early days as a young newsboy hawking the now-defunct Detroit Times to his first venture into publishing a weekly newspaper out of a room at the YMCA to the eventual formation of The Saline Reporter and The Milan News, now The Milan News-Leader, Tull lived his life doing what he loved -- and loved doing it where he lived.
"He loved this town," said his daughter Anne. "He loved the people who live here."
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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