Photo by Craig FritzTribune

Tribune

Myron Robart gives a long look at The Trib before he goes to sleep. His wife, Rosemary, watches cable news on the couple's small TV at their bedside. The Robarts have been subscribing to the newspaper for nearly six decades — an era that ends today with The Trib's final edition.

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The Robarts have subscribed to The Albuquerque Tribune for 59 years. Watch »

Myron Robart says he can't sleep if there's no Albuquerque Tribune.

"It's habit forming," he insists. "If I didn't have the paper to read, I'd probably have trouble going to sleep. It's that embedded."

Some news organizations might be offended if a customer were put to sleep by its product, but in the life of an afternoon newspaper, it can also be seen as a mark of pride.

If nothing else, Myron and his wife, Rosemary, have been loyal. The 81-year-olds have been subscribers for nearly six decades.

"I think it's been 59 years," Rosemary says. "We've been married 60, and it was about a year after we were married (when we started subscribing). So, we've had it for a long time. I'd hate to see it go, because I think you need two papers. There are a lot of people who enjoy an evening paper — they don't have time to read the morning paper and they don't want news that old. They want to see the evening news. It would be nice to see it continue."

"We've always liked The Tribune," Myron adds. "Not so much because of the news items or anything like that — just the time of day, I guess.

"I grew up in families that went to work early, and, if they did read the paper, it was in the evening. And my wife's family was the same way. So, I think that probably contributed to it. We later started taking the (Albuquerque) Journal, also, but we've had The Tribune longer."

Each afternoon about 4 o'clock, Myron walks to his front yard, gathers the paper, glances at the front page and returns inside to give the paper to his wife.

Rosemary, from the recliner where she spends most of her day, reads the front page and scans the headlines inside.

"I think it's a well-planned paper and all. It'd be a shame to see it not keep going," she says. "I think we need it. I think we need two papers. In a city as big as Albuquerque, I can't see dropping The Tribune. It's been here too long. It's traditional to have a Tribune."

Rosemary used to work for the phone company before she retired. Once she has caught up on entertainment news and planned her evening TV watching, the newspaper is folded and sits by a living-room lamp until Myron — who once ran a furniture store — is ready for bed.

Between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., he looks at the headlines and reads the articles that catch his attention, though his favorite sections are the comics and the New York Times crossword puzzle.

"I am a crossword puzzle nut," he says. "This is partly due to my hearing. I have trouble with TV, and I've always enjoyed crossword puzzles. And if you know crossword puzzles at all, you know New York Times is it."

The Trib and Journal have long had many differences in editorial content, but Myron says he never noticed.

For him, it was a time difference.

He just likes having something he can read before falling asleep.

"It seems like they (newspapers) have a tough row to hoe, and it's not their fault," he says when asked about the future of newsprint. "It's progress, and, yet, it's not. There's so much stuff like that — like Sears used to be so fantastic and then Wal-Mart comes along. It's progress, and, yet, it's not as good. Wal-Mart's not as good as Sears.

"And the TV's not as good as the newspaper, as far as really reading it and re-reading it."