Newspaperbacker Days

"They were here Friday, they were here Saturday, and those nuts were sprinkled on our Sunday."

When veteran southwest Missouri newspaper editor Randy Turner wrote those words he never dreamed he was opening the door to a $1.5 billion libel suit and the end of a storied newspaper career that saw him earn more than 100 awards, including 30 for investigative reporting.

In Newspaper Days, Turner's follow-up to the highly successful The Turner Report, he relives his 22 years as a reporter and editor, including how:

-He encountered a gang of armed drug dealers after his editorial resulted in a police crackdown

-His failure to deal with the murder of a close friend haunted him after his first newspaper job

-One publisher fired him twice by mail, and another told him he would never work in newspapers again.

-He ran afoul of a 400-pound city marshal, and a gun-toting father during his time with the Newton County News

-His coverage of corruption in a small town police department, the Nancy Cruzan right-to-die case, and a governor's race between three Missouri legends- Mel Carnahan, Roy Blunt, and Bill Webster, catapulted him to a front-tier status among Missouri journalists.

. Newspaper Days is entertaining, funny, fast-moving, and a must-read for those who remember a time when a newspaper was the heart and soul of a community.

Randy Turner is an eighth grade English teacher at East Middle School in Joplin MO and spent more than two decades as a journalist at various southwest Missouri newspapers, earning more than 100 awards, including 30 for investigative reporting. He has written three earlier books, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and The Turner Report. He is also the author of the popular news blog The Turner Report.