What happened to The Star Reporter?
By Lee Moseley

Miller Montgomery started The Star Reporter with Harold and Mary Booker in Five Points at 716 Santee Avenue. The first issue was published October 24, 1963. In 1989, his children, Warner Montgomery and Mimi Maddock, joined him.Miller Montgomery died in 1996. In 1998,Warner and Mimi moved the office to 723 Queen Street and changed the name to The Columbia Star. In 2004 Miller's grandson, Mike Maddock, joined the company. On October 24, 2007, the company celebrated 44 years in business.

It was Monday, October 8, 2007. I was on my way to Columbia. I'd have some free time today. I was taking my son to USC to visit a professor friend in its Mathematics Department.

I would go by The Star

Reporter once I dropped him off and pop in on Mimi and Warner.

It had been almost 15 years since we last lived in Columbia. In those days, the Montgomery family was kind enough to give me a job and some great experience in the field of journalism. I would just have a few free moments to visit my past and see the place where our old Apple Computer once sat.

Miller Montgomery, publisher of The Star Reporter, "pastes up" the newspaper to prepare it for the printer.

After dropping off my son, I rode to Five Points and then down Harden Street. To my amazement

there was no sign for The

Star Reporter. "Surely, it did not go out of business? Did it disappear? Where was it?"

In my dilemma, I turned my wheels toward Rosewood to consider my plight. "The Star Reporter is a historic landmark in Columbia, but where is it?" I was confused. As I entered onto Rosewood, I soon saw Williams- Brice in the distance.

"Surely, someone at the stadium will know about Columbia's most prominent paper," I reasoned? There, no one could tell me. The football players, the coaches, and even the cheerleaders seemed oblivious to the name, "Star Reporter?"

Slowly, I made my way to the Farmer's Market thinking surely someone there would know. Again, I met only frustration as a few crusty men and scary women in overalls said they recalled 'that- there name' but had "no hankering" as to what happened to "ole' print."

Moments later, I found myself at the Fair Grounds asking the local vendors at the State Fair if they remembered the old paper of the past. "Son," one woman said, "The Star is no more. It's like Dixie, it is a thing of the past."

If the paper of my youth was no more, then I wanted to know what happened to it and why. It was then to the Capitol I would go. "All historic decisions that affected South Carolina and its future were made there," I summarized. So to the halls of policy I went. Once there, I asked politician after politician, representative after representative, and committee chairperson after committee chairperson, "What happened to Columbia's most promi- Tnhene tS atanrd R perpeosrttigerious paper, ?"

As I slowly made my way out the State Building door, and holding to my sad face of rejection, I heard the voice of an old man say, "Son, maybe I can help you. You see I remember well Mimi and Warner, their Dad and those Golden years of The Star Reporter."

"Then what happened to them," I asked with excitement?

"Well Son," replied the man with a stately sense of wisdom, "I don't know, but I'm sure I can tell you how you might find out. You see, I'm a retired politician from the lower part of the state visiting my old stomping grounds today. I remember in my early years, Mr. Booker and Mr. Montgomery built quite a following. Everyone knew of The Star Reporter

in those days. When Mr. Booker passed the paper on to Mr. Montgomery it continued to flourish. Once Mr. Montgomery passed on to Mimi and Warner it grew not only in popularity but became the most beloved paper in all Columbia. Why you couldn't come to the Capital without hearing its name mentioned everywhere, especially in the Five Points Area. Everybody down there just raved about it. So son," said the old gray- haired gentleman, "That's where I'd go if I wanted to get to the bottom of things, Five Points."

"Thank you, Sir," I said as I shook his hand and headed out the door excited on my new direction. "Thank you, thank you very much."

I soon pulled into Harden Street again and parked the car. I immediately went into the bookstore that resided next door to our newspaper office. Once inside, an older gentleman greeted me.

"Where's The Star

Reporter," I asked excitedly? "I used to work there as its first Sports Editor 15 years ago."

"Well," said the man, "It's not here anymore. It's moved."

"Moved," I questioned reluctantly?

"Yes, it moved down on Queen Street, and it has changed its name. It's still the same paper and all, why it's even better. Here, I got a copy. Would you like one?"

Time didn't allow me

the opportunity to visit The

Columbia Star, as I had to pick up my son. I did however spend the night reading the week's contents. I found that Mimi and Warner have continued to expand and follow in the tradition of their Father and Mr. Booker, by continuing to be the best newspa- per in Columbia, S.C.

As for me, I'll always hold on to those great memories of the paper in Columbia that helped guide my life, of Warner, Mimi, and their Dad, of our times together and the events we reported. And

even though I'll read The

Columbia Star with great excitement, it will always

be, to me, The Star

Reporter.

"