Hungry Horse News at 80: Gladys Shay was a key contributor for decades

The history, and success, of the Hungry Horse News wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Gladys (Van) Shay.

Mel Ruder hired Shay at the age of 18, recalled her daughter, Gail Linne Shay.

One early picture of Shay and Ruder together shows Shay in the new Hungry Horse News building in December, 1947. Shay’s husband, Al, who also worked at the newspaper at the time, is working on printing while Shay reads proofs. She was pregnant with Gail at the time, Gail recalled.

Shay covered a host of beats during her decades-long tenure at the Hungry Horse News. She rarely received a byline and never wanted one. Shay and Ruder’s copy were indistinguishable. Gail recalled her mother making phone calls and writing stories at home, with a baby on her lap as she typed. She had four children in six years and then two more after that.

Ruder helped them pay for college, particularly the youngest, Becky, who was a journalism major.

All six of the children worked for Ruder at one point or another as well, stuffing 5,500 papers for delivery, sometimes until 1 a.m. 

Ruder would find a mistake and yell, “hold the press!” Gail recalled. The type would be reset and the run re-started.

When they were done with their shift they would line up at the press and Ruder would pay them with a check down to the minute.

“Thank me,” he would say.

They also got one hamburger and one Coke. If a worker wanted more, they’d have to buy their own, Gail recalled.

She recalled one time when Gladys came into Ruder’s office and gave him a special list of names he had asked for, only to be rebuffed by Ruder.

“Not now woman!” he yelled. “Can’t you see I have a newspaper to put out?”

Gladys took the kids and went home and told them not to answer the phone. He later confessed to Gail that he didn’t know what he did wrong.

“I love Gladdy,” he said.

Gladys and Ruder patched things up quickly, but Gladys wasn’t too pleased with the make-up.

“He is so syrupy sweet,” Gladys told her daughter. “I can’t stand it.”

Shay continued to write her column “Gabbing with Gigi” and stories for the newspaper for many years after Ruder sold the paper. She died Oct. 26, 2015 of natural causes.

She was 87.