Turkington’s legacy are the thousands helped

It is said the only things sure in life are death and taxes. One more should be added: change. Things change, circumstances change, decisions are made, and what was once familiar is gone and replaced by something else.

In a sense, that is what is happening today in the Voice. After more than 20 years as a columnist for the publication, Eleanore Turkington is ending her Gripe Vine column. We knew this was going to happen – eventually – but were still surprised when it was announced.

The announcement has been one of a series of events that have happened recently, both to this writer and to the publication. Things happen in waves, and announcements, many of which are not happy ones, come right after the other.

The decision by Eleanore to end her feature is the culmination of several factors, including health concerns, the decline of correspondence from readers about “gripes,” and we suspect, the malaise that comes with writing something for so long. While the writer tries to keep it fresh, it settles into a mundane pattern that is hard to escape.

Eleanore Myers was the first person I met when I moved from the West Haven Towne Voice to the West Haven News in 1980. The News was purchased by the Milford Citizen from Robert Joyce’s ReJoyce Publications. It was the original paper that was called the West Haven City News to distinguish it from the paper Joyce purchased, The Town Crier, and the fact West Haven had become a city.

Myers worked in the circulation department in the old headquarters in the center of Milford. The ladies in that department were the first people you met when you entered the building. From the start we hit it off. Within months the Citizen moved to a new shop on New Haven Avenue, and the entrance off the new parking lot led right from the press room into the circulation enclave.

Every time I came into the office to supervise the layout of an edition El and I would engage in a bit of small talk.

Her “Gripe Vine” column had been in the Citizen. While she worked in the collecting of subscriptions and handing of deliveries, she could write. She offered the Gripe Vine column to me, and after getting the go-ahead from the bosses, it was a regular feature. In an era of consumer protection which the 80s was, the column was considered cutting edge.

Five years later I left the News for assorted reasons, not the least of which was a difference of opinion as to what direction the paper should go. It was not a happy parting. Despite that, Eleanore put together a going away party much to the chagrin of the publisher.

Within 18 months I was back at the Citizen. The News was foundering, and the style of newspaper West Haveners were used to was brought back into line. That lasted until the New Haven Register took over everything in 1995, and shutdown all its weekly publications.

The Citizen continued for a few years, but the weeklies that had been the staple of many communities, papers that ran all over the state, were phased out. Soon, we were out of a job. The Citizen hung around for a few years before it, too, was phased out by the Register.

By 1997, this newspaper came into being to fill the vacuum left by the death of the News. One of the first people to contact us was Eleanore Turkington. She had a new last name, marrying Richard Turkington. She wrote some in other publications, untouched by the Register’s hegemony, that still ran in area towns, including Milford.

Eleanore and Richard became regular visitors and helped proofread the pages before they went to the printer, and eventually, she was able to include her column in the Voice.

Over the 20-plus years, she wrote hundreds of columns, and helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people. It was soon apparent hers was one of the most popular features in the weekly, as people had someone who would read and react to their longstanding gripes.

Whether it was a Stop sign overgrown by weeds or potholes in the streets, the fact that readers had someone to contact, and get those issues managed successfully was a big draw.

In the last couple of years, Turkington, who is in her 80s, began — as we all do – to slow down. Some medical issues evolved and over the last year or so, she took a hiatus from her column. That has accelerated in the last few months.

These issues among others prompted her to discuss the future of her column a month or so ago. I told her to think about it and become more topical. In the end, she determined it was time to end Gripe Vine.

As I said above, we both knew the day would come, but I for one was still take aback when the decision was made. I am sure Eleanore made the decision with some sadness.

Change comes in everything, like it or not. We wish Eleanore well in her retirement and hope that the four-decade-long friendship we have will not wither due to a lack of contact.

Thanks, El. You have done so much good for a lot of people.