The first thing I remember about him was his height. At 6′ 4″ he owned the tallest legs to perambulate the halls of the State House that session in 1967 when I first met him, though as a youthful teenager I had to look up to nearly every member of the Legislature at the time he served. Like many who are so tall, his modesty offset an elevation that could otherwise have been an ally of intimidation. His personable and kindly demeanor was particularly refreshing in a building that seemed to have its share of unapproachable self-important sovereign figure heads.
Even if Roger Snow had not been so tall he still would have been a towering figure in Maine government not to mention journalism and higher education.
Though a long time proponent of progressive interests, Snow emerged from one of the more establishment oriented families in Maine. He counts among his relatives an aunt who founded the New York Mets, a brother-in-law who won the Nobel Prize for development of the laser and a father and namesake who wrote the State of Maine song. He has been on a first name basis with nearly every Maine governor of the last 75 years and was also a protege of the late Guy Gannett.
As Snow recalled for this columnist a few days ago, it was Snow’s air pilot license that brought him to Gannett’s attention in 1946 when Snow was one of the newspaper chain’s cub reporters in Augusta. When the media magnate got wind of Snow’s ability to fly planes Gannett transferred Snow to Portland so that Snow could take over as aviation editor and also assume the controls of some of Gannett’s planes when Gannett wanted to be flown out on one of his many aeronautical missions. Indeed, according to Snow “the Guy” was more fond of airplanes than newspapers.
After seven years with Gannett Snow had made the decision to go out on his own and buy the Westbrook paper. Snow’s position as vice-president of the Press Herald newspaper union held up his departure, for despite Snow’s association with Guy Gannett his belief in the cause of organized labor came first. It would be Snow, filling in for a temporarily incapacitated union president, who put the strike question to a vote in a union meeting in the fall of 1953, kicking off a month-long to a vote in a union meeting in the fall of 1953, kicking off a month-long walkout at Maine’s largest daily newspapers, the last of its kind in Maine history.
After the strike – one that resulted in an increase to $100 per week for reporters – Snow followed through on his plans to buy the Westbrook American, eventually expanding its interests when he and a partner founded the South Portland Journal. These papers – now merged – are today one of Maine’s premiere weekly suburban news outlets.
A personal turning point was November 22, 1963, not because of the tragic afternoon events in Dallas but because of what Snow did earlier in the day. It was that morning, just after leaving his Falmouth home on his way to the American that he dropped by the town office to change his political affiliation from Republican to Democrat. At the same time, Snow dove into the political arena, soon winning election to the Maine senate. As chair of the Education Committee Snow championed the merger of the five state teachers colleges with the Orono and Portland based university campuses into the present state-wide university system.
The transition from a Republican with patrician pedigree to avowed Democrat was not an easy one even after becoming the top Democratic drawing card in Maine’s largest county. After his overwhelming electoral victory Snow sponsored a bill to create the Maine State Museum and Archives but ran into stiff opposition from Senate leadership and the bill appeared doomed. At a Senate caucus long time Democrat and Portland city cab driver Alfred Smith, who was Snow’s Senate seatmate, berated Snow’s museum proposal simply because Snow was its sponsor. Smith ridiculed Snow’s perceived affluence, suggesting that Snow and his blue blooded acquaintances could pay for the museum out of their own pockets. Smith went on to berate Snow for not having any working class roots and thus not deserving of the Democratic party label. The personal attack created such a sympathetic backlash for Snow that the bill won an unexpectedly favorable vote and became law. The episode illustrates a truism of the political process: ill-mannered opposition to a proposal can be as helpful to its passage as the most artful advocacy.
Snow and his partner sold their two newspapers in 1965 and he gave up his senate seat after completing most of his second term in 1967 to take over the University of Maine’s labor education program. After five years in this position Snow resumed his journalism career as the public information director for the University’s Southern Maine campus, a post he held until he retired in the 1980’s. Along the way, Snow returned to the legislature as a member of the House for a term in the mid-1970’s, continuing to win public attention and support for his diverse interests. Among them was the first successful modern day attempt to ban smoking on the floor of the Maine House.
In both the Senate and the House he was an early backer of environmental causes, promoting some of the state’s first bike-way legislation. He also teamed up with fellow environmentalist and legislative colleague Jon Lund as a founder and co-owner of the central Maine radio station WABK.
Spending a few hours with Snow and his wife Lee at their Falmouth home one afternoon earlier this month, this columnist found that even at 85-years Snow sustains an alert interest in Maine government, journalism and education. His thoughts are expressed with the same benevolence and cogency that continue to render him one of Maine’s most intriguing public career studies.
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