'Press Hall of Fame'

Two Monitor Journalists To Be Honored in Maine

Two well-known Monitor journalists, Erwin D. Canham and John Gould, will be inducted into the Maine Press Hall of Fame in ceremonies today.

Mr. Canham led the newsroom staff of The Christian Science Monitor from 1939 to 1964, longer than any other editor.

John Gould, who still pens a regular column for The Home Forum pages of the Monitor, began writing for the paper in 1942.

The Hall of Fame awards are being launched this year by the Maine Press Association and the University of Maine at Orono, which will place plaques honoring each of the inductees on permanent display at Dunn Hall.

David Morse, publisher and chief executive officer of Courier Publications, which owns nine papers in Maine, will host tonight's ceremonies in Portland. He says:

"Our goal is to recognize and celebrate those industry leaders whose heritage comes from Maine. Several of our inductees this year have careers whose contributions to our business span far beyond the state of Maine. Others have focused their careers within our state."

Also being inducted this year are:

Guy Gannett, the late founder and publisher of Guy Gannett Communications.

Brooks Hamilton, newspaperman, the late chairman of the journalism department at the University of Maine at Orono. He was the author of Maine's "right to know" law.

Russell Wiggins, former editor of The Washington Post, former ambassador to the United Nations, and currently publisher of The Ellsworth (Maine) American.

Mr. Morse says: "In each case, the candidates have represented our industry and state in a unique and remarkable manner." He notes: "This state has a newspaper heritage that dates back to the beginnings of our Republic, and it is only proper those who have contributed to this heritage, both here in Maine and elsewhere, can be recognized by their peers."

Canham, who passed on in 1982, started at the Monitor in 1925 as a reporter. He was born in Auburn, Maine, and was a graduate of Bates College and a Rhodes scholar.

Mr. Gould's long-running column in the Monitor was once described by The Associated Press as "a quirky blend of opinionated storytelling, larded with memorable characters drawn from small town Maine."