'I am sure that you all know the real secret of what it takes to make a good editor,' Bradlee told the assembled editors, 'and that's a great owner. Good editors are born in the minds of great owners. Period, paragraph, it is that simple.'

The Post's late owner, Katherine Graham, had staunchly backed her editor during the newspaper's acclaimed Watergate coverage, publication of the Pentagon Papers and even when Bradlee had to deal with the shame of giving back a Pulitzer Prize after learning a reporter had concocted false sources for her stories.

In these days of corporate newspaper ownership, publishers — particularly in smaller markets such as ours — act as de facto owners.

I'm here to tell you that — echoing Bradlee — there are no good editors without outstanding publishers.

The Daily Star lost just such a publisher Friday when Dan Swift retired. I'm going to miss the guy, and so is everyone else who has anything to do with producing and distributing this newspaper.

The thing is, no one inside or outside of this business has ever really figured out just what a publisher does. But I can give you a pretty good idea what Dan Swift has done around here for the last seven-plus years.

Everything.

That even included one Saturday morning when the machinery that inserted sections into the newspaper broke down. Having not received the morning delivery of my paper, I drove to the office to see what was going on.

There was Dan with his wife, Jean, and teenage daughter, Colleen, helping stuff the sections over and over and over again into newspapers. The family had been there for hours. Dan Swift was no ivory-tower big shot. There was work to be done, so he just did it.

Mr. Swift's style has been to nudge rather than shove his department heads in the right direction.

'Dan is the best kind of publisher to work for,' said Daily Star Systems Manager Bruce Endries, 'one who keeps the long view in mind, supports you behind the scenes when you need it, and lets you do your best at your craft without micromanaging you.'

I can certainly vouch for that. Not once has Dan ever told me what stories to put into our newspaper. There are editors who would kill for a publisher like that.

A seasoned pro who has given 27 years to Ottaway Newspapers, our parent company, Dan had the wisdom to never overreact when someone would complain about news coverage ... or lack of same.

Just as importantly, Dan has a traditional respect for the newsroom's independence from any advertising pressure. A few years ago, we ran an item that infuriated some major advertisers who then withdrew all their ads from our paper.

The Daily Star took a financial hit, but do you want to know what Dan said to his editor about it?

Nothing.

Not a word. He wanted us to just keep doing our jobs the way we're supposed to. Other advertisers have tried to affect our news coverage by withholding ads, but Dan always — always — has been unflappable and has held firm for the newspaper's honor and credibility.

'I am astounded by Dan's professionalism and composure,' said our comptroller, Tanya Shalor. 'He rarely shows any emotion when things upset him, and believe me, when it comes to problems, I've brought him some doozies.'

Tim Brown, 25, The Daily Star's online manager who has worked closely with Dan to build the paper's impressive Internet presence, came to work here when he was only 22.

'Dan didn't need to micromanage,' Brown said. 'He let you run your own department. Dan always made you feel that you had his trust.'

In his quiet, determined way, Dan effected many changes that will benefit Daily Star readers for years to come. In addition to being the driving force behind our website, he procured a color printing press unit, instituted our popular Weekend edition and has thrown his energies into any number of education-oriented local projects.

Along the way, he has had emergency gall bladder surgery while on vacation in Tennessee, heart-bypass surgery at Bassett Hospital, and just recently survived being hit by a truck while on one of his almost-daily walks through downtown Oneonta.

With all that, maybe he felt, at age 62, that someone was trying to tell him to take it easy for a while. But virtually everyone here at the paper was telling him something else.

We were telling him we wanted him to stay.

But we also wanted to tell him that as he leaves, he takes with him our respect and affection. No one put it better than our pressroom foreman, John McCoy.

'We wish Dan and Jean a happy retirement,' McCoy said, 'not only enjoying the smell of newsprint in the morning, but also the roses.'

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Sam Pollak is editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at spollak@thedailystar.com or at (607) 432-1000, ext. 208.