Dave Souder (1912-2006): Editor of Signs of the Times

When a man lives into his mid-90s, and maintains lucidity into the final months, his death can hardly be considered a tragedy. I received a Christmas card from Mr. Souder (here at ST Publications, nobody ever called him anything but that), approximately a month before he died, and he spoke of how much he appreciated the American Sign Museum and keeping up with the sign industry via ST.

His death signaled the end of an era, as did his 1981 retirement. I’d have trouble believing that his death, at the beginning of ST‘s centennial, and his retirement, within months of both Gerber Scientific Products’ introduction of the Signmaker III and then NESA’s (now the ISA) hiring of George Kopecky as its first paid president, are coincidental.

The basic details of Mr. Souder’s 47 years in the outdoor-advertising and on-premise sign industries can be found on page 38 in a somewhat standard obituary. He would have said it needs some editing.

His somewhat high-pitched voice belied the fervor with which he championed betterment of the sign industry. His editorials spoke for the sign industry. Billboard stalwart Foster & Kleiser (now part of Metromedia) commemorated his retirement with a special billboard in Cincinnati.

Bill Dorsey, an ST staff member from 1976 to 1988, said Mr. Souder was the best editor this magazine ever had: What I remember about him is his kindness, even when I chose to oppose his views."

In a December 1986 ST editorial, Bill wrote, "My voicing of opinions was tolerated; recording them in black type on white paper was an altogether different matter. He would tell me, almost fatherly, `You know, Bill, outdoor advertising gets enough bad press without ST contributing to the cause.’ "

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By that time, Mr. Souder had retired, and Bill wrote much of the content for that issue, which focused on outdoor advertising, which Mr. Souder loved. Bill came from a newspaper background. He then believed a trade journal should report like a newspaper. Let the chips fall where they may.

Today, Bill states, "Mr. Souder cared to cover the industry in a positive light. If you’re in the trade-journal business, that is your mission and goal. Mr. Souder did the job at hand and never wavered."

In the farewell, August 1981 editorial about Mr. Souder, ST Media Group President Jerry Swormstedt wrote: "He is a man perked by the industry’s progress, and angered when any one segment of the field was attacked unjustly, or it did not respond to adversity in a way that he felt it should. I can well enough suppose that he slept well when the industry was on the move, and he grew restless when the industry was uneasy."

Dee Scott is well known from having spent the last 30 years in various association activities, primarily as the executive director of the Midwest Sign Assn. From 1974-1976, she served under Mr. Souder. She echoed Bill Dorsey’s thoughts about Mr. Souder. Kindness. Patience.

"Mr. Souder patiently taught me and several other young editorial staff people how to get the job done accurately and on time," she wrote. "I was privileged to work with him."

His love for the sign industry never retired. Any communication I had with him included some observation about the magazine and/or the sign industry. Six years ago, my brother Tod (current American Sign Museum president, a staff person under Mr. Souder, and his eventual successor) and I visited Mr. Souder in Florida so we could capture his venerable perspective. Even at age 88, the details of his recollections were amazing.

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Even at age 88, he eloquently wrote to us, "The biggest challenge to the sign industry is public relations. People unacquainted with the way our free-market system works do not basically realize how vital signs are to the successful operation of businesses, and it is difficult to get them to realize how large signs must be to be effective." He added that Dr. R. James Claus "has given the industry backbone in confronting unreasonable restrictions."

Mr. Souder cited the famous Ogden Nash poem that begins, "I think that I shall never see, a billboard lovely as a tree." He responded with a poem he called the "Motorist’s Prayer." I’m not sure if he wrote it or not, but he said he recited it often:

I know that I shall never see

A billboard lovely as a tree.

But millions of trees constantly

Become an awful bore to me.

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Dear Lord, please see what you can do

In the next mile, a sign or two.

Generally speaking, two kinds of trade-journal editors exist: those that come from the industry and learn about editing a magazine, and journalists who learn about an industry. Dave Souder excelled because he was both, and because he added passion as well.