Our patron saint of printing continues to support SQNews in retirement
The San Quentin News would not exist without the support of donors, advisers, advocates and others who champion and contribute to the newspaper’s cause in various ways.
A critical supporter is Scot Caldwell, the owner of Marin Sun Printing. Caldwell facilitates the printing of 35,000 copies of the paper each month and 3,000 copies of Wall City, the newspaper’s magazine. Without him, the cost of printing the publications would be much higher and perhaps not possible at all.
Caldwell got his start in the printing business as an after-school job in 1969, inserting newspapers and cleaning the shop. Later he would get formal training in the trade from a union printing school.
His connection to the San Quentin News grew out of his relationship with the newspaper’s longtime adviser, Steve McNamara.
McNamara once owned Marin Sun Printing and employed Caldwell. When he sold the business to a new owner, Caldwell continued working as its lead pressman.
In 2001, Caldwell purchased the printing press and became Marin Sun’s proprietor.
Meanwhile, until 2010, the San Quentin News was using an ancient, sheet-fed Heidelberg letterpress that was located in the prison’s Prison Industry Authority. There they produced about 5,000 copies of the newspaper for San Quentin residents.
But the prison print shop closed in 2010 under pressure from state budget cuts. The newspaper had to find printing services outside the walls.
To meet the need, McNamara asked Caldwell to print 7,500 copies of the news paper each month. Caldwell not only agreed to provide the service, but graciously agreed to do so at an affordable cost.
Later, Caldwell joined forces with the Healdsburg Printing Company and moved his equipment to their building.
When the Healdsburg operation closed down a couple of years ago, Caldwell arranged for the services of two print operations, Folgers and San Francisco Offset, to facilitate printing of the San Quentin News and Wall City magazine. That arrangement continues to this day.
When asked why he has supported SQNews faithfully for so long, Caldwell answered, “I think it is good to help get the paper out; everybody I’ve given a paper thinks it’s great.”
McNamara told SQNews that the Bay Area was once a major printing center where numerous presses were in operation providing soup-can labels for valley producers. But the soup label printing industry has gradually died off and nearly all of those printing presses are gone.
SQNews asked Caldwell if he thinks printing presses will become obsolete, making it impossible for the newspaper to exist in its current form. “I think papers will be around forever,” he said. “People still like reading something in their hands.”
Beyond the printing, Caldwell facilitates delivery of all 35,000 copies of the paper each month. About 5,000 go to San Quentin, where the newspaper’s staff delivers them cell-by-cell to SQ’s incarcerated residents.
The printer mails most of the remaining 30,000 copies to all of California’s state prisons, several county jails and youth facilities, legislators, libraries, universities, friends, supporters, donors and incarcerated people across the nation.
While the newspaper continues in its printed form, SQNews has added an online presence on various platforms.
Caldwell is humble about his long record of service to the newspaper and its readers. “Just trying to get the word out,” he says.
