Longtime Tucsonan Sheldon Gutman walks around with a pile of Tucson Citizen newspapers under his arm.
He is not a hawker selling them on the corner of Ajo Way.
Nor is he a homeless man using them for padding.
He just loves the Citizen.
Gutman, in his 70s, loves it so much he even came to the Monday afternoon hearing that would decide if the Citizen were ordered to continue its print edition.
Gutman came to testify.
No matter it was not an open hearing and no testimony was being heard – just lengthy lawyer legalese – Gutman came anyway.
It was unclear if he normally walks around with copies of the Citizen under his arm or if this was a special occasion.
His favorite was the calendar section. “It has movie listings, concerts.”
He then proceeded to go over all the headlines on the other sections and issues he had laid out in a messy accordian style on a courtroom bench.
“It covers cultural areas, state legistlature, pets,” he said. “There is such a variety. It has the greatest University of Arizona basketball coverage with Steve Rivera.”
Although Gutman has been in Tucson for decades, he only discovered the Citizen last year and now can’t get enough of it.
He better hang on to those copies in case the restraining order doesn’t go through.
“For 19,000 subscribers all they read is the Citizen,” he said. “It has inserts, sales at department stores.”
The judge passes down his decision on Tuesday, and you can bet Gutman will be there.
I’ll let you know if he brings his pile of Citizens.
Read story on the hearing: www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/116713.php