Young girl let Greenspun show a much softer side of his nature

Saturday, July 1, 2000 | 2:50 a.m.

In 1967 Wanda Ivie and her husband and two daughters moved from Las Vegas to Anchorage, Alaska. Accustomed to reading the Sun, 10-year-old Robyn was not happy with the comics that ran in the newspaper in Anchorage -- so she wrote to Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun, requesting a copy of the Sun.

Greenspun responded, promising Robyn a month-long complementary edition. When the paper never arrived, Robyn sent another letter along with $5. Again, she requested a subscription.

Again Greenspun responded. He returned Robyn's $5 and apologized for not getting the paper to her. This time he promised a year's subscription -- complementary. The paper finally arrived and, much to her surprise, Robyn was in it.

Hank Greenspun ran a copy of Robyn's letter and included the caption: "The Sun doesn't always shine and we're the first to admit it. But it did take a Robin to show us that." Near the caption was a picture of a robin.

"We subscribed to the Sun for the entire time that we were living there," said Robyn, who is now Robyn Barnhurst.

The Ivies returned to Las Vegas six months later and resumed their local subscription.

"It is a hometown newspaper," Robyn said. "That is why we still take the Sun.

"The Sun has always been part of my life. It's just part of Las Vegas."