Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Cobb book filled with memories

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 8:27 a.m.

Sun executive editor and former Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan has a vast knowledge of the state of Nevada.

When he recommends a book on Nevada history, I listen -- especially when the author was an old friend and fellow student at the University of Nevada, Reno.

I started to read "My Virginia City -- A Columnist's Memoirs" by Ty Cobb, and couldn't put it down.

Cobb, a namesake of the Hall of Fame baseball player, carried the name but not the reputation of being hot-tempered and irascible.

Ty Cobb of Virginia City was a talented writer and a kind and sensitive person.

Recalling our friendship brings memories of fellow journalism students, Gerald Roberts, John Brackett, Eleanor Barry, Murray Moler, Frank Sullivan, Lloyd Leonard and many others.

We were all infused with an idealistic approach to our chosen profession by Professor Al Higginbotham. Higgy, as we knew him, didn't think women belonged in journalism and spent more time mentoring the male students.

"Women," he claimed, "just graduate and get married and never pursue careers."

There are dozens of his graduates who would rebut that theory.

But I digress. Back to Ty Cobb, who was born in 1915 in Virginia City, where two generations of his family had resided.

Although the family finally moved, his heart remained with the Comstock.

Cobb's love of his birthplace is evident in the columns he wrote, some of which have been incorporated in the book.

The persons responsible for the selection of columns have done a splendid job in melding Cobb's best into a rather remarkable history of Virginia City and its surroundings.

Cobb is best known in northern Nevada, where readers have enjoyed his columns for many years.

The proceeds of his memoirs will go to help with the restoration of the old Fourth Ward School, a national historic monument.

The school was built in 1877 and served students until 1936. Cobb was a 1933 graduate who earned his journalism degree at the University of Nevada, Reno.

He was hired by the Nevada State Journal, later to become the Reno Gazette Journal. His column ran from 1965 to 1997, the year he died at age 81.

On June 23 the Fourth Ward School in Virginia City will be the site of a party celebrating the release of Cobb's "My Virginia City." The affair is open to the public, and, if I didn't live so far away, it would be a must on my calendar.

I'm sure Ty Cobb's spirit will be lingering close by.

I highly recommend the book to anyone seeking information about the Comstock. Its pages of down-to-earth experiences are filled with information and wonder, covering everything from disastrous mine fires to gathering pine nuts. We are introduced to unforgettable characters and events.

I guarantee even those with no ties to Northern Nevada will enjoy Ty Cobb's intriguing memories.

Sometimes I wonder about the First Amendment.

Did the framers of our Constitution really have in mind the protection of pornographers, petty criminals, rioters and all sorts of crum bums under the guise of freedom of the press?