PROVO, UTAH
As a seasoned printer, President Thomas S. Monson knows well the industry nuances of printing presses, publishing, typesetting, advertising and bookbinding. But the printing trade, he said, goes beyond paper and ink.
"We are also in the business of building people — and that yields greater rewards," said President Monson during his remarks at the April 21 Utah Printers Hall of Fame Dinner.
The Church leader was included among the charter class of inductees into the newly opened Hall of Fame. After accepting the honor, he reminisced on his nearly lifelong connection to the printing industry that began when he was a young teen working under the tutelage of his father, G. Spencer Monson, a typesetter and printer.
"[My father] thought a boy should learn to work ... my first job was to help other printers wash their presses."
During his professional career, President Monson secured a reputation as a wise, forward-thinking leader who made countless friends from all corners of the industry. "I love to remember with fondness the many men and women with whom I have worked in the industry," he said.
After claiming a business degree from the University of Utah in 1948, Thomas S. Monson accepted a position at the Deseret News as an assistant classified advertising manager. It would be the first of many professional assignments in the printing industry, culminating in his appointment as the general manager of Deseret Press.
His day-to-day work in the industry ended with his call in 1963 to the Quorum of the Twelve — but the printers "ink" remains in his blood.
"Printers ink has a nice aroma to it," President Monson told the hundreds gathered for the induction ceremony. "You miss it." (He also noted that mosquitoes apparently don't share his fondness for ink. The blood-seeking pests, he said with a smile, won't bite a printer.)
He shared several personal memories of working in the printing business. On one occasion, he was teaching a group of college students and told of a worker who was chronically tardy for his job at a bookbindery. The man was warned he would have to find another job if he showed up late once more. The next day, the man again walked in after the whistle had blown.
President Monson said he asked his students what they would do with the errant employee. The young men in the class said the worker should be fired. The young women said they should give the man another chance.
Neither answer, said President Monson, was the correct response.
"They should ask the worker why he was late," he said. "Don't take action until you find out the circumstances of the person."
Cherish associations with others, he counseled. "Everyone can teach me something. I like to learn something from everyone with whom I associate."
President Monson said those in the printing and publishing business enjoy the treasured opportunity to provide readers with the printed word. Seek to meet the highest standards demanded by the industry, he said.
While a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Monson chaired the committee that supervised the publication of the LDS scriptures members use today. He spoke of visiting the Cambridge University Press in London where the scriptures were being printed. He asked to review a proof and enlisted his printer's "eagle eye." Right away, he spotted an error on the page. At his insistence, the presses were stopped and the error was corrected.
"I hold myself to a high standard of printing — and hold my fellow workers in the printing industry to that same high standard, particularly [in the publication] of the Holy Scriptures," he said.
He called the printing industry "a noble trade," before noting that his work in the field is not over. "I still have a little bit to do in the printing trade for the Church — and it had better be right."
In conclusion, President Monson spoke of the harmony that exists among the general leaders of the Church.
"There is unity in the leadership of the Church; and there will always be unity because it is the true Church of Jesus Christ," he said.
Other inductees in the Utah Printers Hall of Fame (class of 2009) include James Dunn, John C. Graham, Roy T. Porte, Loren "Bish" Taylor, James H. Wallis and Brigham Hamilton Young. President Monson is the only living inductee.
Ribbon-cutting at the Crandall Historical Printing Museum
Prior to attending the Utah Printers Hall of Fame Dinner, President Monson participated in the opening of the Deseret News Press exhibit at the Crandall Historical Printing Museum in Provo, Utah.
Before cutting the ceremonial ribbon at the new exhibit, the Church leader toured the museum that captures the history of the printed word, beginning with a replica of the print shop of Johannes Gutenberg.
Museum president Louis Crandall and his associates demonstrated how the first printed edition of the Bible was crafted, even inviting President Monson to pull the "devil's tail" handle to press the movable type.
The tour moved on through exhibits replicating the Benjamin Franklin Print Shop and the Grandin Print Shop where the maiden copies of the Book of Mormon were produced. The new Deseret News Press exhibit includes an exact working replica of the press that printed Utah's first newspaper in 1850.
During the tour, President Monson "talked shop" with Brother Crandall and the others, sharing printing and publishing experiences from his boyhood and subsequent publishing career.
"We've come a long way," said President Monson as he studied the antiquated presses housed in the museum.
Retired Deseret News publisher Wm. James Mortimer prepared remarks for the event chronicling the history of printing in the Church and the story of the Deseret News.
"The newspaper's presses continued to grow in capability, allowing the News to survive newspaper wars with competing publications and the ups and downs of meeting subscribers' needs," wrote Brother Mortimer. "It stands today with solidarity in a rapidly changing world of information transmission."
