The Chronicle is a monthly, non-partisan, nonprofit community newspaper produced almost entirely by volunteers and funded by voluntary contributions from the public. Its mission is “the lessening of community misunderstandings and tensions” and “to increase the interest and understanding” of  local government an civic affairs.

The Cornwall Chronicle was founded in 1991 by Tom Bevans, aided and abetted by his wife Margaret. Tom was outraged – he was a man to whom outrage came often and easily – by the inadequacy of the coverage Cornwall received in the local press. Bevans, a talented graphic artist who had been in charge of design at Simon & Schuster, created a publication that, in format and content, has scarcely changed since the first issue.

Spencer and Bobby Klaw, who took over as publishers when Tom and Margaret could no longer manage it, matched the Bevans’s dedication to the Chronicle. Both were retired editors, he of the Columbia Journalism Review and she of American Heritage.

Leadership of the paper eventually passed to an editorial board of 8 to 12 members (see below for the current roster) aided by a cadre of volunteer editors, writers and artists, who have produced 22 years of issues without ever missing a month.

Cornwall is densely populated with good writers, some of whom have spent most of their careers as reporters, editors or authors. Many former writers for Time, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times and other publications have contributed to the Chronicle. But most writing is done by people who have never set foot in a newsroom or a publishing house, such as a social worker, a farmer and a salesman of foundry products.

A print edition of the Chronicle is distributed free to 1,100 Cornwall residents plus 275 out of town subscribers. The paper has a no-advertising policy, and all the revenues of the not-for-profit publication are provided by donations from readers. The website on which you are reading this was funded by grants from the Cornwall Foundation.

Contributions to the Chronicle are always welcome. If you would like to donate money to help cover our costs, please visit the Support Us page. If you are interested in writing, editing or drawing for the paper, contact any of the directors listed below.