• Art Hoppe marks 50 years at The Chronicle on July 25. Chronicle Photo by Brant Ward
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Art Hoppe marks 50 years at The Chronicle on July 25. Chronicle Photo by Brant Ward
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Art Hoppe marks 50 years at The Chronicle on July 25. Chronicle Photo by Brant Ward
What is it about Arthur Hoppe's column that makes it so special to so many Chronicle readers? 
In three words: Power of observation. He has done it in myriad ways -- from deadpan detail to outrageous satire -- with equally effective results. 
This Sunday will mark Hoppe's 50th year with the San Francisco Chronicle. His satire is as wickedly funny as ever, his straight columns can be unflinchingly bold and righteous, but he remains the nicest, most unassuming, most unfailingly gracious person in the office. 
Somehow all of those qualities come through in his column, which helps explain his legion of loyal fans. It also keeps his political detractors thoroughly flustered. 
Hoppe started at The Chronicle as a copyboy -- the term of the day -- on July 25, 1949. Four days a week he answered to the beck and call of writers and editors who summoned him by yelling "COPY!" above the din of manual typewriters. One day a week he was allowed to play reporter. 
It did not take long for the powers that be, notably editors Ken Wilson and Bill German, to recognize that the young Harvard grad was as talented as anyone in the newsroom. 
Every now and then, I happen upon a Hoppe clip while researching an editorial. I can tell you, there are not many of us in this business, at any level, who can look at our work of more than a decade ago without wincing. Hoppe's writing, however, stands up brilliantly. 
Just recently, after the death of Joe DiMaggio, I found Hoppe's story about the marriage of the Yankee slugger to Marilyn Monroe such a classic that it merited reprinting. It began, "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio wedded the girl of his and many other men's dreams yesterday." 
The decision to make Hoppe a political columnist in 1960 was made by Scott Newhall, a Chronicle editor with a legendary eye for talent and a special fondness for personality in a newspaper. One of Hoppe's most famous columns, in 1971, announced that he would have to root against America in the Vietnam war. 
He still stirs the pot, and keeps the phones ringing in the Editorial Page offices with his passion and principle. For example, when President Clinton last fall ordered the bombing of a terrorism camp in Afghanistan, in retailiation for the embassy bombing, Hoppe questioned the distinction between "the two acts of bloodshed." 
There are a few readers, of course, who neither understand nor appreciate satire. His April 5 column about NATO's air assault on Serbia -- "Let's Bomb Turkey" -- drew a slew of indignant telephone calls from readers who actually thought Hoppe was advocating the bombing of Turkey. (Hold the second round of calls: He was not). 
In keeping with his smile-and-a- wink demeanor, Hoppe has a favorite response to letters from his more intemperate critics. 
"I'm sorry, if you continue to complain, I will have to cancel your subscription." 
It is safe to assume that few ever took him up on the challenge. Hoppe's column has a habit-forming quality. 
Fortunately for us Hoppe fans, after 50 years at the typewriter-now- keyboard, Hoppe also shows no signs of kicking his thrice-a-week habit.