A young William “Bill” Sniffin with his first Iowa Newspaper Association award that he received for best news photo while working at the Harlan Tribune less than a year after he graduated from high school.
Sniffin's writing talent shines in award-winning journalism career
By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com
It was clear to many who knew him that William “Bill” Sniffin had a talent for writing.
Writing was something that came naturally to Sniffin, and his talent was quickly noticed by his teacher’s including the Valley school newspaper’s advisor Catherine Grove. After a concussion his sophomore year of high school ended Sniffin’s football career, Grove approached the talented writer about reporting on the games for Tiger Talk.
Since that fateful conversation, Sniffin’s journalism career has taken him on quite a journey that includes moving to Wyoming, ownership of a number of newspapers, starting his own marketing company, and earning a master’s degree from a prestigious institution in Europe.
Becoming a writer
Sniffin was born on March 21, 1946, the second eldest of 10 children to Tom and Betty Sniffin of Wadena.
“I consider myself the oldest baby boomer in America because if you count back ninth months from my birthday you’ll be at the end of World War II,” Sniffin said with a chuckle. “I was part of a big catholic family with eight brothers and one sister, and I enjoyed growing up in Wadena.”
Some of the Wadena native’s favorite memories were just socializing with friends as the small northeast Iowa town came alive on the weekend as those in the rural parts came to town to socialize. Sniffin’s freshman year of high school Wadena consolidated with Valley, and the kid from the big catholic family had a whole bunch of new classmates to get acquainted with.
“It was a great school to go to, and I felt I got a very good education,” said Sniffin. “The most positive thing about it, even though I was from another town and a stranger, the other students were very welcoming. I made an awful lot of good friends.”
At 16 years old, Sniffin began writing for Tiger Talk, which was published monthly in the Elgin Echo. This is where his love for journalism really started. He would be named editor of the section for a short while before it was taken away when he wrote an article critical of a coach. Looking back, he doesn’t remember the coach he wrote about, mentioning it might have been football, but it set the stage for quite a career as an award winning investigative journalist and publisher.
After high school, Sniffin attended a two-month crash course in journalism at Iowa State University. It was here that he learned the particulars of his trade before receiving a job as a reporter at the Harlan Tribune in Harlan.
