Dateline: The Saga of the Power Struggle Inside the Dysfunctional Family of a Wealthy Newspaper Mogul

Lindsey believed she married newspaper heir Stan McBride for love back in 1939. But as the years pass she realizes it was just a family business deal. Stan didn't care about her at all, either then or now. But his father gained control of what he wanted - her family's paper mill in Oregon. And that's why Stan came to the altar. Stan is the first-born son, in line to inherit a chain of newspapers in ten western states. The corporate offices are in San Francisco, where most of this historical fiction takes place surrounded by events between 1941 and 1973. After Lindsey gives birth to twin boys in 1941 she quickly sees Stan favor his first-born son over the less-fortunate twin who arrived just a short while later. As the boys grow, she struggles to give them a balanced and grounded upbringing. But she repeatedly fails because Stan showers his attention on first-born Tipton and shows little affection for the other twin, Bradley. She watches as young Tip becomes a bully who lords over Brad. "I just want a normal family where we all care about one another," she tells Sarah, her mother-in-law. Sarah herself becomes estranged from Stan when her husband dies under embarrassing circumstances in 1953. Stan inherits the company and, after a bitter financial fight with Sarah, he refuses to have anything to do with her. But Sarah is stubborn and she continues a motherly relationship with Lindsey. "You're the daughter I never had," Sarah says. "The women in this family need to stick together." Stan and Lindsey are growing farther apart and she wishes she could find a way to change the ultimate fate of her twins under the lock-tight family inheritance arrangement. When Stan dies someday, she wants both sons to get an equal share of the family's wealth. But instead, it's legally destined to all go to Tip. Lindsey finds some old documents and journals from the time surrounding the boy's births and believes she may have found the solution. The always nosey Sarah desperately wants to learn what Lindsey has discovered, but her daughter-in-law will only tell her the vaguest of details. "No," Lindsey says. "It takes alot of character to be a strong female in this family. If I want to succeed I have to keep this to myself. They could stop me if they somehow learned what I've found." Soon after, Lindsey walks in on Stan having an affair with his young secretary in his office on Valentine's Day. He struggles to regain her confidence but he finally wants a divorce. That only increases Lindsey's determination to break the legal bond that has caused her family to become so dysfunctional. The family saga comes full circle in 1973 when Stan is killed in an auto accident. In separate discussions, Lindsey asks each son if he will agree to reorganize the company so both can share in the family wealth. The entitled Tip refuses. Brad believes that's impossible, but says he would change it if he could. Without revealing everything, she coaches Brad on how to challenge Stan's Last Will and Testament. That's where the story both opens and closes. The executor of the estate is one of the top lawyers on the west coast. "You're groping for a loophole - but there aren't any," he tells Brad. But is he correct? Or does Lindsey succeed in patching her family back together?

About the Author :
David Perry Snelling is a career journalist who worked on three metropolitan newspapers on the west coast as a reporter, copy editor, copy desk supervisor, wire editor and technology editor. During his reporting career he specialized in politics and covered events with presidents, vice presidents, cabinet officers, governors and visiting heads of state. Prior to his editing career he received writing awards from the Press Club of Greater Los Angeles and the Associated Press. His new novel Dateline, set mostly in San Francisco, is a family saga spanning three decades in the middle of the last century. It recounts a family power struggle for control of a large newspaper chain. The central character is Lindsey McBride, who refuses to accept the status quo in her husband's wealthy, but dysfunctional, family. Born in Chicago and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendora, the author has watched with fascination as newspaper ownership has evolved from sole proprietorships to media corporations. This is a fictional account of the kinds of things he observed during his career. He graduated from Long Beach State in 1969 after a year as editor-in-chief of the campus daily newspaper. He earned a degree in Journalism and minored in History. He has traveled extensively in Europe and Australia and resided for a time in Geneva, Switzerland. Married with two grown children, he splits his time between homes near San Diego and on Camano Island on Puget Sound north of Seattle. Another novel, The Wedding Shoes, will be released in early 2013.