Bruce Barton, former editor-in-chief of the Town Crier, held a number of jobs before he decided to retire from the Crier in August 2025. He was a gas station security guard and a musician, but the most impactful of all was his storied journalism career – especially those years spent at the Town Crier. Barton made his mark on the local community through his philosophy of crafting unbiased stories and choosing to “err on the side of kindness.”
Barton served the Town Crier’s coverage cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View for more than 30 years. During those years, the paper changed management, the cityscapes changed and so did the priorities and mindsets of those in the cities he served. But Barton’s priorities and dedication to the communities he served didn’t waver.
“When it came to news stories, (my ethos was to) be good to the community and treat the community kind,” he said. “Do good feature stories, be approachable, but at the same time, when it comes to hard news, don’t ignore it. Don’t sweep it under the rug. Call it as it happens.”
Barton, originally from Massachusetts, moved to California with his family when he was 8 years old in 1969. They settled in Sunnyvale. Barton, who had always been artistically inclined, said he “fell into” the career path he held for more than three decades.
“I always enjoyed art and music and sports, and so I kind of fell into journalism – there’s a chance to make a living, not make a great one, but make a living and do what I want to do, which is storytelling and then getting involved in some visual ideas that played into my art background,” he said.
And that’s what he did at the Town Crier for decades. He wrote stories, designed various sections of the newspaper – going from laying pages out manually to using QuarkXPress and now Adobe InDesign – while keeping an open door to those in the community. He also implemented his love of art into volunteerism, serving as a Music for Minors Advisory Board Member from January 1999 to January 2001. Founded in 1976, the nonprofit is dedicated to instilling a love of music in children regardless of access to resources. Music for Minors is also a Town Crier Holiday Fund recipient.
While Barton agreed with a saying that “people are the same wherever you go,” he said that the cities in the Town Crier’s coverage area took him aback by how involved they were.
“I was surprised at the depth of involvement in this community,” he said. “I don’t know about now, but throughout my years at the paper, for the most part, people were really involved in helping their fellow residents, and that was great to report on.”
For his years of service and involvement in fostering community, serving as a person residents could go to with questions, concerns or information, Barton was named the Town Crier’s 2025 Los Altan of the Year.
The Los Altan of the Year award is modeled after Time Magazine’s annual award. The Town Crier bestows the honor on locals who have made a difference in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View over a sustained period of time, recipients embodying the selfless community spirit upon which the community was built.
Past
A self-proclaimed journeyman, Barton held positions from reporter to lifestyle editor and copy editor. His first journalism job was in the San Lorenzo Valley, an area located in the Santa Cruz Mountains with roots in the logging industry. He worked for papers including the San Lorenzo Valley Post and the Scotts Valley Press Banner, moseying closer to the coast when he worked for the weekly Good Times newspaper in Santa Cruz. He served as editor of the Milpitas Post in the mid-’80s before he decided that it was time to cover a community unlike those he’d covered in the past – that’s when he put his hat in the ring for a number of different journalism jobs across the state and ended up covering small communities in Amador County.
Barton received his introduction to small community coverage there. He kept towns like Ione and Jackson, which then had approximately 3,000 residents, informed of what was happening in town. He also covered areas that had populations of less than 1,000 residents. It was during that time he recalled some of the most memorable stories he’s written.
He interviewed the onion field killer – Gregory Powell – at Mule Creek State Prison after it had just opened in the late ’80s. Powell was convicted of kidnapping and killing Los Angeles Police Officer Ian Campbell in a Bakersfield onion field in the 1960s.
But Barton’s favorite interview was with Little Richard, whom Barton described as “exactly as the way he is onstage – wild and manic and funny.”
His legacy
Former copy editor and longtime Los Altos resident Colleen Schick, who worked with Barton for more than 15 years before retiring and moving to the San Diego area a few years ago, saw Barton as uniquely suited to community journalism.
“Bruce is such a relational person,” she said. “He was very invested in and engaged with the people and events he covered, always reminding his editorial staff to focus on the impact on local residents.”
She added that Barton was the ultimate team player – no job being too small or too big for him to tackle.
“He was a prolific, one-man-band-type of leader. On any given day, he wrote, edited, took photos, did layout and served as the paper’s ombudsman. I even remember him dressing up as the paper’s mascot, a town crier, complete with bell, for an anniversary event.”
In addition to his team-oriented approach, Barton was a “great coach,” Schick added, one who was encouraging and patient, who empowered and equipped employees to do their best and who always rooted for their success.
“Bruce has a very generous spirit,” she said. “Whether it was a Cub Scout on a tour of the Town Crier or a sitting member of Congress, he treated everyone with kindness and respect.”
Dennis Young, Town Crier publisher and former Los Altan of the Year, said that Barton was one of the reasons the Town Crier is so beloved and widely read by the community.
Former Town Crier publisher Liz Nyberg, who owned the paper with her husband Paul Nyberg before Young, said Barton was notorious for keeping his door open to the public – and they often came.
“They came with their pet issue, with complaints of some article, or praise, usually trying to win him over to their point of view. Bruce was always gracious with residents. He was a good, patient listener and would say, ‘Tell me more’ until they were finished with their grievance,” Liz said.
She said Barton had a way of disarming disgruntled visitors, his laugh and humor winning even the most staunchly unhappy resident over, and that Barton approached his job with grace even when there were disagreements with what ran in the paper under previous publishers.
“When Paul Nyberg was publisher, Bruce would often discuss his idea for an editorial. They might not agree, ardently, on the angle, or even whether to publish the topic but they always managed to compromise and find a path forward,” Liz said. “This was unusual as most editors do not seek approval from the publisher.”
Barton noted that one of the most contentious editorials run in the Town Crier – written by former publishers Liz and Paul Nyberg – was in support of Proposition 8. Passed by voters in 2008, the proposition and state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It was shot down by the federal government shortly after it was passed. Barton said the whole staff, apart from the editorial’s writers, was against the editorial.
“It’s a regret that I have of just letting it go without more fight,” he said.
But while Barton may have some regrets, he enhanced the community, former Town Crier sales manager Kathy Lera said.
“Barton’s decades of service as editor of the Los Altos Town Crier strengthened the very fabric of our community. His commitment to thoughtful journalism, local voices and truthful storytelling didn’t just inform us — it connected us,” she said. “Bruce’s leadership helped shape the identity of Los Altos, and our community is better, kinder and more engaged because of his work.”
Because of Barton’s tenure on the paper, Young said he most likely had the most general knowledge of local issues than most people who live in the Town Crier’s coverage area.
“Even so, he shows respect and humility to others,” Young said. “We would know when Bruce was having a good day, when, in the midst of his work, he would burst into song, usually on key.”
Megan Winslow, former Town Crier writer, photographer, social media specialist and photo editor, said that Barton was one of the most memorable characters to whom she reported.
“Hands down, Bruce is the most entertaining person I’ve worked for. Whether cracking jokes, sharing photos of his canine pal Jimi or serenading coworkers with his guitar, he was the architect of fun in the Town Crier newsroom,” she stated. “Bruce welcomed interaction with his employees, and his office door was always open to invite us in. Warmly, he referred to each visitor as ‘Chief.’ I congratulate Bruce on his retirement, but I know the Town Crier office must inevitably feel a bit empty without his energy.”
Barton, now months into his retirement, is spending time with family and his pup Jimi (yes, he’s named after Jimi Hendrix). The most exciting part about retirement? Monday, the Town Crier’s notoriously stressful print deadline, is now a normal day for him.
“I feel very comfortable and relaxed on Monday,” he said with a grin.
The Town Crier will be celebrating Los Altan of the year Bruce Barton from 5-7 p.m. March 5 at the Los Altos Golf and Country Club, 1560 Country Club Drive. Tickets are $85. For more information, email Maria Crowder, ma****@**tc.com.
