Just up the Crystal Valley, in a cabin on Redstone Boulevard, Gentrye Houghton has kept busy behind the keyboard, often basqued in the blue light of her laptop late into the night to get The Crystal Valley Echo to print. While the winds of the Pacific have whispered in her ear that it’s time to move again, the Echo will remain, not lost or curated remotely from the deck of her 1980-yacht, but through the steady hand of young, motivated truth-seeker Tucker Farris.
Houghton, an Amarillo, Texas gal, grew up showing American saddle-bred horses and wanting to be a doctor, just like her dad. It wasn’t until college at Oklahoma State University that she caught the journalism bug, afterwards blending her degree with her childhood know-how through her work with two national equine magazines, and later producing a morning television newscast back in Amarillo. With the backing of a supportive husband, Ryan Kenney, she broke away to the high peaks of Colorado for an internship at Rock & Ice Magazine in Carbondale.
Once getting Kenney across the plains and into the Rockies, they came to the Crystal Valley. “It was January of 2013 when we moved up there,” she told The Sun. “I’d never seen that much snow in my life .. You come up the Crystal, drive by Penny [Hot Springs] and … see Chair Mountain for the first time — it’s just spectacular.”
She picked up some writing for The Echo, having been nudged by Sue McEvoy, the basically lone writer of The Echo for many years and Redstone Castle’s go-to tour guide. In 2015, the couple purchased a small school bus, which became their year-round lodgings, “Wendy,” hitting the road each winter and returning in the spring. Eventually, they settled down in a little cabin on the Boulevard. Following McEvoy’s passing, Alyssa Ohnmacht, the paper’s founder, passed it off to Houghton in 2019.
“I’m really happy that Gentrye and Ryan had the paper for the years that they did, and I’m happy that they found somebody to pass it on to,” Ohnmacht told The Sun, “and I’m super excited that it’s Tucker.”
Crystal Valley residents are passionate about what affects its culture, lands and waters. Houghton has not shied away from printing relevant hard news, a trait she shares with her successor. “There were certain articles I knew were going to explode and cause controversy,” she said, “but in my gut and in my heart I knew that what I was printing was true and it was the right thing to do.”
Farris is like a kid in a candy store right now. The ideas and possibilities are whirling. First, it’s important to the fifth-generation local to preserve the canon of The Echo. He’s aware of a stash with the Redstone Historical Society he’d like to see bound, and is working with Ohnmacht to collect her record for a digital archive.
As a tyke, he lived across Woody Creek Road from Hunter Thompson, breathing the same air as the Gonzo journalist, perhaps foreshadowing little-Farris’ future. His introduction to The Echo was also thanks to McEvoy, who during a tour of the castle, encouraged the then 14-year-old to submit some photos and words for publication.
His sights are set on expanding distribution and its current 16-page count, joining the Colorado Press Association, reviving the paper’s community calendar and giving its website a “facelift.” Further down the road, he may even, depending on capacity and growth, transition to a weekly.
It’s a labor of love and best to have support. Kenney, who is listed in the paper’s masthead as its distribution man and layout designer (though Houghton often fulfills these roles, too), has helped keep it alive, along with regular contributors Amber McMahill and DJ Sugar Monkey, the sharp-witted watchdog over Marble politics. Farris has a supportive family with a knack for civil discourse. His grandmother, Dorothea Farris, was a commissioner for Pitkin County District 5 and a voice for Crystal Valley residents in Aspen-centric politics.
“That’s part of the legacy I’m carrying on into this work — continued dedication to places like Redstone and Marble, the Crystal Valley, that are sometimes a little overlooked,” Farris said. “There are important stories to be told up there.”
“Humanity of the work is what has always drawn me to it,” he continued. “It’s ordinary people telling ordinary stories in extraordinary ways. That’s what I love about it.”
Farris is settling in at the editor’s desk, as Houghton and Kenney tie up loose ends before sweeping the sea aboard “Lady Bountiful,” named in honor of Alma Osgood, the second wife of Redstone founder and coal-tycoon John Osgood, who was given the nickname by the community who adored her.
Houghton and Farris each wrote letters to their readers, which can be found in this month’s issue on news stands now. Farris plans to present at the Pitkin County Senior Services luncheon at the Redstone Inn on March 10, and to host regular office hours there in due time. The new editor-in-chief can be reached at editor@crystalvalleyecho.com