Jock Lauterer.

That name may not mean much to our readership, but it means a whole lot to community newspapers throughout the country. Mr. Lauterer is a longtime lecturer in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a founding co-editor-publisher of two award-winning North Carolina community newspapers and author of several books. One of his books, “Community Journalism Relentlessly Local,” is one of the best “how-to” books on running a good small-town newspaper I have ever read. In the book, Mr. Lauterer interviews many publishers, editors, reporters and others about their newspapers and they offer tips on many topics — from covering the town hall to running the newsroom. The real-life examples come from his many trips across his state.

Having read the book at least three times, I was ecstatic when I received a phone call from him last week. He told me he was in town and wanted to drop by to talk to me about the newspaper. It was kind of like a young ballplayer meeting one of his professional idols.

We spent about an hour together talking about my history with the Register, circulation, the likes and dislikes about my job and other topics. He was particularly impressed with the overall coverage, the physical size of the newspaper, and the use of the pen-and-ink drawings on our area columnists’ standing heads. Before he left, I asked him to sign my copy of “Community Journalism Relentlessly Local” and he wrote: “To Kevin, Your paper is terrific! Long live Community Journalism! Jock Lauterer 7/16.” He even wrote about us in his blog, http://blogs.web.jomc.unc.edu/bluehighways/. The title of his piece is, “The Best Little Newspaper You Never Heard Of.”

It was truly reassuring to know that we are doing our best, as the self-proclaimed “Johnny Appleseed of Community Journalism” wrote in his blog, “Whatever Kevin and staff are doing is clearly working. A rank stranger like me can spend 30 minutes with the Boothbay Register and get an immersion into Mainer life and culture.”