‘The Ark’ Welcomes New Owners On Board

By MARILYN KESSLER AND JUDITH WILSON
As journalists, it is our belief that our role at The Ark is to report the news, not make it. Our community has a wealth of stories to tell — as our readers know from the weekly police logs — so staying behind the lines is easy. We’re about to break our self-imposed rule, however, to share some big news of our own.

On Friday, January 15, 2010, Art and Alison Kern, of Belvedere, purchased the late Barbara Gnoss’ share of The Ark from her estate to become majority owners. They join current owner/editor Marilyn Kessler and editor/reporter Judith Wilson, who also is a new shareholder, to create a four-person shareholder group and management team.

Art Kern, an 11-year resident of Belvedere, has a background in radio and television. He is on the board of the Tiburon Peninsula Foundation, the Foundation Board of the University of California, San Francisco, and a longtime board member of Yahoo.
Until recently, Alison Kern was a development director at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“The staff’s commitment is what makes The Ark a fine newspaper,” said Alison.
“We’ve always loved The Ark,” added Art. “We’re taken with how many people read and love it.”

Marilyn Kessler, a 42-year resident of the Tiburon Peninsula, has been at the helm of The Ark since 1979 and enjoyed a long partnership with Barbara Gnoss, who passed away in July 2009.

The Ark was founded in 1973 by a group of local people who were upset with The Ebb Tide, the local paper, for not publishing a promotional article on Ayala Day, an annual Belvedere-Tiburon party, which was held on Angel Island. They decided to start their own newspaper, which suffered financial difficulties until Jim McClatchy bought it out of bankruptcy in 1975.

After Marilyn married Dominic Kessler in 1985, Barbara and Marilyn started job-sharing the editorship, four months working and four months off, as Dominic, who was Dutch, wanted to spend a lot of time in Europe. The arrangement was the envy of the community.

Marilyn, Barbara and Steve McNamara, the former owner of The Pacific Sun, bought The Ark from McClatchy in 1987. Marilyn and Barbara bought out Steve’s share in 1999.

“We have missed Barbara’s valuable involvement with The Ark. She had to bow out when her illness became too difficult for her to continue,” said Marilyn.

“We are, however, looking forward to our relationship with the Kerns and are pleased that they want to help keep The Ark afloat. We appreciate their interest and look forward to working with them,” she added.

Judith Wilson, a resident of the Tiburon Peninsula since 1980, has been at The Ark as a reporter and editor since 1998. “I’m looking forward to the new partnership and continuing to produce a quality newspaper that serves the community well and is a highlight of the week for our readers,” she said.

The Ark will remain much the same, and, as always, we encourage your visits to our office, whether it is to say hello, share your personal news or give us a hot tip.
Please join us in welcoming Art and Alison Kern and making 2010 the best year yet.

For more Ark history: click here.