Images

A friend of mine who's now in Heaven once told me that Victoria Hearst had become a Christian. "Hearst?" I thought...As in, related to William Randolph Hearst? As in Hearst Castle? As in, newspapers and magazines? As in the story that the movie "Citizen Kane" is at least partially based on? (Supposedly). Yes. All of the above.

Truth: Just say the word 'Castle" and you have my attention. We have REAL ones...really?? Yes indeed. And down in San Simeon among many, many rolling hills covered in nothing but dry, yellow grass is, a vast, beautiful, unexpected, Roman Columns and green foliage everywhere...castle. Most people, if they know the name Hearst, know it because of the Patty Hearst kidnapping. Maybe they've heard that she was kidnapped back in the seventies, or they've seen the picture of her with the machine gun. Either that, or they know about the castle in California on the coast. But why do I bring up Victoria Hearst? Because I just heard a commercial on a local Christian radio station about Cosmopolitan magazine. It was Victoria Hearst, warning parents that Cosmo contains pornography which can be harmful to children. Cosmopolitan magazine, among many others, is owned by the Hearst Oorporation. I just want to say : "Way to go Victoria! Thank you.". I feel this is a brave thing for her to do, considering that the empire begun by her famous family has remained the giant that it is largely due to...images.

Victoria, is the youngest of five children born to Randolph Apperson Hearst and Catherine Campbell Hearst. She is Patricia Hearst's younger sister (Patricia being the third of five children), and both are of course, granddaughters of William Randolph Hearst, who began the Hearst Corporation, and built the famous castle, known by the family as "The Ranch". Randolph A. Hearst and his brother David, are twin boys (not identical), the youngest of five children born to William Randolph Hearst and his wife Millicent.

William Randolph Hearst was born in San Francisco, CA on April 29, 1863; the only child of George Hearst and his wife Phoebe Apperson Hearst. His father was a U.S. senator who quite literally, owned a goldmine. He was a millionaire mining engineer. The beginning of the Hearst Corporation can quite easily become a Labrynth that one can get lost in. In fact, it may just be easier to watch the 1941 Orsen Wells flick "Citizen Kane" to get a feel for what the famous tycoon's life was like. He attended Harvard where he was involved in many activities & was later expelled for various unflattering antics. Needing a job, in 1887, he took over the San Francisco "Examiner," a newspaper his father had received, apparently, as repayment for a gambling debt. Hearst gave his paper the motto "Monarch of the Dailies", and always hired the very best in every field, including writing. Hearst would eventually have Mark Twain and Jack London writing for him, and he would later go on to buy the "New York Morning Journal" which had contributors such as Stephen Crane (The Red Badge of Courage) and Julian Hawthorne.