Harrville, a small town of 7,000 people in the heart of East Texas, will never be the same when two widows – the new city manager and a local newspaper editor – cross swords with the powers-that-be.

The new city manager, Stephanie Donnegan, often called Stevie, is a vibrant, attractive woman in her early fifties. She thinks city government should represent the taxpayers and in spite of the good ol’ boys on council, has made major, legal, efficient changes in city administration.

Samantha Walker, nearing the age of sixty, and showing it, is the beloved editor of a local newspaper and a media legend in the area for several decades. But Sam, who has seen it all, has stopped fighting the men who own Harrville. Until she meets Stevie.

The two become friends on a bright and beautiful June day when they are introduced at an airport open house. The men who control the town from behind the scenes are not comfortable with the sight of the two widows so clearly delighted with each other’s company.

In the weeks to come Stevie and Sam join forces and actually enjoy a victory at city hall – which is then quite short lived. For ultimately, Councilman Ralph Womack, the man who runs the town, has Stevie fired as City Manager. It takes a few weeks longer, but Sam is also fired from the newspaper.

Becoming “foxhole buddies”, the two women, in spite of their many differences, are now fast friends. Stevie moves in with Sam and they turn the large, old house into a cable channel launching local television news in Harrville.

The station will have to pay its way with local advertising, a skill Sam has honed through the years. However, her excellent reputation is now occasionally marred by the rumor, planted courtesy of the political machine, that the two women are lovers - something that would be totally unacceptable in a southern four-square-mile town with thirty churches.

But surmounting the obstacles, Stevie and Sam go on the air. Their first program is The Other Side of the Coin, a live call-in show, hosted by the two of them.

Stevie and Sam. On the air. Live. Look out, Womack. Look out, Harrville.

The weekly segments focus on the two widows' friendship and on the dynamic interplay at the grass roots level between media, government, and citizens. The frustrations, point-of-views and responsibilities of that interplay are highlighted each week with a portion of a council meeting and a portion of the live call-in program.

© 2003, Darlene Bridge Lofgren