Alumni Spotlight: Jim Fuglie ’75

Before he ever stepped into a newsroom, Fuglie was chasing stories on a newspaper route in Hettinger. Every Sunday morning, he met the train to pick up the Minneapolis Tribune and delivered it across town. He did not just drop off the paper, he read it, fascinated that the stories had happened just the day before. By the time he graduated high school, he was not guessing about his future. He had decided he wanted to be a reporter.

That interest carried with him to Dickinson State College (DSC), where he enrolled because it was close to home, affordable, and full of familiar faces. He also received a small athletic scholarship of $50 per quarter for golf. Fuglie explored several areas of study, including English, history, and theater, before completing a Bachelor of College Studies.

At DSC, Fuglie quickly got involved in journalism. He joined the Western Concept staff after introducing himself to Professor Neil McFadgen and editor Everett Albers. He worked there for two years and, by his sophomore year, was also working at The Dickinson Press, where he became sports editor before being drafted during his junior year.

That early interest in storytelling carried through the rest of Fuglie’s career, shaping how he approached journalism in North Dakota. When asked why those stories matter, he kept his answer simple: “Well, everyone has a story, and my job as a reporter was to find the best ones and tell them. I’ve worked mostly in print, and the people who pay to read it deserve to know the latest and most information about the things I cover. And I’ve told a lot of stories no one else was telling. They needed to be told (well, most of them, anyway), or I wouldn’t have told them.”

After college, Fuglie went on to several notable roles. He served as executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party and helped elect Gov. George Sinner. He later became North Dakota’s Tourism Director and helped raise funds for the Burning Hills Amphitheatre and the Rough Riders Hotel in Medora.

Fuglie’s favorite memories of his time at DSC ranged from $25-a-month basement apartments and 25-cent barbecues at the Dairy Queen on East Villard, to time spent in Russ Veeder and Jerry Waldera’s history classes, a pretty girl named Linda on the newspaper staff, and post-tournament beers with older members of the golf team. But what stood out most was “waiting for the Western Concept to come out every other week and seeing my name on a byline.”

Today, Fuglie still enjoys writing on his blog, The Prairie Blog. From a Sunday newspaper route in Hettinger to a career in reporting and public service, he has spent his life telling stories.

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Written by Alician Parks – DSU HF Student Writer