Liening on doomed National Hirschfeld

National Hirschfeld has earned headlines in this space a couple of times in recent days. First up was the January 14 blog "National Hirschfeld's Impending Closure: The End of an Era -- and a Sign of the Times," followed by Patricia Calhoun's January 19 offering "A Look at Hirschfeld Back...

By Michael Roberts

January 21, 2009

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National Hirschfeld has earned headlines in this space a couple of times in recent days. First up was the January 14 blog "National Hirschfeld's Impending Closure: The End of an Era -- and a Sign of the Times," followed by Patricia Calhoun's January 19 offering "A Look at Hirschfeld Back in its Heyday," which linked to our 1994 profile of the firm's Barry Hirschfeld and letters spawned by that piece, including one criticizing Hirschfeld's controversial labor relations.

Now, Lisa Jones (pictured), a former online press critic and political gadfly who's currently blogging for Denver's Examiner, has unearthed more evidence of the financial crisis that sealed National Hirschfeld's fate: a tax lien for over $349,000 filed against the company by the City of Denver two days after the announcement that NH would be shutting its doors.

Clearly, the lien's not-so-fine print was a major factor in the end of this particular printing business.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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