Our good fortune is your good fortune.
When Tom Houlihan decided to retire from the Chronicle, Marilyn Thomas and I knew that would leave a big pair of shoes to fill. Tom brought a half century of journalism experience to the project of building a local newspaper for Homewood and Flossmoor.
As it happened, Tom’s last gift to the newspaper and the community was to recruit Randall Weissman to step into his editing position.
Randall, coincidentally, has devoted more than half a century to journalism, starting in high school. His father was a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, and Randall saw that journalism was a profession that would allow him to continue to write and have an impact on the people around him, according to his bio.
He signed on with the Chicago Tribune early in his career and did pretty much every job a newsroom has to offer, from reporter, copy editor, photo editor, national editor, makeup editor, news editor, assistant managing editor, news administration editor.
Along the way, he has spent years as an adjunct professor of journalism – 10 years at Medill and the last nine at Governors State University.
In 2011, he accepted a Tribune buyout offer and retired. In 2018, he unretired to take over as publisher of the Hyde Park Herald, and that fall he added the position of editor, which he held until fall of 2020, when he re-retired.
But not for long. In December, Randall joined the Chronicle team.
Randall told the Chronicle that he “unretired” because he wanted to continue to give back to the profession that he pursued for so many years.
“I guess you could say that I am a bit of a journalism addict,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for so long that I can’t really get it out of my system. I just need to do it at a bit slower pace these days.”
He brings all that experience to our community’s newspaper. That means the quality of writing, editing and news judgment readers came to expect during Tom’s tenure will continue.
As we’ve said all along, a great community deserves a great newspaper, and Randall’s presence will help us continue to pursue that mission.
Thank you panelists
I want to thank the five local leaders who agreed to participate in our Black History Month panel discussion. Eugene Dumas, Rosalind Henderson-Mustafa, Jazz Jabulani and Destiny Watson shared personal stories and perspectives with guidance from facilitator Donna MIller, 6th District Cook County commissioner.
The panel provided an opportunity to remind us all that history is not something that happens elsewhere and to other people. History happens here. The pain and trauma of racism infects our community just as it does every community in this nation.
To connect our community with the events of the wider world, it helps to listen to the stories H-F people have to tell.
The H-F community is justifiably proud of its diversity and inclusion. This is the only place I’ve lived where talking about race and racism is routine. We work at educating ourselves continually. That’s an essential step in the long process of healing.
February will have at least two more good learning opportunities.
On Feb. 18 there will be a discussion about Isabel Wilkerson’s book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.” It’s Flossmoor’s latest selection in its One Book, One Flossmoor series. Visit flossmoor.org to learn more.
On Feb. 24 there will be a virtual Q&A with Frances Causey, director of the documentary film, on “The Long Shadow,” with access sponsored by the Flossmoor Public Library. Find more information at flossmoorlibrary.org.