Posts Tagged ‘Ray Hartman’

Tom Klein has defected from the Post-Dispatch to join the Cardinals.  He was sports copy editor at the daily and is expected to ditto on the baseball club’s publications. . .

The St.Louis Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will bestow honors on those inducted to its Print Hall of Fame at a luncheon on March 11.  The inductees are: former broadcast scribe and commentary page editor Eric Mink, St. Louis magazine’s Ray Hartman and Print Hall of Fame founder Frank Absher – all of whom will participate in a panel discussion on their careers and the journalism industry of today.  Mark Vittert, another inductee to the Hall of Fame, never a journalist, but his financial support made possible the birth and operation of The Riverfront Times and the Biz Journal. The bash is at noon at the Lucas Park Grille.

Those who remember Heywood Broun, who co-founded the Newspaper Guild in 1933. In his name, a competition is staged annually among print people to celebrate those who best expose injustice using printers ink. But, Broun’s bugbears, newspaper managers, are still around. Over at the Post-Dispatch, Mike Hammett, the retired human resources guy, went off to roam the country in his and wife, Linda’s, mobile home. He recently underwent a bypass surgery and said he feels great. However, it appears his memory might have been adversely affected. (I’m not a doctor, so what do I know?) The local inkstained wretchs’ union is involved in a federal suit to compel arbitration over a grievance concerning an expired (1994-2004) contract.

At stake is whether members who retired under that contract will be able to receive their medical benefits free-of-charge. Many people were told by Hammett that they would have free healthcare for a lifetime. However, they recently learned that Hammett could no longer remember the conversations. One staffer commented, “We might not be able to restore his memory, but we can all gather with flashlights some evening at the local and go out and help find it”. . . Another P-D note – this one about the late, beloved scribe John McGuire, who was remembered by co-workers at a pouring over at McGurk’s saloon. After some opening remarks from Bill McClellan and lawyer/publician Jim Holloran, a portrait of John was hung in the bar’s main room – a rare honor indicating the esteem in which he is held by the Irish drinkers (too many words?) in our town. On hand were Martin Duggan, Ray Hartman, Wendy Wiese, Joe and Judge Carolyn Whittington, Kevin Horrigan, Joe “Sherpa” Holleman, Joe Pollack and Ann Lemons, John McGuire Jr and chef Josh Roland, a colleague of John McGuire, Jr . The Swing A Way Manufacturing Company on Chippewa, one of the city’s several threatened Mid-Century Modern buildings, will be getting face-lift, instead of demolition. A writer whose period of major significance dates to the same era is glad to report a design compromise that seems to please everyone.