It’s never cool for a guy to cry. At least that’s what we’re led to believe early in life, right? Keep your emotions in check.
But I’ll admit it, I cried my first day as an editor.
I was overwhelmed and shocked. I had no idea what I was about to embark on and how I would ever survive.
I freaked out.
A few weeks later, in the newspaper’s parking lot, I frantically called my mom, who at the time worked at a job placement agency.
“I need you to find me a job,” I pleaded.
I can’t remember my mom’s exact words, but she calmed me down and said to give it some time, see if the role got easier before looking for the next job.
The last five years has certainly been easier than those first few weeks as a newspaper editor, but they also have been challenging, fun, rewarding and more.
This week will be my last with the Union-Sun & Journal. I’ve accepted an offer from the J. Fitzgerald Group, a marketing communications firm on West Main Street here in Lockport. I’ll be a copywriter for this fast-paced, forward-thinking and successful team of marketers.
I’m really humbled by the opportunity and excited to make the transition from newspapers to marketing, advertising and public relations.
It was a change I was ready to make.
But it’s obviously bittersweet as well. I started with the newspaper group when I was 21 as an intern with the Niagara Gazette.
I then became a reporter here at the US&J, then an editor in Medina and then back here as managing editor.
I’ve always appreciated and respected the opportunities and responsibilities I’ve been given in the Greater Niagara Newspapers group. I’ve had a number of great editors and publishers that I have worked with. I won’t say “worked for” because at least in my relationships with them, it was always a partnership, never a dictatorship. I can honestly say that from my first day to my last day.
Reporting, writing, editing, snapping pictures, posting stories to the Web and every other job that is part of the newspaper recipe is all I’ve ever known in my professional life. But there have been so many people to help me along.
From the publishers, editors, reporters, photographers and designers I worked with and have moved on to ones who now work with me; they all are amazing people.
It’s hard to explain the composition process of a newspaper. You have to be in it to understand it, and even then it’s hard to understand. There’s so many components that have to hum properly in order to get the paper out.
I’m happy to say we always got the paper out.
The workers are fantastic, but we’d be nothing if it weren’t for our readers.
When you’re on the editorial side, your feedback comes from the readers. I always valued that.
Whether you liked what we’ve produced the last five years or hated it — and are happy to read this farewell column — I always appreciated the feedback. The interaction I’ve had with readers has been like none other. I’ve made lots of friends and enjoyed every minute.
No matter what course my life takes, I’ll always be a newspaper guy at heart.
When I started cleaning out my office this week, I stumbled upon a column I framed from a newspaper trade publication. It was written by a guy named Jay Smith, who told the story of a general manager he worked for in newspapers that said to him when he started, “I want you to know, your family comes first.”
Smith wrote: “... Newspapers tend to chew up folks and spit them out ... I put my family first.”
Smith, and his general manager’s advice to him, have always echoed in my head on the toughest of newspaper days. Long hours, late nights, stress and more will really wear on you.
No matter what profession you’re in, there will be tough days, and I expect a bunch in the next career, but family should always come first.
Thank you, all of you.
Tim Marren is managing editor of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Contact him at tim.marren@lockportjournal.com or 439-9222.
Tim Marren
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Tim Marren / Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Managing Editor
MARREN: I fought the good fight, I finished the race
- Tim Marren
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MARREN: I fought the good fight, I finished the race
It’s never cool for a guy to cry. At least that’s what we’re led to believe early in life, right? Keep your emotions in check.
But I’ll admit it, I cried my first day as an editor. -
MARREN: What a mess ... What. A. Mess.
Apparently the Rent Is 2 Damn High.
Who knew? God help us all. -
MARREN: Check those medical bills
This past July, the weekend of my sister’s wedding, I sliced open the middle finger on my left hand during a cookout we hosted. I was trying to clean bottles off the deck. I had my fingers inside a few of the bottles, to make juggling a half dozen of them easier.
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MARREN: GLDC shouldn’t wait on Canal Street
City officials revealed this week that Lockport developer David Ulrich’s proposal to lure the Niagara County Community College Culinary Institute to Canal Street isn’t the only option being explored.
Good news, for sure. -
MARREN: Have an opinion, send it in
A woman came in this week and asked why I think fewer letters appear on the opinion page these days. Seemed like a decent enough question. It’s one I’ve heard before, since many newspapers have seen a decline in letter submissions.
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MARREN: Dialect dominance not always great
If someone came up to you, here in the good old U.S. of A., and asked you to speak to them in another language, could you? Could you just flip a switch and go from English to Spanish, or French?
Some people reading this right now probably could do that, but not the majority. -
MARREN: All drivers need testing
If there’s one topic that’s always in the news, it’s driving.
And when I say always, it truly is ALWAYS in the news. -
MARREN: Kids write the darndest things
Newspapers get all sorts of letters. Obviously “letters to the editor” are most common, but the newsroom gets letters from all different sources.
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MARREN: A smattering of opinion
Here’s some post-vacation Timbits for you:
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MARREN: Summer reading should be mandated, tested
There’s nothing worse than summer reading in high school.
Just when you wanted to put all the books away for the summer, along comes the mandatory summer reading list. - More Tim Marren Headlines
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