| Bully Pulpit: Transitions | Array Print Array |
| Written by Jackie Taylor |
| Wednesday, 30 June 2010 11:59 |
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Anybody that has been a manager, owner or “boss” knows of the challenges that employees bring. Some I’ve heard equate managing people to herding chickens. I, on the other hand, have had the pleasure of working with some outstanding people over my years, and many of them have been with me since the early years of moving to Linn County. And one of those employees is our sports editor, Brad Allen. Brad started with the Linn County News eight years ago as a part-time sportswriter. Following the departure of two very wonderful news editors, Brad assumed the responsibility of both positions and became the Linn County News editor and sportswriter. He was also my go-to man. Brad assumed the position of keeping my hot temper from flaring up in unwelcomed areas. He was successful most of the time and I found him very fair and balanced in his views of those situations that arose. Today, Brad is at the bedside of his terminally ill mother and has chosen to move to Coffeyville to assist his also ill father through the challenges that lie before them. As in his writing and treatment of people, he again is portraying the gracefulness and compassion that we at the paper have grown to love. We have watched Brad sacrifice many times for the wellbeing of his family, but this time is a new beginning for him, his kids and his wife. Besides being the balancing figure at the paper, Brad was also our only male employee. His sense of humor about his “more feminine side” and hoping he didn’t break out with a pole dance during deadline day kept all of us on our toes and laughing. Brad has asked that I look to replace him. When he told me this, I responded that his shoes would not be easy to fill. He has done a superb job bringing sports in the paper to a place we can be proud of. He has worked diligently to cover each sport at each high school fairly and to give each equal recognition. We will begin looking for someone that we feel can give sports in Linn County the same kind of love and devotion that Brad gave, so in the interim, we hope our readers will have patience with us. We will begin running a help wanted ad in the paper and hope someone steps forward that has the drive and enthusiasm for sports that Brad did. Meanwhile, we pray that Brad and his family can make it through the tough time that illness and death creates and we wish him the best in the new challenges and life that lie before him. We will miss him and I personally will miss his friendship. Jackie Taylor Linn County News publisher This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |