July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
What should you do for a re-retirement? (05/30/07)
Back in the Saddle
By By JACK RONALD-
What do you do when someone retires a second time?
Throw a re-retirement party?
I don't think so.
Instead, you write a column.
My memory's a little fuzzy, but I'm guessing that it was late 1977 or early 1978. I'd only been editor of The Commercial Review a matter of months. And while things were going pretty well, I was busy making my share of mistakes.
The newsroom staff at that point looked something like this: The late, great Jeanette McKee covered county government. She had taken me under her wing when I was a rookie reporter and had taught me a tremendous amount. Steve Ehle, who is now editing a wood-working trade journal in Wisconsin, was covering city government. Russ Carson, of whom we've lost track, was covering sports.
I was doing whatever it is I do, and the "society editor" slot was vacant.
It had been occupied earlier - believe it or not - by Ruth Ann (Zearbaugh) Widman, now at the helm of Jay-Randolph Developmental Services. But when Ruth Ann, an old friend since before elementary school, decided to leave journalism, I had a vacancy to fill.
It was my first job interview when I was on the hiring side, and it's safe to say I made a botch of it. After interviewing several applicants, I thought I'd found the right person.
I was wrong.
Over a period of several painful weeks, probably as much as three months, we limped along. But it just wasn't working.
Finally, on a Sunday afternoon, when I should have been home with my family, I found myself in a long telephone conversation with the problem employee. For what I thought was the umpteenth time, I described what the job entailed. Then there was a long silence, and she said (approximately), "Oh, I can't do that. If I'd known you wanted all that I wouldn't have taken the job." She immediately quit.
That was managerial lesson one: Be sure you communicate effectively.
And so, we had another vacancy on a small but critical staff.
Before we could even advertise the job, a new possibility arose.
Mary Ann Litton (now Mary Ann Lewis) told me she was interested in the job.
That posed a problem.
Not because I didn't think she could do it, but because she was a very valuable employee where she was, in the composing room. She lacked a degree, but she had the intelligence.
My fear was that she'd go for the brass ring, things wouldn't work out, and instead of one vacancy we would have two.
Finally, I latched onto a solution.
Write me an account of your own wedding, I told her. Think of it as an audition.
She passed with flying colors. That was nearly 30 years ago.
A few years back, Mary Ann decided to take early retirement to spend more time with her husband, Tom Lewis. We made a big to-do at the time, throwing a party for the entire community. Folks who had been sending in their club news, people whose weddings and anniversaries had been chronicled on Mary Ann's page, and some of the scores of people she interviewed for feature stories showed up.
Unfortunately, cancer made a hash of those plans, claiming Tom way too early.
That would have been the end of the story, but for the equally untimely death of CR managing editor Barb Wilkinson of congestive heart failure in 2005.
Barb's death, as you can imagine, stunned us all. But within 24 hours I received a phone call. It was Mary Ann, offering to come back to do whatever it took to make sure the job got done.
Of course, I said yes.
So, she un-retired.
With Tom gone, it helped fill her days and brought her back into daily contact with a universe of friends, acquaintances, and sources.
And that would have been that, except for the fact that Mary Ann finally hit 65.
Last Friday, after working in two different departments, after being recognized by the Hoosier State Press Association for the quality of her journalism, after retiring, and after returning, Mary Ann Lewis retired again.
Characteristically, she volunteered to work the late shift her final Friday night.
This time, it was all pretty low-key. An employee pitch-in rather than a fancy party.
It was a warm and affectionate farewell, but I wouldn't rule out the chance that you'll see her byline again. She's offered to help out in any time of crisis.
That's the sort of employee performance that merits a column like this one.[[In-content Ad]]
Throw a re-retirement party?
I don't think so.
Instead, you write a column.
My memory's a little fuzzy, but I'm guessing that it was late 1977 or early 1978. I'd only been editor of The Commercial Review a matter of months. And while things were going pretty well, I was busy making my share of mistakes.
The newsroom staff at that point looked something like this: The late, great Jeanette McKee covered county government. She had taken me under her wing when I was a rookie reporter and had taught me a tremendous amount. Steve Ehle, who is now editing a wood-working trade journal in Wisconsin, was covering city government. Russ Carson, of whom we've lost track, was covering sports.
I was doing whatever it is I do, and the "society editor" slot was vacant.
It had been occupied earlier - believe it or not - by Ruth Ann (Zearbaugh) Widman, now at the helm of Jay-Randolph Developmental Services. But when Ruth Ann, an old friend since before elementary school, decided to leave journalism, I had a vacancy to fill.
It was my first job interview when I was on the hiring side, and it's safe to say I made a botch of it. After interviewing several applicants, I thought I'd found the right person.
I was wrong.
Over a period of several painful weeks, probably as much as three months, we limped along. But it just wasn't working.
Finally, on a Sunday afternoon, when I should have been home with my family, I found myself in a long telephone conversation with the problem employee. For what I thought was the umpteenth time, I described what the job entailed. Then there was a long silence, and she said (approximately), "Oh, I can't do that. If I'd known you wanted all that I wouldn't have taken the job." She immediately quit.
That was managerial lesson one: Be sure you communicate effectively.
And so, we had another vacancy on a small but critical staff.
Before we could even advertise the job, a new possibility arose.
Mary Ann Litton (now Mary Ann Lewis) told me she was interested in the job.
That posed a problem.
Not because I didn't think she could do it, but because she was a very valuable employee where she was, in the composing room. She lacked a degree, but she had the intelligence.
My fear was that she'd go for the brass ring, things wouldn't work out, and instead of one vacancy we would have two.
Finally, I latched onto a solution.
Write me an account of your own wedding, I told her. Think of it as an audition.
She passed with flying colors. That was nearly 30 years ago.
A few years back, Mary Ann decided to take early retirement to spend more time with her husband, Tom Lewis. We made a big to-do at the time, throwing a party for the entire community. Folks who had been sending in their club news, people whose weddings and anniversaries had been chronicled on Mary Ann's page, and some of the scores of people she interviewed for feature stories showed up.
Unfortunately, cancer made a hash of those plans, claiming Tom way too early.
That would have been the end of the story, but for the equally untimely death of CR managing editor Barb Wilkinson of congestive heart failure in 2005.
Barb's death, as you can imagine, stunned us all. But within 24 hours I received a phone call. It was Mary Ann, offering to come back to do whatever it took to make sure the job got done.
Of course, I said yes.
So, she un-retired.
With Tom gone, it helped fill her days and brought her back into daily contact with a universe of friends, acquaintances, and sources.
And that would have been that, except for the fact that Mary Ann finally hit 65.
Last Friday, after working in two different departments, after being recognized by the Hoosier State Press Association for the quality of her journalism, after retiring, and after returning, Mary Ann Lewis retired again.
Characteristically, she volunteered to work the late shift her final Friday night.
This time, it was all pretty low-key. An employee pitch-in rather than a fancy party.
It was a warm and affectionate farewell, but I wouldn't rule out the chance that you'll see her byline again. She's offered to help out in any time of crisis.
That's the sort of employee performance that merits a column like this one.[[In-content Ad]]
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