From Pulitzer Prize winners and nominees to grassroots
community newspaper publishers, inaugural members of the Northern Star Hall
of Fame share two things: a commitment to great journalism and an appreciation
for where their careers started.
More than 100 people turned out Feb. 26, 2000, to honor the 12 inductees
featured below. Eleven attended, and the 12th, the late adviser Roy G. Campbell,
was represented by daughters Katie and Pat, son Keith and granddaughter
Kate Campbell Randolph.
Mike Korcek, '70, NIU sports information director and former Star sports
editor, proposed the Hall of Fame idea after seeing it work successfully
for NIU athletics. Given the Star's loyal and prestigious group of alumni,
the fit was perfect.
Inductee Mark Brown, '77, investigative sports reporter for the Chicago
Sun-Times, summed up why his Star experience remains close to his heart.
"It was camaraderie," Brown said. "It was a sense of doing
journalism the right way. It was the sense of putting out the newspaper
as kids. It was something special."
Mark Brown worked at the Northern Star during all four of his years at
NIU. He began at the Star in 1973 as a sports reporter, eventually serving
as the editor-in-chief of the paper in 1977. His friends and colleagues
at Northern recall that Mark seemed to have arrived at NIU and the Star
an already experienced, capable reporter. In his years at the Star, Mark
demonstrated a genuine love for the craft of writing and a steady devotion
to getting the story right.
Mark graduated from NIU in 1977 with a B.S. degree in journalism. He then
attended the Public Affairs Graduate Program at Sangamon State University
in Springfield, Ill. From there, Mark joined the Quad-City Times in Davenport,
Iowa where he served as the Des Moines Bureau Chief and subsequently was
an investigative reporter. Mark joined the Chicago Sun Times in 1982, where
he has primarily reported on government and politics. Mark was one of the
reporters who led the two-year Sun Times investigation of convicted Congressman
Dan Rostenkowski. Mark is now developing a beat at the paper as an investigative
reporter in the sports department.
None of that came as any surprise to Jerry Thompson, Mark's adviser at the
Star.
"Mark always had a way of sizing people up right away, of cutting to
the heart of what a person was saying and spotting what was newsworthy,"
Thompson said.
As an alumnus, Mark has consistently contributed to the Star's journalistic
integrity and independence. For nearly a decade, Mark has served as a member
of the paper's Publication Board, where he has on many critical occasions
guarded the paper's autonomy. In addition, Mark has frequently spoken on
campus to Star staffers on the practical and professional aspects of reporting
the news.
Mark and his wife, Hanke Gratteau, live in Oak Park with their twin sons,
Harrison and Spencer. The marriage makes for some interesting dinner conversation.
Hanke is deputy metropolitan editor for the cross-street rival Chicago Tribune.
Roy G. Campbell combined the grit of a hard-nosed reporter with the compassion
of a confidant and father figure ... perfect attributes to serve as the
Northern Star's adviser through the tumultuous 1960s.
"Roy was a father to many of us," Ray Gibson, one of Campbell's
prized students, said in the Star's recent centennial magazine. "He
nurtured more than professionalism and was always there with a shoulder
to cry on or just to lend an ear."
Roy was born May 25, 1925 in Provo, Utah. After high school, he joined the
Navy in 1943 and was stationed in Pensacola, Fla. until the end of World
War II in 1945.
He received his college degree from Utah State. In 1951, he earned a graduate
degree from the journalism school at Northwestern University.
Roy began working with the Lincoln Star in Nebraska in 1951. He worked there
for six years, cultivating his love for journalism. He then decided to return
to school for his doctoral degree at Northwestern. At the same time, he
worked as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News.
In June 1961, Roy accepted the adviser position with the Northern Star.
He would guide the Star for a decade until dying of a heart attack in 1971
at age 45.
Roy's commitment to the Star was seen every day, whether he was helping
pursue a story or advising students on how to become better journalists.
"He was a maverick and a grizzled veteran, but he was a great news
man," said Mike Korcek, former Star sports editor. "He taught
news judgment and would broaden your mind. He did things the old-fashioned
way and taught the tricks in journalism."
Under Roy's guidance, the Star received seven Associated Collegiate Press
awards. In 1966, the National Council of College Publications Advisers named
Roy the nation's outstanding college newspaper adviser.
After his death, NIU honored Roy by renaming the Star office Campbell Hall.
Each time the Star has moved, the "Campbell Hall" plaque has moved,
too. It now occupies a position of prominence in the Star's Campus Life
Building offices.
Roy's family includes his wife, Jeanne, two daughters, Pat and Katie, and
two sons, Keith and Scott. He has one granddaughter, Kate Campbell Randolph.
Henry de Fiebre joined the Northern Star as a reporter in 1970. Hank
transferred to NIU intent on a career in newspapers. It is unlikely, however,
that he could have anticipated how successful that career would be. Hank's
friends and colleagues recall that from his first days at the Star, he demonstrated
a deep interest in all aspects of newspapering in addition to his already
strong skills as a writer and reporter. Hank subsequently became news editor,
associate editor and editorial editor. As a member of the Star's editorial
board in 1971, Hank helped introduce the first computer production equipment
to the Star.
Another significant transition occurred at the paper during this time: Adviser
Roy Campbell died in 1971. "He was the best," Hank says. "Everyone
genuinely respected and loved Roy Campbell."
Campbell was succeeded by Jerry Thompson, then an instructor in the Journalism
Department. "I used to tell Jerry he was the most courageous guy I
knew, taking over for Roy," Hank said. "But Jerry was his own
person, and he quickly gained the respect and friendship of the Star's staff."
Hank graduated from NIU in 1972 with a B.S. degree in journalism. He worked
as a reporter for the Southern Illinoisan before joining the Courier in
Evansville, Ind., in 1978. In 1981, he joined Reiman Publications as an
editor, eventually moving up to editorial director, vice president and senior
vice president. During Hank's tenure, the company grew from a small publisher
of farm magazines to a major publisher of consumer magazines and books.
Hank retired from the company in 1999.
In 1993, Hank and his wife, Karen Rothe, established --anonymously-- the
Northern Star Alumni Scholarship. For six years the scholarship was funded
annually by the couple. In 1999, they donated the money necessary to permanently
endow the scholarship. Renamed the Campbell-Thompson Scholarship, it now
represents a $3,000 gift to a selected Star staffer.
"Henry and his wife reflect what is great about the Star: a love of
newspapering and a generous spirit," Thompson says.
Hank and Karen live in Wauwatosa, Wis., with their teen-age daughter, Amanda.
Hank's son, Jonathan, and his wife, Amy Reeder, recently delivered Hank
his first grandson, Matthew.
Jeff Farren is publisher of The Record Newspapers. Like his wife (and
fellow inductee) Kathy, he holds a deep commitment to true, community journalism.
A native of Yorkville, he worked at the Kendall County Record after school
and during summers as a high school student. He began working at the Northern
Star in 1968 on the copy desk. After a semester each as assistant copy editor
and copy editor, he was named associate editor in spring 1970. In that position,
he was responsible for page layout and design. When Star editor Ken Trantowski
was jailed for refusing to turn over staff photos of rioting that spring,
Farren had the dubious honor of bailing him out.
After graduation from NIU, Jeff worked for the Aurora Beacon-News for a
year as assistant state editor. He was hired as managing editor of The Kendall
County Record by former owner Howard Pinc in 1971. Two years later, he and
his wife, Kathy, purchased the paper. At the time, Jeff was the youngest
newspaper publisher in Illinois. Increased readership in Plano prompted
the Farrens to start a new paper, The Plano Record, in 1976. They purchased
The Oswego Ledger in 1979 and, a year later, bought the other Oswego newspaper,
The Fox Valley Sentinel. The two publications were merged into The Ledger-Sentinel.
In 1985, the chain grew outside Kendall County when the Farrens started
The Sandwich Record. The papers all are printed in-house; the business also
prints several other publications.
Jeff served as a board member on the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association
in the 1970s and was appointed to the Illinois Press Association board in
the 1980s. He was IPA president in 1991. That year, he and Kathy received
the NIU Journalism Alumni Award. Jeff also is a member of the National Newspaper
Association and attended the American Press Institute's forum on community
newspaper management.
Outside of work, Jeff is a member of the Yorkville Community Band, which
performs each Fourth of July.
Kathy Farren and her husband, Jeff, represent what good community journalism
is all about. Kathy is the editor and Jeff is the publisher of The Record
newspapers. During more than 20 years of newspaper ownership, they have
done it all: covered news, sold ads and even delivered papers. In a newspaper
world where local ownership is increasingly rare, Kathy and Jeff are true
throwbacks: newspaper people who know more about their community than just
about anyone else.
Kathy was born and raised in the Bridgeport neighborhood on Chicago's South
Side. She started working on the Northern Star copy desk as a freshmen in
spring 1968. After serving as assistant copy editor as a sophomore, she
switched to the news desk and became a reporter. She completed an internship
with the former DeKalb Journal during summer 1970 and continued working
there for part of her senior year. When she returned to the Star in 1971,
she was the public relations director. As a senior, she served as president
of the student chapter of Theta Sigma Phi, now called Women in Communications.
After graduation, Kathy covered education issues for the Chicago Tribune
in an internship with the National Association of Education Writing, and
briefly worked as a writer for the College of DuPage Public Information
Office.
She married fellow Star alum Jeff in fall 1971, and shortly thereafter joined
him in working at The Record. She has remained as editor as the business
grew to include The Plano Record, The Oswego Ledger-Sentinel and The Sandwich
Record. A longtime board member of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association,
she served as its president at the same time Jeff was president of the Illinois
Press Association.
Kathy also is an officer of the Yorkville Area Chamber of Commerce and was
a founding member of the Yorkville Riverfront Festival Committee. She also
serves on the Board of Christian Education at the Yorkville Congregational
Church.
The Farrens have one daughter, Colleen, a senior at the University of Illinois.
Ray Gibson worked at the Northern Star during all four of his years at
NIU. His friends and colleagues at NIU recall that Ray always knew he wanted
to be an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Like many of the
Star's most successful alums, Ray (or "Gibby" as he is known to
his colleagues) began at the Star as a sports reporter. Even then, he was
known as an accomplished writer and a hard-edge reporter, having a talent
for seeing the essence of a story before anyone else, and telling it better
than anyone else. Ray served as the paper's editor-in-chief in 1970, and
he graduated from NIU in 1971 with a B.S. degree in journalism.
Ray joined the Chicago Tribune in 1974, after stints with the DeKalb Daily
Chronicle and the Contra Costa Times / Valley News (Oakland County, Calif).
He is a member of the Tribune's investigative reporting team, specializing
in political coverage and campaign financing. The list of important stories
Ray has broken and reported on over his lengthy career is nearly endless.
Ray was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and 1988 for stories ranging
from corruption in Chicago's City Hall to the shooting rampage in north
suburban Winnetka that took the lives of several school children. Ray was
also the Tribune's lead reporter on the "Operation Silver Shovel"
probe of illegal dumping and the related payoffs to public officials.
In addition to being nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, Ray received the
Tribune's William H. Jones Award in 1992 for investigative reporting, and
the Beck Award in 1995 for best domestic news story for his reporting on
U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds' prosecution on charges he had sex with a minor.
In a profession where respect most often is offered in shot-sized glasses,
Ray's colleagues have offered him many rounds of friendship and admiration
for his numerous contributions to the education of young reporters in DeKalb,
Chicago and throughout the country.
Ray lives in Evanston with his wife, Edie, and their daughter, Samantha.
Ray and his wife are the authors of "Blind Justice" (St. Martin's
Press).
Maria Krull is the primary reason the Northern Star Alumni group exists.
Her organization and persistence in formally creating this entity has been,
for her, a natural offshoot of the dedication and love she brings to her
job every day.
A native of Italy, Maria graduated from NIU in 1985 and received her CPA
in 1986. She started working at the Northern Star in 1987 as the business
adviser.
Maria came to the Star at a turning point. The Star, ever a journalistic
force to be reckoned with, needed a stabilizing force on the business side.
Originally, that was thought of as someone who could give full attention
to the paper's accounting and bookkeeping functions. Before long, Maria
transformed from "just" an accountant to a true business adviser.
She helped develop training programs for the advertising staff, worked tirelessly
with the accounting and billing departments ... and became the constant
presence that helps hold the Star together year after year, as the faces
around her change regularly.
She was a tremendous, stabilizing force during a time of great uncertainty
for Star students and alumni: the retirement of Jerry Thompson and the hiring
of Jim Killam as Star adviser. And, it was shortly thereafter the Maria
was instrumental in launching Northern Star Alumni as a formal, university-recognized
organization.
Maria not only takes care of the business aspects of the Star, she also
takes care of the human side: her children. Maria always is willing to listen
to students' problems and offer advice if she can.
She sticks her neck out for the Star time and again. In 1992, when disgruntled
readers burned several thousand copies of the Star, Maria was the first
to get on the phone with the advertisers and explain the situation, remaining
business-like but still defending the Star's First Amendment rights.
Maria's commitment to the Star and the extended Star family knows no bounds.
She truly is the tie that binds "Star types" -- current students
and alumni -- together.
Maria lives in DeKalb with her husband, Charlie, affectionately known as
"The Chief." She travels to her homeland Italy once a year, but
is an American citizen.
Deborah Nelson, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting,
joined the Northern Star as a reporter in 1974, the year she arrived at
NIU. Deborah was already a senior, having transferred from Arizona State
University. Deborah's friends and colleagues at the paper recall that she
was a thoughtful, careful reporter whose personable approach often took
people by surprise. There was nothing cynical about her reporting, just
a focused, relentless search for the facts and what they meant to her readers.
While at the Star, Deborah reported on the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
"It was going to those meetings ... that I learned to dig beyond what
officials say and to find the facts," she told the Star Alumni newsletter
in 1997.
Deborah graduated from NIU with a B.S. degree in journalism in 1975. After
graduation, she worked as a reporter for the Daily Herald, and then for
the Chicago Sun-Times, where she spent 10 years. Deborah joined the Seattle
Times in 1995.
In 1996, she received a telephone tip that eventually lead to the Pulitzer
Prize. Deborah was told by the caller to check out the home of the housing
director for an Indian reservation located north of Seattle. She and a photographer
hiked through the woods to find a magnificent house built with taxpayer
money. That trek was the beginning of a coast-to-coast investigation of
Indian housing programs run by the federal government. The resulting series
of stories, published in December 1996 by the Seattle Times, caused a federal
investigation of tribal housing programs, and earned Deborah, as well as
two other reporters, the Pulitzer.
Deborah has returned to the NIU campus in recent years to discuss her career
and the challenges facing young reporters. In 1995, she returned to accept
the Journalism Alumnus of the Year Award and, in 1997, she addressed the
Northern Illinois Newspaper Association.
Deborah joined the Washington Post in September 1999, where she is a member
of the paper's investigative unit. She currently is writing articles on
gene therapy experiments.
Deborah and her husband, Tom Brune (a reporter for Newsday of New York and
a Pulitzer Prize finalist), live in Takoma Park, Md., with their daughters,
Molly and Anna.
Jim Slonoff began at the Star as a photographer in 1977. He subsequently
served as photo editor, and became the paper's managing editor in 1980.
Jim graduated from NIU with a B.S. degree in journalism that same year.
Colleagues and friends remember Jim's photos for their drama and humor.
As managing editor, Jim was known for his hands-on approach to managing
the paper and his strong belief that a newspaper should tell the truth.
Jim also met his wife of 20 years, Ilene Fleishman, then a Star copy editor.
Upon graduation, Jim joined The Doings, a family-owned newspaper serving
Hinsdale and several nearby west suburban communities. Though Jim began
at the Doings as a photographer, he rose over the years to become vice president
and general manager of the paper. Under Jim's tenure, The Doings grew dramatically
in circulation, pages-per-issue, ad revenues and in the number of editions
published ... and it won numerous awards for its content. In 1999, The Doings
was purchased by a company in the Pioneer Press Newspapers chain. Jim retained
his position as general manager, and has spent the past year overseeing
the paper's transition.
Jim has made many contributions to the Northern Star, its student staff
and to journalism at NIU. Jim (along with fellow Star alums Mike Burke and
Ed Underhill) founded the "Alumni for a Free Press" in 1986, when
then-NIU President Clyde Wingfield attempted to take control of the paper
by firing the Star's adviser, Jerry Thompson. "Alumni for a Free Press"
prevented the NIU administration from destroying the Star's independence
and violating its First Amendment right to publish stories critical of the
administration. A public campaign was waged, directed by Jim, Mike Burke
and the alumni they organized, and eventually it led to Wingfield's resignation
and Thompson's reinstatement.
Jim also has been an officer of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association,
an organization closely associated with NIU and the Star. As a leader of
NINA for nearly two decades, Jim has contributed to the education of young
journalists at NIU and throughout Illinois. He also is a board member of
the Illinois Press Association.
Jim, his wife, Ilene, and their two sons, Michael and Matthew, live in Hinsdale.
Jerry Thompson's name isn't exactly popular in all quarters of NIU. After
all, an adviser who taught young reporters to pursue the truth relentlessly
made administrators pretty uncomfortable at times.
To anyone who worked at the Northern Star during Jerry's 25-year tenure,
though, he represented everything good about journalism: tenacity, integrity
and undying support of the First Amendment. Those attitudes represent the
heart and soul of the Northern Star. As they grew, sometimes the stakes
were high.
Jerry received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. After several years as a reporter, he continued his education
at NIU, where he earned a master's degree in political science and journalism.
He was named the Star's adviser in 1971, after the death of Roy Campbell.
Little did anyone know then that Jerry's career would span three decades
and challenge authority at many points along the way. Jerry often put his
job on the line for his beliefs in the First Amendment and the right of
students to publish freely. He even helped students expose and unseat two
university presidents. NIU President Clyde Wingfield, unhappy with the Star's
coverage of his lavish expenses, tried to silence Jerry in 1986 by removing
him from his adviser's role and assigning him to a position in public affairs.
Jerry sued the university, using the one tool journalists count on for his
defense: the First Amendment. In the end, he got his job back ... and Wingfield
lost his.
Jerry spent countless hours walking around campus and drinking coffee at
McDonald's to find a good lead. Jerry said his best memories of the Star
are "any time good reporters became involved in uncovering hard-to-get
news."
Not long after Jerry retired in 1995, he took a part-time job -- every journalist's
dream -- at a bait and tackle shop. He also became involved in politics.
This year, he is working as a media consultant for Citizens for a Sound
Economy.
"I'd rather do that than count worms," he said.
Jerry and his wife, Winnie, live in Malta. His daughter, Emily, is married
and lives in Portage, Ind., with her husband and son. Jerry's son, Eric,
is married and lives in Rantoul, Ill.
Ed Underhill joined the Northern Star as a reporter in 1980 during his
senior year at NIU. Ed began reporting on the Student Association, eventually
covering the Illinois Board of Regents and the Illinois Board of Higher
Education, a fortuitous beat assignment, as events would later prove. Ed's
friends and colleagues remember that Ed had more energy than good sense,
and that he enjoyed a good story regardless of who wrote it. While working
at the Star, Ed met his wife, Suzae Johnson, who was then the Night News
Editor.
After graduating from NIU in 1981 with a B.A. degree in political science,
Ed attended the NIU College of Law. He graduated from law school in 1984,
and shortly thereafter joined the Chicago law firm of Masuda, Funai, Eifert
& Mitchell, Ltd. Ed is a full partner with that firm, specializing in
commercial litigation. Ed currently chairs the firm's Litigation Department.
In 1985 Ed joined Jim Slonoff and Mike Burke in organizing "Alumni
for a Free Press" in response to the improper removal of Jerry Thompson
as Star adviser by Clyde Wingfield, then the president of NIU. As a spokesman
for Alumni for a Free Press, Ed petitioned the Board of Regents and the
IBHE for the removal of Wingfield and the reinstatement of Thompson. After
several months of intense public pressure and private machinations by Alumni
for a Free Press, the Board of Regents accepted Wingfield's resignation.
Thompson was immediately reinstated by Wingfield's successor, John La Tourette.
Ed also has provided counsel to the Star on numerous occasions, including
in 1993, following the "storming" of the Star's facilities (then
in the basement of Altgeld Hall) by several hundred students who were upset
with the Star's coverage of minority issues. One member of the administration
attempted to use this orchestrated event to remove Thompson and assume limited
control of the Star's personnel and editorial policies. Ed counseled Thompson
and Sabryna Cornish,the Star's then editor-in-chief, in fending off the
attack; this effort to impede the Star's independence, like so many before
and since, came to naught.
Ed and Suzae live in Clarendon Hills, Ill.
Gary Watson built on his Northern Star background and, over the course
of several decades, ascended to some of American journalism's highest levels.
The Rockford native graduated from NIU in 1967 with a degree in journalism
and a political science minor. He has enjoyed a long, prestigious career
with the Gannett Company, Inc., and now works in Arlington, Va., as president
of the company's Newspaper Division.
At the Star, Gary was sports editor his junior year and both managing editor
and editor in chief while he was a senior.
He wrote years later, "I suppose the toughest editorial decisions we
made dealt with the role of the Star. While we knew that our mission should
not be one of a Ôpublic relations mouthpiece' for the university,
many of us were not comfortable with the growing trend and increasing pressure
to abandon our news function in favor of becoming an advocacy journal whose
sole mission was to bring about changes in the university and in society
at large. As a result, our editorial policy at times appeared to be schizophrenic
as we struggled with this problem."
He also recalls overseeing the conversion to cold type -- a controversial
decision at the time -- and the blizzard of '67, when the staff defied the
state police on a closed highway en route to pick up the papers in Hinsdale.
Shortly after graduation, Gary joined the Gannett newspaper chain. For 11
years, his career as a reporter and editor took him to Boise, Idaho, Springfield,
Mo., and his home town Rockford. In 1981, just in his mid-30s, Gary was
named president and publisher of the Rockford Register Star. Two years
later, he assumed the additional responsibilities of vice president of the
central region of Gannett's Newspaper division.
In 1984, he moved to Cincinnati, as president and publisher of the Cincinnati
Enquirer, at the time the biggest Gannett paper, and president of the Central
region, with responsibilities for 18 papers. In 1985, he was named president
of the Community Newspaper Division and, in 1990, president of the Newspaper
Division of Gannett Company, Inc.
In 1997, Gary received the NIU Distinguished Alumni Award for his outstanding
career in the print media.