DFO: 25 Years And Counting

As many of you know, I attended a luncheon at the Spokane Club Wednesday to be honored with 20 co-workers for 25 years of work for The Spokesman-Review. I never planned to live in Coeur d’Alene that long. Or work for the SR that long. I’d never stayed more than five years at any newspaper before. I’d never lived in one place more than 12 years before. Columnist Doug Clark, the best man at my wedding in 1975, talked me into taking the job here, after I had been at the Lewiston Tribune for two years. I didn’t want to leave the Trib because Publisher Butch Alford and Editor Paul Emerson had restored my faith in the newspaper business after I’d worked for a combined 9 years in two of the worst chains in the news biz. Ultimately, I decided to take this job for two reasons — I could live in Coeur d’Alene and receive a decent wage to return to reporting. And the SR was big enough to allow me to move around within the organization. More below.

In my 25 years in Coeur d’Alene, I’ve been a government reporter (9 years), an editorial writer (13 years), and a blogger (almost 6 years). My blogging duties overlapped with my last years as an editorial writer. My column writing duties overlapped all three SR role changes. I’ve worked with some of the best editors, reporters, and photographers in the news biz since I arrived here. I’ve lived in one of the best places in the country for a chunk of my life. It hasn’t been fun watching so many colleagues leave the SR over the last 8 years. But I still arrive each morning eager (after the coffee kicks in) to see what will play out here. I’m still fascinated by the blogosphere and what we do here. Thanks for what probably is the last phase of the long ride in the news biz that hits the 40-year mark next year. I figure I still have at least two years and probably 5 years to go. So we still can get in much mischief together.

Question: What is the longest time that you’ve worked at one job?