Contemplating emotional spectrum of 29 years of news
Here it goes. The beginning of my 30th year of being a small part of so many lives here in the Miami Valley.
Twenty-nine years ago today, on Flag Day, I remember how hesitant and nervous I was as I reported for work at the Dayton Daily News , my first day on the job. It was a rainy day, and for my first assignment, an editor named Howard Hall, now a columnist in Bradenton, Fla., dispatched me to Kettering where a young woman had been slain in the parking lot of an Ontario store.
Little did I know that it was to become a celebrated case, known as The Girl on the Volkswagen Floor. The murder mystery became a book by fellow staff writer Bill Clark and then a movie.
From that first day on, everything kind of melts together. They were fast-moving and event-filled years.
Many of the stories I have covered were warm and touching. Some were painful. Others were silly and fun. But I hope I have made my stories real, human and easy for everyone to understand and identify with.
How could I forget being there minutes after that awful tornado hit Xenia in 1974 when a sobbing mother found her 19-year-old son covered with a sheet in front of a pizza parlor.
On the other end of the emotional spectrum, I witnessed a dramatic and happy reunion of a mother and two sons who had been held hostage two days by bank robbers and kidnappers.
A highlight of my 29 years was interviewing Steven Lauterbach of Dayton after he was released along with other Americans held hostage by Iranians.
I was at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania after a nuclear accident, covered a deadly prison riot in Columbus and the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. I went to New Jersey to cover the right-to-die trial of Karen Quinlan and was in Salt Lake City for Gary Gilmore’s execution. …
I have met four presidents and was honored by one in the White House as the nation’s 1001stPoint of Light.
I love the kids I have adopted in my Class of 2000 and I pray they will continue to keep my life interesting into the next century.
I have written many times over the years about my mother Kathryn, and enter the 30th year of my career having lost her and missing her so.
Life goes on and, next year sometime, with the help of friends, we will be planning a party to celebrate in grand style my 30 years at the newspaper.
Until then, I thank all of you for your support during good times and sad times. I feel warmth and good vibrations around me and I thank God for my health, my mind and a job that lets me touch lives in a positive way.
May 21, 2000
Youngsters who columnist brought together as kindergartners now closing in on high school graduation
She slowly wheeled to the front of the auditorium, a life-support system attached to her chair, her mother at her side.
She was the final student to be introduced, because her last name starts with Z, and her classmates gave her a standing ovation.
They stood up for the classmate who cannot stand.
It’s easy to say it should not have been this way. Sara Lynn Zonaras, all of 18 years old, could be bitter about the wreck and about everything it took from her - running as a youngster, driving as a teen, the ability to speak and move about as she pleased.
Instead, Sara’s mother, Kim, looked over the crowd and said:
“Sara wants to thank you for your love and your support over the years. She is anxious to see what tomorrow holds.”
Sara’s courage and determination are enough of a story, but there are more — 99 more. We first met these students in 1987 as part of the Dale Huffman Class of 2000. Originally, I was going to select just one boy and one girl. But in the first mail response there were exactly 100 letters equally split between boys and girls. And two sets of twins.
I took them all under my wings and became a part of their lives over the years.
The project came full circle last month with a graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Museum, a ceremony we called “Flight into Life.” As they were introduced, one by one, there were stories of super accomplishments. And accounts of struggles with tragedy.
Following so many kids for so long gives a rare insight into what it’s like to grow up and take those first steps into adulthood. Some class members suffered through the deaths of close relatives. One class member lost an uncle to AIDS, and at least three class members have parents fighting cancer. One class member died, one survived a critical injury and others have big dreams of a future on Broadway.
Through all the triumph, pain and indecision, one common thread has emerged — these young people are ready to face the world as survivors.