Streetvibes editor and homeless advocate Jimmy Heath dies
It
is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that former homeless
person turned homeless advocate and editor of Street Vibes, the
Cincinnati newspaper written by homeless people, Jimmy Heath died on Thursday after a fight with liver disease.
I am not exactly sure when I met Jimmy for the first time - I believe
it was about four years ago - but I know that he and his amazing
photographs left an indelible mark on my life. His story was a remarkable
one of overcoming incredible odds, going from rabid alcoholic who
wanted no more than to die in his sleep and thought drinking and
drinking would help achieve that to accomplished photographer who
showed his work around the globe.
A weekly CityBeat column
Starting with the Jan. 2 edition I will become a columnist at Cincinnati CityBeat.
The paper is undergoing a mild "refresh" that will include some neat
improvements to the layout, design, writing and coverage in the paper.
My column will appear in the "Voices" section of the paper and be in
every week.
I will be writing about news, issues, events, people, places and all
sorts of things about Cincinnati. I'm very much looking forward to it -
and, of course, working on making Cincy.com an outstanding Web site...
SuperTalk will be super country
Since Thursday morning, SuperTalk FM 96 5, where I have co-hosted "City Talk Radio" since March, has been playing construction noises in anticipation, reportedly, of a change in formats.
Well, this morning I have received confirmation that the station is going country and Western at noon today. That also means that "City Talk Radio" has been officially canceled.
Closing the Post and straying from storytelling
As mentioned in my questionably useful tribute to Twitter earlier today, I received a cell phone "tweet" this afternoon of a story by Joe Strupp about the Cincinnati Post's impending year end closing. The story is published at: editorandpublisher.com.
Among the interesting points in his story for me was this:
"There is life after journalism," Neikirk says, but admits, "I liked going to battle everyday in the newsroom." He says he has still not let himself think about the paper's eventual end: "It is bad, there have always been two voices in Cincinnati."
Whitehead, who spoke via cell phone while working her beat at a local police station, said she is glad to get out of news because the industry has strayed from storytelling into "quick, constant updating."
The part about straying from storytelling into "quick, constant updating" is a thought that strikes me as important.
In Des Moines, staying with Obama?
We (that's me, along with the Xavier University contingent) arrived in Des Moines, Iowa a few hours ago. I am in my hotel room - rumored to be in the same hotel Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama will be using this weekend - getting the Internet up and running. It appears to be working. Look for more updates all weekend long.