Laughs and long careers: Newspaper staffers share their journalism highlights

Newspaper staffers share their journalism highlights

CHAMPION -- The careers of three of the Tribune Chronicle's longtime employees whose jobs have taken them to a vast variety of events and locations from the late 1970s to the present were highlighted at a two-hour program on Thursday.

Nearly 200 people gathered at Kent State University at Trumbull to hear the stories shared by chief photographer R. Michael "Mike" Semple, Entertainment Editor / columnist Andy Gray, and Features Editor / columnist Burton Cole.

Charles Jarvis, publisher of the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator, said among the three men are 110 years of covering news in Trumbull and Mahoning counties with thousands of stories and photos to their credit.

"They have taken thousands of stories and photos of events, big and small, that reflect the history of this area as it happened and is still happening. They could have worked for any newspaper in America but they chose to stay here and become immersed in the culture of the Mahoning Valley," Jarvis said.

During the program, a slideshow highlighting photos, news articles and columns of the three were shown as each shared what was behind that particular item.

PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER

Semple, who began full-time at the Tribune Chronicle in spring 1977 when the newspaper began a Sunday edition, is the last remaining photojournalist as all other staff are reporter / photographers.

He brought with him to the event one of the first cameras he used back in the 1970s, while shooting only black-and-white photos. Semple said his father, Robert, was a photographer at the newspaper from the 1950s to 1979, when he died age 49. At the time, Semple was 21.

"I worked for a year-and-a-half with my dad," Semple said.

Over the years, Semple has covered the many steel mill closings, professional women's golf tournaments, the May 1985 tornado and crime stories. He recalled when a criminal tried to get over a banister and lunged at him in court, angry that he was taking his photo.

He said the key to taking photos is "watching and being a fly on the wall."

"I tell people as a photographer you have to be patient and not rush it," he said.

Semple, who has won more than 50 photography awards, including many from the Associated Press, said he remembers once hearing on the police scanner about a large wild animal running loose in Brookfield, which turned out to be a cougar.

"I went out there to cover that, and the cougar ran right in front of me. I remember I told my editor and he said 'Mike, be careful.' That was the first time I ever heard an editor say that to me," he said.

Semple said one of the saddest photos he took was when two children drowned in a pond in Lordstown when a car they were in went into the water.

USING HUMOR

Cole, who has written more than 1,400 humor columns not only for the Tribune Chronicle, but other publications, said he has always enjoyed writing and showed a 1970 story he wrote as a boy on "Vanish the Killer Whale," joking that Peter Benchley's "Jaws" may have been inspired by his early writing effort.

He said he enjoyed humor columns and reading "Reader's Digest'' jokes. He wrote a humor column while a student at Conneaut High School.

"I always loved essay questions in school because I loved to write," Cole said.

He started at the Tribune Chronicle in 1996 after working at the (Ashtabula) Star Beacon since 1982 where his "Burt's Eye View" humor column debuted in 1993.

Cole also spent time in Decatur, Ill., where he wrote a special series on infant mortality, including a diary-type story -- called "Daddy's Journal" -- on the death of his own son, Josh, at age 9 in 1998.

"I was writing about infant mortality and my son was one of the statistics," he said.

Cole was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1990.

Cole worked as a copy editor at the Tribune Chronicle before beginning to write feature stories, which included recently speaking to two women who, in 1970, picked up a hitchhiker heading to Kent State University where he was a student. A few months later, that student, Jeff Miller, was one of those killed in the May 4, 1970, KSU shootings and whose body is shown in many photos with another student crying over him.

Cole said he also enjoys writing his children's book series on the character "Bash" named for his grandson, Sebastian. He had one of the books translated into Norwegian, but a chapter about a skunk was changed to a badger because there are no skunks in Norway.

"I have a book I wrote that I can't read," he said.

SHOWCASING ENTERTAINMENT

Gray has been at the Tribune Chronicle for 38 years -- first as a court and police reporter, and now as entertainment editor.

"Nothing gets by Andy in entertainment. He has the pulse on the entertainment community in the Mahoning Valley, Pittsburgh and Cleveland," Jarvis said.

Gray each week fills the Ticket entertainment section that publishes on Thursdays.

As an only child, Gray said he often would go with his father to the newspaper where he worked in advertising, fascinated by how the news industry worked.

In high school and college, he did movie reviews for the newspaper and watched "Siskel and Ebert" on television, once meeting Gene Siskel in person.

After graduating from Miami University, he applied for a job at the Tribune Chronicle.

"My first assignment as a tryout was going to Bristol and meeting a man who had a two-headed snake," Gray said.

As a police and court reporter, he covered many cases but the biggest was the murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife in 1985. Gray interviewed Fife's killer, Danny Lee Hill, on death row in 1999.

As entertainment editor, he and late reporter Christopher Bobby covered Woodstock 1994.

"That was a fun assignment. Chris Bobby saved my life when we couldn't get through on the cellphone we had with us. I had to use a pay phone to call the Tribune and dictate my story. There were only five pay phones and hundreds of people waiting to use them and Chris held the mob of people back saying it was an emergency so I could make the calls," he said.

Gray has interviewed, both on the phone and in person, celebrities such as Jay Leno, David Grohl and Cary Elwes from the "Princess Bride."

Many famous and attractive female entertainers, from Debra Winger, Halle Berry, Jessica Lange and Jane Seymour, have been interviewed by Gray, but only one celebrity to date has ever given him a kiss.

Gray said he went to cover fitness guru Richard Simmons when he was in the area and received a surprise.

"I went to ask him a question and he was running around and he came and gave me a kiss," Gray said.

FANS ATTEND

A variety of newspaper readers gathered for the two-hour program.

Howland resident Judy Hideg said she enjoys reading Cole's "Burt's Eye View" featured each Sunday in the paper.

"I love reading his column and all the funny jokes he has. My 5-year-old granddaughter loves hearing the pumpkin jokes he had for Halloween. I read them to her and we laughed and laughed," she said.

Cortland resident Jan Vaughn said, "I have known Mike and Andy for many years. I am interested in hearing a recap of their successes and highlights of their careers."

Howland resident Tom Krispinsky said he and his wife have known Semple from the many times they have seen him taking photos at area events.

"This topic was interesting to look back on the history of all their careers. I wanted to hear about the interesting things they have done and covered while at the Tribune, and covering Warren and Trumbull County," he said.

Bazetta resident Gloria Yokley said she likes history and hearing from the speakers and the history of their careers at the newspaper was fascinating.

"I liked hearing their stories. Many of them were funny stories," she said.