Category: In Tribute

The Art of Career Growth in Journalism

After years of visiting with my late husband Timothy Robinson’s  family in Birmingham, Alabama each

March as we attended the annual  Robinson Forum together  at Samford University,

I was unable to book a flight this year because of complications in locking in a speaker  far enough in advance.  So I

watched a live feed instead here in Michigan at https://www.facebook.com/SamfordJMC/.  While I plan on flying

south later this spring or summer to visit the Robinson family,  I will miss being able to talk to the guest speaker,

always a formidably talented journalist – this  year, Roy S. Johnson, columnist and director of content  development

at AL.com/The Birmingham News.

 

Johnson, one of the early pioneers among black journalists to work at mainstream national publications

– in his case starting in the 70s as a sports writer at  Sports Illustrated and Fortune Magazine, both

published by Time Inc. —  he is currently enjoying shaping news coverage at a Birmingham, Al

newspaper.  He challenged Samford journalism students to constantly challenge the breath of their

talents – for instance, not staying only focused on one area, like sports.  His journalism resume not only

includes stints as assistant managing  editor at Sports Illustrated, but vice president and edit-in-chief of

Men’s Fitness magazine, editor-in-chief of History Channel  magazine and staff writer at the New York

Times.  He also has experience producing national TV and radio content for Sport Illustrated and he has

co-authored biographies with Avery Johnson, Charles Barkley and Earvin (Magic) Johnson.

 

It reminded me that when I knew Tim, he was a pioneer in legal journalism, with a degree from Yale Law

School – after developing his talent as an investigative reporter for UPI covering the civil rights

movement in his home state of Alabama, then as an editor and  investigative reporter at the

Washington Post.  He ended his career by jumping into the dotcom boom, developing editorial

content for news websites Exite, Alta Vista and AOL.  Tim also pushed me to take the leap into becoming

communications director for new online media sites covering the Asian American community.   After his

death, I even found the courage to take on the task of being development director of a sports non-

profit.  I hope the Samford students this year heed that call to constantly test their talents – it’s a

challenging and exciting way to keep growing.

Runnin’ Down a Dream 2017

I’ve been listening to Tom Petty tributes  this week coming after his sudden death from cardiac arrest just after the conclusion of his 40th Anniversary tour.*  His song “Runnin’ Down a Dream” never fails to trigger days in California spent doing just that in the ’90s, when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers seemed always at the top of the charts.  Petty’s songs are often called the “soundtrack for our lives” by many generations, including mine.   It really took leaps of faith to keep up with the twists and turns in my career.  I ultimately called those California years “living life ahead of the curve,” since that’s how much you had to leap to keep up with the changes in Silicon Valley then.

Fast-forward: Last year I got involved in a series of BNI (Business Networking International) chapters in Michigan with inspiring entrepreneurs, currently the Business Referrals Chapter in Clinton Township  —  and we are constantly asked to share our business goals.  Mine is to continue those leaps of faith in my life to find the new career paths in both communications and meditation that will keep me energized and productive.

We now live in a time of political division when many newsmakers charge that America’s innovation is losing out to China and other rising countries in the East.  Yet I’ve been  meeting a new generation of inspiring students both in the South as part of the Scholarship program for my late husband Tim Robinson at Samford University’s journalism department in Birmingham, Al – and in Detroit  as an alumna of Wayne State University, with the opportunity to spend time with young Honors College students.   I’m also proud of the soaring ambitions of the most recent high school graduate in my family, my great niece Julia Graham, who will be pursuing photography as a major at the College for Creative Studies on the Wayne State University Campus.  Yes, I believe both in America’s current entrepreneurs and in the next generation.  Dream on and maybe try listening to Tom Petty.

http://www.legacy.com/ns/tom-petty-obituary/186827469

http://www.latimes.com/visuals/photography/la-me-genaro-molina-tom-petty20171004-htmlstory.html

Remembering the beautiful Gloria Tseng

Back in the mid-90s (on the 30th anniversary of the Summer of Love), my late husband, legal journalist Tim Robinson and I moved to San Francisco where we rented an apartment in an elegant townhouse adjoining Golden Gate Park until the end of 2002.  Our landlords were Professor H. Maurice Tseng and his wife Gloria, a manager at Bank of America. Sadly, I got news recently that Gloria had passed away and I wanted to share why her loss weighed so heavily on me, as I remembered her talent for transcending cultures and spreading love.

Gloria was from Guayaquil, Ecuador in South America and had met and married the son of a Chinese diplomat in New York City, where she worked as a Spanish translator and editor for Merck.  The couple moved to San Francisco in 1962 with two small boys – David and Steven – who from birth were immersed in both cultures.  Their father taught Chinese language and literature at a local university, while Gloria graduated from college with a BA in business administration, starting a 30 year career in management at Bank of America — often focused on her bank’s community outreach programs targeting Chinese, Hispanic, and other immigrants.

I was a communications consultant and eagerly invited Gloria — who knew so much about the city and its immigrant communities — to join my networking organization, Women in Business.  It gave us both further opportunities to bond with other business leaders from many backgrounds, as well as create new strategies for advancing women in area businesses.  We often got to laugh together, especially important after the death of her husband about a year after we moved in.

During the years in SF, we shared recipes and cookouts with the Tsengs and their neighbors, as well as gospel music that Tim played on his old Story and Clark upright piano, inspired by Baptist missionaries living next door (I still am in touch with Linda and Eric Bergquist).  I was often back in San Francisco over the years and Gloria insisted that I stay at her home and  cooked delicious ethnic dishes for me.  I will always miss this extraordinary business and community leader, her family and that elegant townhouse that felt like a second home.

The Power of Local Journalism in Alabama

For the first time since 2006,  I didn’t make it to Birmingham, Alabama in the spring for the Timothy Sumner Robinson Forum at Samford University in honor of my late husband, a pioneering legal journalist.   There were delays this time in scheduling the busy speaker, Brian Lyman, a political reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. He was tentatively scheduled to appear in March, but local political events kept interfering – and even the April 10th appearance was cancelled that morning when the Alabama Governor suddenly resigned in a major scandal.

In the end, I was grateful that Samford’s  Journalism and Mass Communications department was able to set up a live electronic  feed when the Forum was finally rescheduled to May 1st and I got to be a faraway participant.*  Lyman had a positive message for Samford’s journalism students – arguing that despite the struggles, local newspapers like the Montgomery Advertiser  were evolving in exciting times.  He explained that the declining newspaper revenue that resulted in fewer editors monitoring a reporter’s copy also could have a positive result:  a new freedom to pursue the kind of human stories first crafted by heavyweights like Jimmy Breslin back in the 60s.  He concluded that today’s reporters must be story tellers – “we must show how facts are experiences.”  Lyman further said  that political journalism focuses on power – and stories about the use and abuse of power are important and need to be covered, summing it up with the challenge that  “Reporters must be the bridge between the council chamber and the living room.”

In a time of change and increasing public distrust of the media, it was refreshing to hear a reporter champion the challenges today, and glorify the local beat .  My late husband started on local beats in Alabama during a time of great change in the 60s and was always just as proud of those years as his later part in pioneering legal journalism on a national scale. I was thankful for this affirmation of the power of local news.  And this fall I plan to visit Tim’s amazing family in Birmingham – and also look forward to meeting the latest students to benefit from the Robinson Forum , as well as from the scholarship program and an internship at the Washington Post.  Go Samford!

For more background, visit https://www.samford.edu/news/2017/04/Alabama-Politics-Reporter-Lyman-To-Speak-at-Samford-May-1 and https://www.samford.edu/arts-and-sciences/robinson-forum

 

*My thanks to Bernie Ankney, Chair, Journalism and Mass Communications Dept.  and Jackie Long, Recruitment and Alumni Affairs Officer for coordinating the electronic feed – and to my brother in law Michael Robinson and his wife Carolyn, who kept me informed on all the changes and represented the family in person this year.

Our Wise Elder – A Lesson from Jimmy Carter

“I have had a wonderful life…and I am placing my fate in God’s hands,” former President Jimmy Carter

told the nation at a press conference on a steamy August day in the south.  Already an honored senior

statesman thanks to his direction of the Carter Center – which is renowned the world over for its

advocacy of human rights and democracy and earned him the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize — Carter gave a

statement  that day which emblazoned itself into the American consciousness as truly heroic.

Yet this evolution into statesmanship  came after a rocky presidency.

 

Like many Americans, I remember the scathing economy under President Carter, the oil shortages and

high prices and ultimately the Iranian hostage crisis and botched rescue.  Yet the President so

humiliated by his ultimate defeat in his run for a second term, has become a moral giant in his battle

against a melanoma that has spread to his liver and now his brain.

 

Now 90, Carter displayed humility, humor, gratitude and amazing wisdom in accepting the diagnosis

and remarking “I’m ready for anything and I’m looking forward to a new adventure.’

According to a story filed by CNN, Carter described his partner Rosalynn, the former First Lady as the

“pinnacle” of his life for 69 years now.  Thank you, Mr. Carter, for showing us what grace looks like in the

face of a horrific medical situation.  That is true leadership.

The Power of Teams

I have often lectured  on the power of teams in shaping one’s career – and I recently completed a dream team assignment over the holidays with the Honors College at Wayne State University –revamping and preparing a research website for launch.  I was a graduate of Monteith College at WSU, but after that small experimental college closed its doors, graduates became affiliated with Honors.

Last winter I finally got a chance to start networking through the WSU alumni association and met the Honors Dean,  Jerry Herron, who turned out to be both a southerner from Texas, (my late husband was from Alabama) and a former New Yorker  (Brooklyn felt like my second home) before he was recruited to Wayne State University. He chose to live in downtown Detroit for many years and wrote lyrically about his belief in the resilience of the city, including AfterCulture: Detroit and the Humiliation of History.

One of my dreams since I recently returned to my hometown from Brooklyn was to help in the revitalization of a once great city.  I already had experience in watching cities fall apart and finding ways to impact their revival, in both Brooklyn and LA.  I also had a lot of experience in launching new projects, both organizations and websites, including in SF during the dotcom boom years.

The key, I always believed, was not in individual glory, but in working with great teams.  After meeting and talking with Dean Herron, I was sure the Honors College was already a leader in Detroit and I just wanted to help spread its influence through vital research and community service (part of the four pillars of the College) on the area’s future.  While my time on the project went by too quickly, it was long enough to verify the influence of powerhouse individuals both at the college and WSU or partnering with the University.  I am including the link where you can see all the extraordinary individuals affiliated with Honors ( http://honors.wayne.edu/about/honors-faculty.php).  I also worked closely with Andre Moses, a graduate of Eastern’s Honors program, who served as my student intern and associate.  I remain so grateful for this opportunity and only hope I can continue to be involved in Detroit’s future as it emerges from bankruptcy into a bright new day.