Tom Fox - NCR veteran decides to take 'rewirement'

Tom Fox is retiring as NCR publisher (2008 file photo)

The call came 36 years ago this month. It was the always-scheming Arthur Jones. He said he would be in Washington, wanted to sit down at the National Press Club over lunch. Jones was NCR editor; I was then an editor at The Washington Star. I’d written for NCR over the years and always enjoyed Jones’ edgy journalism style.
We had corresponded over the years and had met once, in Rome, during the conclave following Pope Paul VI’s death in 1978. He was there for NCR; I, for the Detroit Free Press, where I was a reporter before coming to the Star.

Over lunch at the Press Club in January 1980, Jones asked if I might consider coming to Kansas City, Mo., as NCR editor. As I had just come to Washington 18 months before, I told him the timing was bad.

He was persistent. Two months later, he called again. “There’s no other journalism position in America with the freedom and satisfaction of NCR editor,” he again said. Would I consider coming to Kansas City, just to look around?

Well, you know where this story went...

Oh, the rich memories.

I have been blessed over these past 36 years. Alas, it’s time to move on to the next phase in my life. Some might call it “retirement.” I prefer to call it “rewirement.”

I leave with a sense of gratitude to NCR board and staff, who have cooperated so amazingly to grow the NCR mission. I am keenly aware this could not have happened without the support of our readers. You make up the NCR family. Know how grateful I am. Please continue to support NCR.

Attribution: Tom Fox, ncronline.org

Full Story: Tom Fox "rewirement"