I Never Thought I’d Do This Again

After 10 years covering Downers Grove as a local columnist for the Sun-Times Media Group, an independent blogger and the first editor of Downers Grove Patch, I was ready for a break from endless meetings, local intrigues and contentious politics. And I took one—a long one.

Yet, here I am again. The why is easy. I watched the conflict and ugliness that has infected national politics come home to roost in the community I’ve called home for 30 years. The focus of this protracted local conflict? The Downers Grove Public Library, of all things. I’ve embraced libraries as welcoming havens since the first time I walked across the whispering cork floors of my local branch as a newly fledged reader. Watching DGPL become a local flash point in the culture wars has been both confusing and disturbing. Time to get back in the game.

Downers Grove, News Desert?

Well, maybe not quite. But trying to glean accurate information from Facebook and Nextdoor can be frustrating and time-consuming. I practice journalism. That involves being curious, running down facts, interviewing sources and, eventually, confronting a blank screen and making sense of what I’ve seen and learned.

Before the news industry contracted violently with the advent of the internet, I learned my craft while climbing the ladder from the tiny Belvidere Daily Republican to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, the Kansas City Star and, finally, the New York Bureau of the Wall Street Journal. Then I spent several more years freelancing for publications and digital outlets including Cosmopolitan, CFO, the Boston Globe and Grown & Flown.

Twenty years ago, as the mother of two young kids and the wife of a husband who worked long hours, I sought a convenient way to put my journalism skills to good use. I found it in my own backyard, quickly learning that all politics are indeed local—and pretty engrossing, too.

What You Can Expect from Perspective Downers Grove

PerspectiveDG is a reader-supported newsletter without a content paywall. I hope you’ll join me three times a week for news, commentary, analysis and discussion. In time, I hope we can build a community within a community—one where we pose questions, get answers and share our thoughts.

As the name implies, I’ll add my own perspective to the stories I cover, much as I did when I wrote my column and blog. I’m not promising textbook objectivity. I’ve been an observant and active resident of this community for 30 years, so I can’t pretend I lack opinions. But I will always attempt to be fair.

And when everyone in town is annoyed with me, I’ll know I’ve succeeded.

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