James Marshall, a desk editor at the Reuters office in Chicago, sent out the following email to his colleagues on Tuesday:
It was a lovely Kansas City spring day in 1984 when I met Chicago Bureau Chief Felix Sergio at a restaurant on The Plaza to be interviewed for the job of Reuters’ K.C. correspondent. I was braced for a grilling when Felix raised a glass of white wine and said, “James. Take the job. You won’t regret it.”
It was my last, and favorite, job interview ever. And Felix was right, I never regretted joining forces with The Baron. Nor do I regret the leaving: I’m ready for a break!
Farewell to all my Reuters friends and colleagues near and far, and a special thank you to all the wonderful activists who joined me in carrying the banner of labor for the Newspaper Guild of New York. Now I must find my way in the terrifying realm of the mundane.