Farewell to a respected colleague

Bear (pardon the pun) with me.

Back in the dark ages, the 1970s, when January and February were unbearably cold out in the Corn Belt of northern Illinois, winter Sundays were brightened by The Chicago Tribune. Before cable television -- my parents did not own a television for a long time -- and the Internet and video games, my family passed time with the newspapers and the radio.

The Tribune Sports section was my favorite. I already was a huge White Sox fan. I liked the Bulls and Bears a lot, too.

Two of my favorite sports writers of the era were Jerome Holtzman and Don Pierson. Holtzman had emerged as a primary voice covering Major League Baseball, and Pierson worked the NFL/Bears beat.

When I covered baseball in Chicago for Gannett News Service, I was fortunate to meet Holtzman. He was inducted into the writer's wing on the baseball hall of fame in summer 1990. He always dressed up and carried himself as the ultimate professional. I marveled at Holtzman's crisp white dress shirts and braces. He looked sharp.

I did not meet Pierson until I took the Bengals beat for The Enquirer in 2000. I grew up reading him, and I'm sure I embarrassed him when I talked with him the first time about enjoying his column when I was, well, 12.

Pierson became a trusted mentor, someone I went to every now and then for advice. It wasn't often. But when I asked, he always provided a thoughtful response or a productive lead. I found out he spent part of his boyhood in Milford, Ohio.

Word came in the past couple of days through our newspaper pro football writers' network that Pierson was retiring after 40 years covering the Bears and NFL for The Tribune.

I don't think I am breaking a confidence, but here is Pierson's farewell note on our network this week.

"This is my last contribution to the network. ... I'm out of here. I looked it up, and I've been working this job 40 years, plenty long enough, thank you. It's been a pleasure, boys and girls, but I hear the recess bell. Thanks for your help, Don Pierson."

I've worked in daily newspapers -- four of them -- for the 23 years since I graduated from Miami. I wonder what newspapers might look like in 17 years, when, and if, I reach 40 years in the business. I can't imagine 40 years at one newspaper doing one job.

Don Pierson did it with an elegance. Thanks, Don, for the lessons and the many good reads that stretch back to a living-room floor in a small Illinois town.