Posted on 05/13/2003 7:28:17 AM PDT by Temple Owl
Inquirer editor stuns colleagues by retiring
In Philadelphia for 17 months, he says 'it's time'
By WILLIAM BUNCH & CHRIS BRENNAN
IT WAS A story that a newsroom full of some of Philadelphia's most hardened, veteran journalists didn't see coming - even when Inquirer publisher Bob Hall called them to the city desk for a late-afternoon announcement.
Walker Lundy, the 60-year-old Inquirer editor who'd arrived in town just 17 months ago with big plans for reinvigorating Philadelphia's largest newspaper, had decided to retire this summer.
Hall said yesterday that Lundy's surprising move "was really more of a personal decision" and that tight fiscal restraints, made worse by the ongoing economic slowdown, had nothing to do with it.
Still, the news of Lundy's imminent departure stunned most of the Inquirer staffers who gathered around Hall and peppered him with questions. Some asked whether Lundy's stated desire for a lakeside retirement was the real reason he was leaving after such a short tenure.
The man at the center of it all was some 3,000 miles away yesterday, visiting family in California. He was returning to Philadelphia and was expected to address the Inquirer staff later today.
Lundy said in a written statement that "people tell me that roses have an odor about them, and I want to see if that's true. Plus, I want to live on a lake and drive a boat fast. And read a million books. And write something more spellbinding than memos. And go for walks and travel with Saralyn [his wife]. And not get up early. And maybe take up the banjo or the piano. Or not.
"It's time."
Lundy's departure is another shock for a newspaper that's seen three editors come and go since the 1990 departure of the legendary Gene Roberts, who guided the newspaper to 17 Pulitzer Prizes in 18 years. The Inquirer has won only one Pulitzer since then.
Yet some longtime friends of Lundy were not surprised at his seemingly abrupt decision to leave Philadelphia.
"We've talked in the last five weeks or so - I don't want to go into the details but I wasn't totally surprised," said Rich Oppel, the editor of the Austin American-Statesman in Texas. "I was disappointed. I think he was a really fine editor, and I'm sorry it didn't work out for him and the Philadelphia Inquirer."
Oppel, who became close with Lundy when the two were the top editors at the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat, said he thought the departure was probably "a differing vision for the paper held by him and by Knight Ridder" - parent company of both the Daily News and the Inquirer.
"He's enough of a pro and a gentleman not to trash Knight Ridder while making his departure."
Lundy was editor and senior vice president of another Knight Ridder newspaper, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, from 1990 to 2001. In 2000, the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting for an expose on academic cheating in the men's basketball program at the University of Minnesota.
During Lundy's short stay here, the Inquirer did manage to reverse its trend of shrinking circulation, which is currently about 386,000 on weekdays and 745,000 for the Sunday paper. Lundy also carried out a sweeping reorganization of the Inquirer newsroom - shifting dozens of staffers and hiring about 40 new ones - that was largely aimed at boosting readership in the Philadelphia suburbs.
But last month, Lundy was forced to announce that the Inquirer will be killing off its century-old Sunday magazine. He blamed the slow economy, but added: "No one likes this decision." Several Philadelphia Newspaper Inc. managers who attended a recent meeting on the company's new strategic plan said they were surprised when Lundy said he disagreed with it.
Publisher Hall said he has had several conversations with Lundy about retirement. "I tried to talk him out of it," he said. "I asked him to think about postponing it for a year or 18 months. He continued to talk about it and said July seemed like a good time."
Anne Gordon, the Inquirer's managing editor, said the newspaper's staff was still digesting the news. "It's been quiet," she said. "I think the staff is generally very surprised. It was a very short tenure as Inquirer tenures go. They'll be sorry to see him go."
Gordon, the Inquirer's No. 2 editor, said she did not expect to be a candidate for Lundy's post. Hall said he will consider "some key editors in Knight Ridder" along with candidates from outside the chain.
There was speculation about Daily News editor Zack Stalberg, who reportedly was asked to apply for the post the last time it was open in 2001. Both Hall and Stalberg seemed to put the issue to rest yesterday.
"The bottom line is I'm happy doing what I'm doing," Stalberg said.
Added Hall: "I think Zack is probably the best tabloid editor that I know in the world. I'm not sure he'd be the best Inquirer editor."
Stalberg chuckled when told of Hall's comments. "I'm delighted to be called the best tabloid editor in the world," he said.
He must be getting a pocketful of money to leave and be able to do all that. LOL
So long it's been good to know you! The rats are leaving a sinking ship.
They announced the closing of the Inquirer Magazine last month, and now the guy who was supposed to save the paper leaves.
I guess he figured his job was done. Kill the magazine and leave.
I give the rag four years before it goes the way of the mastadon.
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