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Weather:31°FFair |
I knew the late Lyle Sumerix for about 25 years, first as a Cass County competitor, later as a collaborator.
Before he joined Lou Mumford in the South Bend Tribune’s Niles office, Lyle reported for the Herald Palladium and the weekly Berrien County Record in Buchanan, where he lived.
I can remember reading both in high school before I knew them and being confused about which was which.
The first time I remember seeing Lyle in person he was covering a shoe store fire in downtown Niles, being the dogged “Master of Disaster” of breaking news that Mumford remembers.
The Record called him “Scoop” in the headline of its front-page obituary.
Lyle, who died Oct. 16 from cancer, was 78.
He retired 12 years ago.
Born Aug. 21, 1931, in Charlotte, where he graduated from high school in 1950, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University in 1959 and served in the Army in Korea, which is how he became commander of American Legion Post 51 in Buchanan.
Perhaps I unconsciously emulated Lyle, but long before it became necessary to have stories ready first thing in the morning for the e-mailed Leader news alert, I made it a habit to write up government meetings at night.
As the Tribune’s Cass County reporter, Lyle followed Joel Thurtell, now retired from the Detroit Free Press.
Lyle’s style was well suited to Cass County. Less confrontational, always the gentleman, a genuinely warm sendoff by the officials who covered him when he retired. It is the rare newspaper reporter who merits fond farewells and front-page obituaries, but then Lyle was rare, a Berrien County man at home on the Cass County Commission on Aging board.
But, oh, he could be a wily competitor.
I particularly remember the Republican dinner at the Dowagiac Elks in the ’80s where he groused throughout the speech about how little news value it contained. He couldn’t think of a thing to write.
Had I been a little greener, I might have been lulled by his ruse because, lo and behold, a complete story appeared in the next day’s Tribune under his byline.
A good reminder of the main lesson journalism school imparts: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.
One valuable contribution he made unbeknownst to anyone outside the Cass County Fair is setting up daily press conferences so reporters can easily locate numerous winners without traipsing all over the fairgrounds to locate them one at a time.
Creating such a system was more complicated an undertaking than it sounds, but proved a turning point in gathering a quantity of photos it takes more than a week to publish.
We won a national fair coverage award in 2002.
Lyle continued at the fair driving one of those golf cart cruisers up and down the midway. We especially had time to talk at length during fair week.
I’ll cherish those chats all the more now that they’ve come to an end.
I had looked forward to seeing him in action as a political operative for Bruce Hipshear in his 78th House District bid of 2008, but that’s when cancer hindered Lyle’s life.
“The Good Wife”: Tuned to CBS to see Julianna Margulies, whom I haven’t seen much of since “ER” all those years ago.
She’s enduring her husband’s Eliot Spitzer-like political scandal as Illinois state attorney.
Starting over as a fortysomething junior associate, “Alicia Florrick” is well-supported by Christine Baranski, Josh Charles and Chris Noth, but I keep watching because of Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma.
The Brit’s character is a sultry, street-smart in-house investigator at Alicia’s law firm.
“She has a number of secrets of her sleeve that explain why she’s so difficult to understand,” Panjabi told Variety, comparing Kalinda to Erin Brockovich.
I don’t remember her from “Bend it Like Beckham,” the only one of her movies I’ve seen.
Panjabi adds, “It’s quite exciting for me. Every time I read a new episode, there are new insights into her, but so far they’re never at odds with what I’ve done in my performance. You get a lot of insight into what makes her tick. There’s something quite mysterious about her. She has many tools in her toolbox, and sexuality is one of them. Sometimes that’s not the right tool, but she usually has the right one. God, I wish I was her.”
“Secret Girlfriend”: Didn’t know until after I saw it that the Comedy Central sitcom started on the Web. It’s like a videogame we play from the camera’s vantage point.
We pal around with Phil (Derek Miller) and Sam (Michael Blaiklock) who, when they’re not trying to create viral videos, eat lunch at a strip club because they like the food.
We juggle two women, Mandy (Alexis Krause), the psychotic ex who won’t go away, and Jessica (Sara E.R. Fletcher), who we encounter on a beer run.
Each half hour consists of back-to-back 11-minute episodes, if you miss Saturday morning cartoons.
This must be the perceived attention span of the young-guy demographic target.
WGN America: The Tribune Co. channel, which reaches 72 million homes, next fall rebrands itself with a block of comedy reruns that include “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” Joining the lineup in the fall of 2011, “30 Rock.”
Speaking of the Seinfeld gang: The other Fab Four’s reunion on HBO drew 1.6 million viewers, with another 1 million for an encore showing – most for any episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in five years.
Larry David, who inspired the George Costanza character, brings back Jerry, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (”Old Christine”) to give his fictional wife (Cheryl Hines) a part.
Ryan Raburn: With all the clutch hitting the Tigers’ 28-year-old outfielder did, it’s hard to remember he didn’t make the club last spring and was called up to Detroit in mid-April.
In the 162nd game Raburn hit two home runs when the Tigers had to win to force the playoff game in Minnesota.
In 2010, “He will come into spring training knowing he’s on the team,” Manager Jim Leyland said last week. “He’s going to be a very, very valuable part of our club” as the fourth outfielder.
John Eby is Daily News managing editor. E-mail him at john.eby @leaderpub.com.