Author: Belinda Clarke

Books

Leftovers After Life

Lini Kadaba (MSJ86)

Can you ever make peace with a fractured past? When Neena’s mother utters her final, shocking word before dying, Neena is left reeling. Now, faced with the daunting task of cleaning out her parents’ Philly-area condo, Neena begins to sift through boxes of belongings, each item stirring memories and long-buried tensions and forcing her to confront not just her broken bond with her mother—and a family secret—but the ways history repeats itself.

Leftovers After Life explores how we reckon with the past to reclaim the present. In uncovering what’s been packed away, physically and emotionally, Neena must decide what to keep, what to discard, and whether it’s ever really possible to make peace with the ones who raised us.

Midwest Book Review called Leftovers After Life “original, lyrical, carefully crafted” and “written with an eloquence and style that lifts [the] novel to an impressive level of literary excellence.”

Kadaba is a long-time journalist. She worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for nearly 25 years, and since 2010, has freelanced for a variety of publications. Leftovers After Life is her first novel. She lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and has a son.

Andy Lippman (BSJ70)

Andy Lippman, the Los Angeles bureau chief during the O.J. Simpson trial and the L.A. riots during a 39-year career with The Associated Press, died at age 78.

Lippman died at his home in Tucson on July 25, according to his brother, Glenn. He died from multiple system atrophy, a rare brain disease.

A gifted writer and editor, Lippman likely made his greatest contribution to journalism through the scores of young editors and reporters he recruited, mentored in his soft-spoken but enthusiastic manner and shepherded to accomplishments they would acknowledge later they hadn’t thought possible. He had the ability to become friends with practically everybody he met, including those he supervised.

He did so as chief of AP bureaus in Louisville, Indianapolis and Los Angeles.

During his time there, Lippman oversaw the so-called Trial of the Century, when football legend O.J. Simpson was charged with — and acquitted of — killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He also supervised coverage of the 1994 Northridge earthquake that killed more than 70 people and caused $20 billion in damage. And in 1992, he led coverage of the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots that destroyed a huge swath of the city after four white police officers were acquitted of charges in the videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King.

“If you were in a lab and charged with creating a model bureau chief, your model could well be Andy Lippman,” said retired AP President and CEO Louis D. Boccardi, who appointed Lippman to lead the Los Angeles bureau.

“He had it all,” Boccardi said. “A sharp news sense, energy without limits, loyalty to, and appreciation for, his staff wherever we sent him, a passion to serve AP members that made the bond seem more like family than business, limitless enthusiasm, thoughtfulness in matters large and small. That was a hallmark of knowing Andy Lippman.”

Colleagues remembered him as a thoughtful boss

Particularly in Los Angeles, Lippman was remembered for his thoughtfulness. Even after his retirement he would surprise staffers stuck working on Thanksgiving by showing up with a full meal — turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, the works. And dessert.

“Andy was indeed like a brother to me, from the time we met in 1982 as fellow AP bureau chiefs in adjoining states — Andy in Louisville and I in Indianapolis,” said retired AP bureau chief and regional vice president Paul Stevens, who now edits AP’s Connecting newsletter for retired and former AP journalists.

“We became forever best friends,” Stevens said. “One year, he invited our then-teenage daughters to join him as his guests for the Academy Awards program in Los Angeles. He came to family weddings. And we were there for each other in the tough times, including the deaths of our parents.”

Dozens of others shared similar sentiments in recent years at various gatherings, including AP’s annual dinner for retirees. At a recent farewell party in Los Angeles that Lippman was unable to attend because of illness, every one of the dozens of people in the room recorded video tributes.

He was a journalist since the early 1960s

Andy Lippman, born April 29, 1948, in Washington, D.C., to Miriam and Morton Lippman. He grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and seemed destined to become a journalist. He worked for his middle school newspaper and was editor of Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School newspaper, The Pitch, his senior year.

“Working on The Pitch really kept me focused, and particularly being an editor really gave me a sense of responsibility,” he told the newspaper in 2016.

Lippman started writing “for pay” at age 15 covering high school sports for the Washington Daily News on weekends. Later, when he arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, he made sure every reporter or editor knew how to cover a sports event, just in case they got pressed into service during an emergency.

After graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1970, Lippman landed a vacation relief job at the AP’s Phoenix bureau in 1971. A year later he became a permanent member of the Tucson, Arizona, staff before moving to AP’s sports desk in New York, then on to Cincinnati, where he was an AP correspondent. Then it was on to Louisville.

Sports-related coverage seemed to keep creeping back into his work life. In 1991, Lippman pressed his sports writers to confirm word, which they did, that Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson was about to announce his retirement after contracting the AIDS virus. Lippman had reported on Johnson’s on-court rival and close friend Larry Bird during his time in Indianapolis.

He dealt with health issues but stayed in the game

In 2005, the AP honored him with the Oliver S. Gramling Spirit Award, given to staff members who display dedication, courage, and exceptional support for the news agency’s mission.

Plagued with various health issues in his later years, Lippman retired from the AP in 2009, but never lost touch with the company.

He continued to help others, teaching English to immigrants and helping about 75 holding Green Cards prepare for their tests to become U.S. citizens. In 2022, the Puente Learning Center in East Los Angeles named Lippman its Volunteer of the Year, an honor accompanied by a proclamation from the California Legislative Assembly.

Lippman never really quit journalism. For eight years, until last December, he wrote a weekly column for the South Pasadena Review, the local newspaper for the close-knit suburb just north of Los Angeles that in his final years Lippman had grown to love.

Lippman served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years beginning in 1970. His family says he will be cremated and some of his ashes placed in Ravello, Italy; Colonial Williamsburg; Indiana; and South Pasadena, California. Survivors include his sister-in-law, Nancy Newberry, his brother Glenn and an extended family that, Glenn wrote, “was composed of his many friends, colleagues, students and community connections.” Lippman also is survived by his beloved rescue dog, Scout.

https://apnews.com/article/simpson-oj-los-angeles-lippman-eb698d29deddf7495677bd6deeee19a9

1950s Featured Legacies Legacies

Ellen Thompson (BSJ57)

Ellen Ferraro Thompson, 91, departed this life on August 21st. Although she lived in Virginia over 60 years, in both Alexandria and Richmond, Ellen was a New Yorker from birth and at heart. A native of Washington Heights, there were few things she relished more than a Broadway show tune, a Will Shortz crossword puzzle or the taste of a warm slice of pizza.

A proud graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Ellen enjoyed a brief career at Good Housekeeping Magazine prior to marrying her college sweetheart, Tom Thompson, and starting their family. Inspired by the movements of the 60’s and a deep spirituality, she devoted much of her life to social justice including civil rights, voting rights, gun control, and serving the city’s homeless population. After the death of her husband in 1988, she spent 16 happy years working with the Flagler Program daycare at St. Joseph’s Villa.

Ellen was a spirited musician whose tastes ran from Hammerstein to Hamilton and Bernstein to Bad Bunny. She loved a good conversation, particularly with fellow sojourners on her daily walks to the Wetlands of the James River. She never met a stranger and wove a web of connection everywhere she went.

Survivors include daughters Lisa Thompson (Bill Kirschner) and Amy Thompson Blake (Cory) of Richmond and son Tuck Thompson (Alex) of Australia, her granddaughters Emily Quinn, Susanna Kirschner, Audrey Wright and Grace Blake of Richmond and Meredith Millard of Australia, and sister Bea Miller of Florida. She also had 4 great-grandchildren, beloved extended family in New England and Washington State, and her family of friends at Hathaway Tower.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/timesdispatch/name/ellen-thompson-obituary?id=62413200

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Rebecca Jones (BSJ69, MSJ70)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date September 8, 2026
No Comments on Rebecca Jones (BSJ69, MSJ70)

Children’s book author Rebecca C. Jones, of Annapolis, MD, passed away on August 28, 2026. Her death was the result of a severe stroke she suffered in late July.

Rebecca C. Jones was born on Sept. 10, 1947, in Evergreen Park, IL, to Ruth and Lawrence Castaldi. They lived in the Chicago suburbs until 1954, when the family moved to Warsaw, IN. Rebecca earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. While there, she fell for a young physics student named Christopher Jones. Eventually they married and moved from Mississippi to Ohio to Maryland. They have lived in Annapolis for the past 49 years.

Along the way, Rebecca had several interesting jobs: newspaper reporter, TV news reporter, journalism instructor, magazine editor, textbook writer, and author of 18 books for children and young adults. She won the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Maryland University College; the Outstanding Faculty Award from the National Universities Continuing Education Association; many national awards for her articles in The American School Board Journal; and the Annie Award for her contribution to the literary arts in Anne Arundel County. Some of her books were translated into foreign languages. Probably the best known is Matthew and Tilly, still in print after 35 years and described by the New York Times as a “lovely story of the ordinariness of life.”

In addition to Christopher, she is survived by daughter Amanda Jones of Columbia, MD, son David Jones of Marysville, OH, brother David Castaldi of Boston, MA, sisters Diana Scheeler of West Chester, Ohio, and Loretta Castaldi of Washington, DC; five grandchildren, one great granddaughter, and 12 nieces and nephews and their children.

Published by The Capital Gazette from Sep. 5 to Sep. 6, 2026.

https://www.legacy.com/person/rebecca-castaldi-jones-62216126

Home Medill Research

In the ever-changing world of markets, one IMC professor is looking to make sense of what’s to come

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date September 1, 2026
No Comments on In the ever-changing world of markets, one IMC professor is looking to make sense of what’s to come

Ashlee Humphreys presents on AI and trust

Ashlee Humphreys is curious by nature, allowing her to tackle some of marketing’s biggest questions.

Humphreys, a professor of integrated marketing communications at Medill, studies consumer behavior and marketing strategy. With training in sociology, Humphreys takes a distinctive approach, looking at how markets are influenced by institutions and individuals early.

Her most recent research work, All the News That’s Fit to Capitalize: How Person Brands Shape Emergent Markets published in Journal of Marketing, looks at the influence of “person brands,” or individuals who have gained cultural significance through the idea of marketing their identity and skills, on the early online news market. The article examines three people in particular: Arianna Huffington, Andrew Breitbart, and Matt Drudge.

“When a market is very new, people don’t really know what to expect from it,” she said. “Our article really looks at how individual people shape those understandings, and the realities of that market.

“These three individuals shaped the media market, and so understanding how they did that can be very important to understanding how media can be sustainable and continue to provide value in society,” said Humphreys.

The peer-reviewed article lists three ways that individuals can structure markets in their infancy: by using social capital (their network), cultural capital (knowledge and skills) and symbolic capital (prestige and reputation).

“What our article really shows is that person brands and people, especially elite and influential people, play a really important role in shaping the market,” she said.

Humphreys said the findings have serious implications when looking at the emerging markets of today. When looking at the generative AI market, for example, many of the same questions apply.

“If you were to do the same analysis, for example, in generative AI, you would look at the beliefs of Sam Altman or Elon Musk or whomever to see what they value,” said Humphreys. “How are they taking their particular values into the products in the market? And then what implications does that have for society?”

Consumers may select specific AI platforms in the same way someone may choose to read one publication over another, according to Humphreys.

“People are going to use Claude and not use ChatGPT because they want to support this and not that, and it’s just the same thing on repeat,” she said.

Humphreys integrates her research methodologies and findings into the classroom, providing students with a chance to experiment.

“Because my own research uses so many different methods and perspectives, I try to bring that into my marketing research class to give students an appreciation of the very broad range of methods you can use,” said Humphreys. “I try to not only cover that spectrum, but also talk about how you can choose the appropriate methods for what you’re studying and combine different methods to tackle multiple sides of the question.”

This hands-on experience allows students to ask questions they will encounter in the workplace, and learn how to answer them.

“If there’s a product launch, for example, and you want to see what customers think of this new product, I teach students: ‘Where would you go get that data? How would you collect that data, and how would you analyze it with certain tools that are available?’” said Humphreys.

She said the teamwork in Medill and across Northwestern has made it possible to both conduct research and bring her findings into the classroom.

“I have so many collaborations, and draw from resources across the school,” she said. “Medill provides a lot of support, but I also draw some support from Kellogg, from sociology, and others. Both material support, but also just colleagues and audiences to talk to.”

Her next project looks at how the generative AI market is forming. Driven by her curiosity, she hopes to gain a better sense of the impact of marketing decisions on the market.

“I think one thing we’re seeing in this market is how different companies take different perspectives on whether they should be technology-led, doing the most cutting-edge technology things, or if they should be consumer-led, meaning looking at what consumers want and need,” she said. “I don’t know what the implications of that are going to be, but I think we see companies taking different perspectives on it.”

By: Victoria Ryan

1980s Featured Legacies Featured Legacies Home

Sean Jamieson (BSJ87)

Sean Jamieson, 60, served as an unofficial ambassador from Charlotte to the world.

Obituary authored by friend and classmate, Abdon Pallasch.

The Charlotte Observer assistant business editor-turned-corporate communications executive for Bank of America and TIAA toured six continents, bringing his nieces and nephews on safaris in Africa; hikes through the Andes, the Pyrenees, the Himalayas; holidays in Paris.

“Sean was not a person who had to be told to take time off from work,” said his sister, Ellen Jamieson Sandoval. “And he was not a person who said, ‘Someday, after retirement, I’ll take that trip I’ve been thinking of. He loved, like really LOVED, to plan these trips.”

Jamieson entertained fellow travelers, friends and co-workers with his dry wit and story-telling prowess. He gave back to his community, helping build houses with Habitat for Humanity though his long-time parish, St. Gabriel Catholic Church, and regularly volunteered at the Second Harvest Food Bank.

I met Sean our first day at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and enjoyed his sense of humor and travel proclivities for the past 43 years. We formed an inseparable quartet of friends – two journalism students and two computer engineers – who’d travel the country and the world and take in at least one game with our beloved Northwestern Wildcats every year. We were there for Northwestern’s once-every-100-years trip to the Rose Bowl in 1995. Sean could always be found at Wallace Wade Stadium when Northwestern played Duke.

Sean was not the oldest of our quartet, but quickly became the father figure because of his maturity. It wasn’t just that he towered over us in height. Perhaps it was because his father had a disabling stroke when Sean was just 13, requiring Sean to take on some adult responsibilities helping his mom raise his three younger siblings, his sister said.

Sean had a voice smooth enough for broadcast journalism and entertained friends with his dead-on impressions of popular radio D.J.s. But he ultimately opted for a career in newspapers, heading northwest to the Spokane, Wash., Spokesman-Review and the Boise, Idaho, Statesman, then, after earning a master’s degree in public administration at Cornell University, Sean made his way to the Charlotte Observer in 1994, settling on the business desk.

Tall and skinny, Sean had eyebrows that arched and traveled unusually high on his sizable forehead – kind of like Leonard Nimoy’s or Stephen Colbert’s – when he was skeptical or shocked by a story you were telling him. A new business reporter filing an inadequately sourced story to Sean would see the eyebrows rise and quickly realize they needed to reinforce their story.

In our polarized age, Sean could argue politics and policy from deep conviction and a storehouse of knowledge. I’d have to bring my A-game to our robust discussions, which generally found us on opposite sides – his National Review uncomfortably rubbing elbows with my Mother Jones in our mailbox. I stayed with Sean while attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte 2012 and he loved meeting some of Chicago’s most colorful political personalities when I brought him to the after-parties. Sean always enjoyed a glass of “good red” wine with his discussions.

After his wake at McEwen’s Pineville Chapel April 24, we retired to one of Sean’s favorite haunts, Sir. Edmond Halley’s, where Sean’s travel companions shared stories of his legendary detailed itineraries for his sojourns. Sean’s nieces and nephews recalled with some amusement the schedules that Uncle Sean compiled for their trips to make sure no sights went unseen.

“For anyone who traveled with Sean, a written, planned, timed-out, down-to-the-last-detail itinerary would always be forthcoming once you said yes to a trip with him – you just came to expect it,” Sandoval said.

They did not always work out, as Sean learned hiking through the Pyrenees on what was supposed to be a 13-kilometer hike, but turned out to be a 13-mile hike, which led to Sean having to put up with a half-hour harangue in Spanish from an angry Cab driver who had to return to pick up Sean’s crew hours after he was supposed to pick them up, Sean’s friend Tom Hayes recalled.

Sean’s propensity to plan started young. He drew up a detailed work plan for our off-campus apartment at Northwestern sophomore year. When he told me my duties would include watering the plants three times a week, I laughed and told him not to expect this level of organization from teenage boys.

Sean appeared to mellow in recent years. When the Northwestern Wildcats played the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers in Dublin, Ireland, a few years ago – the only game Northwestern won that season – Sean did NOT draw up a detailed itinerary for our week in Dublin. He found a charming Air B&B for us and we whimsically decided what to do each day.

Tom & I got to the Irish Whiskey Museum 20 minutes ahead of Sean. Skipping the exhibits, we went straight to the Tasting Room at the end, where the bartenders gave us samples of the finest Irish whiskeys. We warned them our friend Sean Jamieson would soon arrive seeking his namesake whiskey. (Almost: Sean’s last name has an “i.” Ireland’s most popular whiskey lacks the “i.”)

Sean arrived and ordered a glass of Jameson’s whiskey. Well-primed, the bartenders lit into him: “Jameson’s?!? That’s the cheap shite we make for Yanks! Here, try some proper Irish Whiskey…” Sean’s eyebrows shot up. Tom & I laughed so hard.

Sean was healthy and trim. He swam several times a week. But he got an appendiceal cancer diagnosis in January. He was told the median survival rate was three years. We all were shocked and began making plans for final travel adventures this summer and next. He passed away much sooner than expected three months later on April 19.

After visitations in Charlotte and his native Elmhurst, Ill., he was laid to rest in Hillside, Ill. He is survived by his mother, Carol (Hattenhauer) Jamieson; sisters Ellen Jamieson Sandoval; Lorraine Strittmatter (Chad); brother Andrew Jamieson (Beth) and many nieces, nephews and other family and close friends.

Donations in Sean’s name can be made to Second Harvest Food Bank (https://www.secondharvestmetrolina.org/) or Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region (https://www.habitatcltregion.org/).

Former Chicago Sun-Times Political Reporter Abdon Pallasch now serves as director of communications for the Cook County Circuit Court.

1990s Featured Legacies Featured Legacies Home Home Legacies

Kimberlie Renee Gamel (MSJ94)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date July 10, 2026
No Comments on Kimberlie Renee Gamel (MSJ94)

Kim Gamel, loving daughter and sister, doting aunt, faithful friend and talented writer passed away peacefully June 17th in her hometown of Boise, ID after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

During a nearly 20-year career with the Associated Press news agency, Kim carved out a reputation as an unflappable journalist whose editing prowess and leadership took her to posts around the world including Stockholm, New York, New Delhi, Kabul and Cairo. As news editor of the AP’s Iraq bureau in Baghdad, Kim was known for her sterling news judgment and unshakable moral compass. She took particular pride in her role as a mentor to the Iraqi reporters who worked alongside her in covering the conflict.

While in Iraq, Kim was deeply moved by a single casualty: a 3-year-old girl named Shams who lost her mother in a bombing, an attack that left her blind and disfigured. The story of this one little girl touched Kim’s heart. Kim oversaw coverage of Sham’s plight, leading to a fundraising effort that enabled Shams to travel to London for reconstructive surgery. While her vision was not restored, Shams got prosthetic eyes and hope for a future due to Kim’s big heart.

In 2014, Kim took a yearlong break from daily journalism as a Knight-Wallace fellow at the University of Michigan. She went on to report from Seoul as Asia-Pacific correspondent for Stars and Stripes, then settled in Honolulu, where she served as managing editor at Civil Beat, focusing on accountability and watchdog coverage.

An alumni of Boise High School, Kim demonstrated a gift for writing and languages early on. She was inspired by her high school English teacher, Mrs. Vinz, who taught Kim the art of developing a good story. Kim often referenced the “incubation period,” when a story was just taking root, before setting a pen to paper. She later developed an interest in international affairs during a college study-abroad program during the waning years of the Soviet Union. After graduating from Bates College with a degree in Russian studies, Kim took a job as a nanny for an American diplomatic family in Moscow — a post that came with an unexpected brush with the KGB, who sent an agent to take her for coffee in hopes of gathering intelligence. She went, out of curiosity, gave up nothing, and promptly reported the encounter to the State Department.

Journalism, however, was Kim’s calling. She took a job at the English-language Moscow Tribune before returning to the United States to earn a master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She spoke fluent Russian and working Arabic.

Kim was diagnosed with indolent lymphoma in 2020 while based in Seoul and was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2024. She later received a stem cell transplant from her only sister, Seana. When scans showed the transplant did not succeed in putting the cancer into remission, Kim returned home to Idaho to be near family. Through nearly two years of treatment Kim continued editing, as it gave her a sense of purpose, but it was her family and lifelong friends who kept her strong. The circle of friends and family who traveled to support Kim through chemotherapy in Hawaii, during her transplant at Stanford Medical and those who visited her during continued treatment in Boise are the unsung heroes in her story. Kim’s family is immensely grateful for each and every one of these angels on earth.

Kim will be remembered for kindness and generosity. She had a heart for animals including feral cats of Seoul and in Honolulu. She always kept a bag of kitty food in her car “just in case.” Kim could never resist a good adventure, whether sand surfing in Egypt’s Siwa Oasis, crisscrossing Cambodia, paragliding over a canyon in Colombia, swimming in the Galapagos Islands or soaking in a centuries-old bathhouse in Budapest. Kim was fiercely competitive at Scrabble, vanquishing opponents even as her health declined. In Hawai’i, she soaked up the sun at Waimanalo Beach and enjoyed drinks on the lanai at the Elks Lodge in Honolulu.

Kim is survived by her mother, Bobbie Gamel of Nampa; sister, Seana Ruff and her spouse, Lee Ruff with niece and nephew, Alia and Eli, all of Boise; and a wide circle of friends and former colleagues around the world. Kim was preceded in death by her father, Patrick Gamel, in 2024.

https://www.bowmanfuneral.com/obituaries/kimberlie-gamel

1980s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Kevin Reece (MSJ87)

With a 2025 Best Reporter Emmy in Texas, Kevin is now a 58x Regional Emmy winner, 13x Regional Edward R. Murrow Award winner, 4x Best Reporter from the Headliners Foundation of Texas, recipient of multiple Best Reporter distinctions from the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters, and recognized as one of the top Solo Video Journalists in the U.S. by the National Press Photographers Association.

2000s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Brooke Brower (MSJ03)

Brooke Brower joined Johns Hopkins University as the director of an initiative on democracy reforms for the recently established School of Government and Policy. From 2023 to 2025, he was the executive producer of ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, earning four Emmy nominations and maintaining the show’s #1 position among total viewers during his tenure.

2010s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Manasi Kaushik (MSJ17)

Manasi Kausik in "Early Days" movie poster

Manasi Kaushik is an MSJ’17 graduate who is a marketing professional and an actor.

She along with a fellow wildcat worked on a feature film together called ‘Early Days’. The film is about the impact of social media in the lives of young adults. The film premiered at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Dec 2025 and has been nominated for best film debut and best screenplay at the New York Indian Film Festival, happening May 29-31 in New York. It will be screened on May 30 at 12:30 PM in Theatre 4, Village East by Angelika, New York, NY.