Amy Wilen-Buckman received the Philadelphia Public Relations Association’s 2024 PRoActive Community Service Award. The award is given to a PR professional who dedicates their time to support the betterment of their community and serves as an exemplary model of selfless service. Buckman is the Director of School and Community Relations for the Lower Merion School District.
Matthew Rolnick recently tag teamed with Hulk Hogan to join Real American Beer. Matthew is the Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Events. Real American Beer has secured retail partnerships with ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Albertsons, Safeway, Sam’s Club, Total Wine & More, Walmart and more. The product is an “American-style” light lager brewed with 100% North American ingredients. Real American Beer’s mission is to bring America together, one beer at a time.
Leigh Ann Winick was named Lead Medical Producer for CBS Network News. She was previously medical producer for CBS Mornings. Earlier this year, Winick was awarded Best Television report from the American Association for Cancer Research.
Susanni Douville is retiring from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine on July 31, 2024, after 26 years as a career law clerk to three successive U.S. Magistrate Judges. After obtaining her M.S.J. from Medill in 1980, she worked as a copy editor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Washington Post, and the Hartford Courant before switching career gears and obtaining her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1990. She looks forward to decompressing, spending more time with family and friends, including her husband, John R. Hull, Jr., and daughters Kate and Christie Hull, and being able to savor sunrises (with coffee) and sunsets (with wine) at home in Harpswell, Maine, instead of commuting on I-295.
Ian Douglass was inducted into the Pro Wrestling Authors Hall of Fame in June.
Matt Barrows (MSJ97)
When a popular fishing captain is murdered on his own trawler, everyone in Haversport, Massachusetts, knows the culprit is a young deckhand named Ben Broome, including Detective Lillian Grimes. But Ben has discovered the perfect hiding place: as a reporter writing for the tiny Coastal Packet, a newspaper down in South Carolina.
A half-eaten body washes in, becomes the biggest story in the paper’s history and brings cunning, charismatic Ben unexpected success. But it also leads Grimes closer to the truth. She soon teams up with hungry rival reporter Florence Park to hunt Ben down before he can charm—or kill—his way to freedom.
Shown from three perspectives, killer, detective, and reporter, Muddy the Water brings readers inside the newsroom of a struggling small newspaper on the bucolic South Carolina coast and speaks to the concept of identity—and whether anyone ever shows their true self.
Melissa Harris (BSJ02)
Melissa Harris is co-author of the new book “Everybody Needs an Editor: The Essential Guide to Clear and Effective Writing,” written with Jenn Bane and edited by Mark Jacob. The book, published by Simon Element, is a guide for contemporary times, advising readers how to use ChatGPT without sacrificing their humanity, how to write emails that will actually get opened, and how to deliver a presentation that will keep colleagues off their phones.
One of the key points in the book is that Artificial Intelligence doesn’t mean people can stop worrying about the quality of their writing. It actually means the opposite – people must write extremely well to stand out from the crowd. And if they use AI, they have to know how to edit it to avoid disaster.
The book is fun to read – not at all preachy. As Publishers Weekly put it: “The authors can be delightfully snarky, such as when they caution against turning nouns into verbs and ridicule a job posting that used ‘laddering’ as a verb: ‘Garage the laddering. Unless you need to reach a kitten who is treeing.’”
Issue 106 focuses on faculty at Medill, including the Northwestern Prison Education Program and the new George R.R. Martin Writer’s Workshop.
James “Jim” Warren Harff, age 83, passed away peacefully at his condominium in Elkhart Lake, WI, on November 25, 2024.
Jim was born in Sheboygan, WI, on December 5, 1940, to Benjamin and Helen Harff. Jim attended Jefferson School and graduated from Sheboygan Central High School in 1959.
Jim went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Jim was also in the National Army Reserves.
Jim had an extensive and impressive career in journalism, public relations, and communications. He began working for WHBL and Kohler, prior to becoming more involved in politics and campaign public relations. Jim established permanent residency in Arlington, Virginia, while working for Ruder Finn, Inc, and several other international public relations firms in the Washington, D.C., area. Ultimately, he became the Chief Executer Officer of Global Communicators. Jim was extremely passionate about his career and continued working full-time until the age of 82.
Jim had an active lifestyle and enjoyed traveling, skiing, horseback riding, biking, and spending time with friends and family.
Jim was an intelligent, compassionate, and giving person. He maintained many close friendships, some dating back to his childhood. He enjoyed socializing with his friends and family, especially during the summer months while working from his condominium in Elkhart Lake, WI.
Jim will be dearly missed by family and many close friends. Jim is survived by his two nieces, Rebecca (Tim) Thompson of Sheboygan, WI, and Deborah (Chris Yankee) Pope, of Boulder, Colorado. He also has five great-niece/nephews: Cora and Owen Thompson, Bella and Aiden Pope, and Ria Yankee.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents Ben and Helen Harff and his sister Luanne Harff-Burchinal.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, December 7th, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, prior to the funeral at 11:00 AM, at Zimmer Westview Funeral and Cremation Care Center, Sheboygan, WI. Burial will occur at Wildwood Cemetery.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/james-jim-harff-obituary?id=56910741
Ed died on October 25, 2024, at the age of 77. He was born on October 16, 1947 to Donald Edward McConville and Monica Mason McConville. He leaves three sisters, Kathe M. Crane (Lawrence) of Memphis, Tennessee, Sheila M. Fane of Hartsdale, NY and Patricia M. Smith (Mark) of Plano, Texas. He also leaves two nieces, one nephew and several cousins.
Ed graduated from McQuaid Jesuit High School and Middlebury College (Vermont). He earned an MA in Journalism from Northwestern University and studied for a PhD in American History at Duke University. He wrote for national magazines, and various publications in New York, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. He was an avid reader, preferring hand-held books throughout his life.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/edward-mcconville-obituary?id=56677805