Journalism is about all Ive known vocationally, and its a culture and calling that is as special as any in any other field. On Friday, the Tribune and its sister publications officially honored and said farewell to our publisher of more than 10 years, Karen Wittmer. She is retiring at the ripe young age of 55. If the rest of us could be so lucky to call it quits and move on to favorite pursuits…On Tuesday, Terry Horne takes over as publisher. Most of us have not met him and wonder what he will bring to the landscape and enterprise.As near as I can count, Karen was the eighth daily newspaper publisher I have worked under in 35 years of daily newspaper work. None has demonstrated more chutzpah and grit. Over the years that Thomson and Freedom news chains have owned our papers, Karen has been at the helm. She knew the industry and advocated fiercely for the Tribune with corporate. Her language could be salty, abrupt, tense. She was self-effacing and no-nonsense.Many of us recall that when Karen arrived, the Tribune rented a large hall at Mesa Visitors and Convention Center, and Karen & Co. came dressed in military fatigues. She threw quite an afternoon party. She delivered a rousing speech to us in the trenches. It was like a declared war on our foe across town.The ID lanyard I wear to work still includes the medal dog tag engraved with Tribune Troop. My rank is designated as editorial on the back side, and there is a serial number along with my name. The Wittmer tenure makes up 10 of my 23 years with these papers. With turnover of staff, I, little by little, would become our papers institutional memory and sort of keeper of its history. I rank No. 4 in longevity for all those on the news side of the Tribune. (And out of 27 Tribune people pictured on a division of labor management personnel chart, published in 1985, I am the only one still employed here. At that time, I was managing editor of the Tempe Daily News, one of three papers in the group, when we were owned by the Cox Arizona Publications.) When Karen arrived in December 1996, I was the daily Town Crier columnist for four of our five area newspapers at the time. By September 1998, I had returned to being the religion editor, a duty I had 1987 to 1994. To Karens credit, I was able to continue a fairly wide range of community work sometimes on behalf of the Tribune. I was touched in 2003, when she selected me for Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerces annual Sterling Awards the Tribune employee recognized that year for a record of community service and outreach.Karen and I exchanged a lot of e-mails over the years. I appreciated her once suggesting I was a kind of conscience at the Tribune, mostly for my range of columns and commentaries, especially during my years as the daily Town Crier. We had some good conversations seated at Tribune-sponsored tables at community events. We both have a deep abiding interest in the future of our cities and have not been afraid to voice them. Her leadership of East Valley Partnership stands out. Karen took me to the woodshed once for quotes I gave a Valley weekly newspaper about a previous Tribune ownership. Her words reminded me of how an Army drill sergeant once talked to me on day he was in a foul mood. Thats why I still wear my Tribune Troop dog tag.We lose something special when the name Karen A. Wittmer disappears May 1 from the list of Tribune corporate leaders on page A4 and the bottom of the first editorial page. Some 10 1/2 years of remarkable years of Arizona newspapering come to an end. I thank her for all the gallons of ink she bought to let me tells some stories in the Tribune.

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