This photo of Nancy Laughlin was posted on Steve Pepple's Facebook page
Anyone who has worked in a newsroom will tell you that not every editor is beloved. Some might even find that to be an understatement.
So, in this case it's nice to see all the complimentary comments on Facebook about Free Press Managing Director Nancy Laughlin, who announced her retirement on Friday.
"My editor, Nancy Laughlin, just announced her retirement after 42 years in the newspaper biz," veteran Freep reporter Jim Schaefer wrote."She deserves a rest more than anyone I know. She knew a good story when she saw it. And that's about the highest compliment you can pay a journalist. Cheers, boss."
A Free Press article online stated:
Free Press Managing Director Nancy Laughlin announced Friday her retirement after more than 20 years of leadership roles with the news organization.
As managing director, Laughlin most recently oversaw the Free Press' day-to-day news-gathering and was a driving force behind many special efforts, including the Free Press' much-honored coverage of Detroit's bankruptcy over the last 18 months.
Laughlin, 62, joined the Free Press in 1992. Before being named managing director in 2014, she held a succession of key newsroom assignments – from leading nation-world coverage after the 9/11 attacks and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to being part of the Free Press' Web desk expansion in 2007. She grew up in Jackson and is a Michigander through and through.
Freep Metro Editor Maryann Struman said on Facebook:
I have worked with some fine journalists over the years but none compare to Nancy Laughlin. Very big loss for the Freep but well-earned rest for her. Leaves a hole in my heart
Joe Swickard, a former Free Press reporter, wrote:
Cheers to damn fine journalist.
Freep reporter Matt Helms posted this:
The Detroit Free Press is losing one of its best managers, a helluva journalist and a friend who's been a mentor to me since I first started there as a long-haired, eager young reporter right out of Michigan State. Cheers, Nancy, to a well-deserved retirement.
Steve Pepple, an editor on the city desk, wrote:
Nan has been the glue that holds this newsroom together. She is a helluva editor who demands great work, yet she has this wonderful kind soul.
