It’s all over now, daily news.
The Columbian’s Neighbors team is both thrilled and devastated to report the Jan. 2 retirement of Dave Kern, 65, who blended serious journalism and great fun in his 33 years of leadership here.As an editor and journalist, Dave’s devotion always was to the people in this community. Names and photos, names and photos — he wanted to see the Neighbors section stuffed with names and photos of Clark County’s just plain folks.
He always challenged his reporters to do their best, asking careful questions about facts and word choice. And he always rewarded them not just with smiles, but with jokes and stories, pop quizzes and song parodies. No Bob Dylan masterpiece was safe from his joyously topical rejiggering.
He was (and remains) a true gentleman and a real pal. We wish him the very best. We expect to see him around town.
To misquote Dylan: “Goodbye” is too good a word, Dave, so we’ll just say, “fare thee well.”
