Another personal post...

You'll have to excuse me. I'm going to use this space for another post personal in nature.

Mark Hutchison, a mentor of mine from The Oklahoman, was appointed online news editor for the company's online operations. So why is this a big deal?

Hutch has shown unbelievable courage in the last few months. Not too long before I left The Oklahoman in October, Mark suffered a tragic injury while fishing in southeastern Oklahoma. He fell down an embankment, leaving Hutch paralyzed from the chest down.

Mark's been to hell and back since that accident. He's suffered illnesses that landed him back in the hospital for weeks on end. I've been told most who suffer such an accident rarely return to work --- and if they do, it's only after a year.

Hutch will return about six months or so after his accident.

Mark hired me the first time as a metro editor. After his appointment as city editor, Mark gave me the opportunity to cover the Legislature in my mid-20s. I owe a lot to Mark Hutchison.

Much of what I learned about journalism, ethics and raising hell came from MULK, as we liked to call him.

You see, Mark is not a small man. He's probably 6'3" or so and about 250 --- all solid. We would play basketball during lunch at The Oklahoman's courts and sometimes I thought Mark was confusing football with basketball. He would get a look on his face that let you know he was driving for the hoop, and people just got out of the way or risk losing a tooth.

His editing style was about the same. If your story sucked, he let you know. He pushed you to be the best.

"Bend over and grab your ankles," he once shouted to a reporter who hadn't turned in a story to his liking.

Now you know why we called this old school journalist "The Incredible Mulk."

Mark also taught this city boy a little about fishing.

I'm proud to not only consider Mark a mentor, but a friend.

Welcome back, Hutch.

Sorry for the quiet...

I know the posts are few and far between. You see, I'm getting married.

I proposed back in September or so when Tribune flew Kathryn and I down here for a house-hunting trip. Since then, it's been kind of a logistical balancing act.



Kathryn has flown here and I've been back home to Oklahoma. For those of you who don't know me, I grew up in Tulsa. I went to Oklahoma State University and then took a job at The Oklahoman, the state's largest metro daily based in Oklahoma City.

It was weird leaving Oklahoma City. It's a metro of more than 1 million people that's rapidly growing. Just 20 years ago, it was a dusty cow town where no one wanted to live. Fast forward a couple decades and hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private capital investments and it's a different city with an NBA team on the way.



But it was time to leave. It was time to do something --- and live somewhere --- different.

So tomorrow, she's loading up her remaining things --- most of them are already here --- and her mom's friend is driving the truck down here. Kathryn will fly down on Thursday night. The truck will arrive Saturday.

A bit of an exclamation point on the relocation of my life.

She'll fly back for a couple weeks and then I'll join her before our March 1 wedding.

So the posts may be few and far between until then. So stick with me. Sooner or later I'll think of something interesting to say.