To Our Readers
Sherry Conohan, a shoe leather journalist, a rabid Giants fan and a dear friend, passed away on July 4th, a day she loved to celebrate. We shared many passions – journalism, sailing, travel, The Giants, the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center, St. Pat’s at The Dublin House and people. She was a mentor, a colleague and a friend and I miss her already. Two River Times readers will remember her byline from her years spent at this newspaper when she was “retired.”
The Daily Register was lucky to get her in the early 1970s. Sherry was the Chicago UPI Bureau Chief when she met and married Karl Houser in the Caribbean. She had worked in four states as a journalist and had the experience of covering the tumultuous 1968 Democratic Convention and she was proud she was trained at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. The couple lived in Monmouth Beach and the commute was too much so Sherry started at The Register. The Press eventually stole her away a number of years later and there she covered politics and organized crime.
That was her passion. She and Joe Azzolina were comrades and their laughter could be heard down the statehouse halls. Come to think of it, Sherry knew just about everyone in Trenton, including multiple governors, and laughed with all of them.
She knew generations of Board of Chosen Freeholders, Mayors, and party chairmen and she laughed with them as well. She personally knew all the organized criminals listed by the FBI. She didn’t laugh so much with that crowd, but she was unique because she could tell you something about all her subjects’ personal lives. Having been born in St. Louis and raised in New Orleans, she had a kind way of dealing with people.
She always humanized a story and no matter the title or profession, Sherry saw people as just that, people. Another colleague said today Sherry’s life was one of inquiry and anticipation. So true. Few things came before a story. Well, her nine grandchildren did later in life, but not much else. And she kept learning as an active member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Journalism and Women Symposium.
Even in retirement, Sherry stayed in journalism serving as the news editor of the Atlanticville in 2003 where she was a staff writer for three years. After that she came to The Two River Times.
I was a young reporter just starting out at The Press when Sherry and I met at an Oceanport Council meeting. She walked me through exactly how to write the story and what questions to ask after the meeting. Role the clock forward many years, and I was then Sherry’s editor. She was a wonderful reporter but she did write long. Too long. When I’d bring her into my office to discuss cuts, God bless her soul, she would fight for every word. It was a battle, a daily one. I admired that in Sherry. I had to pull rank more than once but we’d often go out for a drink after work and laugh like the devil. We stayed life long friends and kept in touch when she moved to Hilton Head in 2011. So here’s to you my Irish pal, my fellow journalist. I’ll toast you tonight and I’ll be sure to laugh in your honor. You made a difference for having been here.
Let’s have coffee!
Jody Calendar
Executive Editor/Co-Publisher
editor@tworivertimes.com
