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Nov. 18, 2025

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ABOVE From left - Barry Sanders, Mark McCormick and their high school football coach, Dale Burkholder.

RIGHT: Sanders entering Pro Football Hall of Fame. AP Photo/Ron Schwane

Colleagues,

I’ve attended scores of journalism Hall of Fame events during and after my career with The Associated Press and even been fortunate enough to have been inducted into two of them.

But until last Thursday in Topeka, where the Kansas Press Association honored its 2025 inductees, I had never witnessed anything like the meeting of two friends from Wichita who are both now Hall of Famers and were there for one another at each of their HoF events.

Twenty-one years ago in Canton, Ohio, when Barry Sanders, one of the best running backs ever to play college and professional football, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, among those attending was his longtime friend Mark McCormick, who lived on the same block growing up in Wichita and was his high school football teammate.

Fast forward to last Thursday in Topeka, and the roles were reversed. Sanders was on hand to recognize his lifelong friend. McCormick was among those inducted into the Kansas Press Association’s Newspaper Hall of Fame. And joining them to witness the ceremony was a proud Dale Burkholder, who coached the two when they were teammates at Wichita North High School.

Sanders would go on to star at Oklahoma State University, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1988, then was an All-Pro running back for 10 seasons with the Detroit Lions.

McCormick went on to the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas. He’s a New York Times best-selling author with nearly 30 years of journalism experience as a reporter, editor and columnist, with 20 years at the Wichita Eagle. Among his many accomplishments – being featured in NFL Films’ “Barry Sanders: A Football Life.”

I always leave each Hall of Fame event with a good feeling about journalism and the people who make it such a great profession. But on that sunny day in Topeka, I left feeling lucky enough to witness two friends honoring one other. Isn’t that what life should be all about?

2026 AP RETIREES DINNER – We’ve already received 25 signups in the first day since announcing the third annual Jack Stokes Memorial AP Retirees dinner will be held in 2026 in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 14. The dinner will be held at the National Press Club in its First Amendment room from 6-10 pm. It is named in honor of Stokes, a beloved colleague who died in 2023 after a great career as a journalist and Human Resources executive.  Associated Press retirees are invited to attend along with a guest. The cost of their dinners will be paid by the AP. Drop me a note if you plan to attend or have any questions.

BOOK EDITION DEADLINE – A reminder that the deadline is this Friday for your submission to the annual Connecting listing of books authored by colleagues in this calendar year. If you've published a book during the year, please send me by Nov. 21 the following: a 200-300 word synopsis of the book, a jpg image of the book cover and a jpg headshot image of you.

Here’s to a great day – be safe, stay healthy, live it to your fullest.

Paul

Remembering my dad

Chuck Torrence – a son of AP Topeka newsman Elon Torrence, recently inducted into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame - My earliest memory of my dad as a journalist was spending time in his office at 8th and Jackson in Topeka and watching the pigeons on the ledge, obviously before the Capital-Journal moved to the location on Jefferson.

Funny what one remembers. I also worked 34+ years in the statehouse and my earliest memory there was of Sen. Ben Vidricksen telling me that dad was always fair. The senator had a way of telling people what he really thought, and his comments stuck with me in the sense that “he really meant it.”

I really think one of his most treasured relationships was the one he had with Alf Landon. The luncheons he spent with Alf and Lew Ferguson were ones he mentioned frequently and I know he missed them after Alf was gone.

A gathering of Kansas City Star and Times journalists

Folks with current or past ties to The Kansas City Star and Times photo department gathered for a photo following the 2025 Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Thursday, November 13, at the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, MO.

From left: Roy Inman, Chris Ochsner, Tammy Ljungblad, Mary Schulte, Todd Feeback, Julie Denesha, Keith Myers, John Sleezer, Cliff Schiappa, Jeff Roberson, Orlin Wagner, and Whitney Curtis. Both Ljungblad and Wagner were inducted during the ceremony, and past inductees include Inman, Schulte, Myers, Sleezer, and Schiappa. Roberson is AP’s St. Louis staff photographer, Wagner and Schiappa were AP Kansas City photographers. (Photo by Sam Harrel)

Memory of Ed Cody

Chris Connell - A former U.S. Embassy PIO in Haiti paid this tribute to Ed Cody - globe-trotting reporter for the AP and Washington Post - in a letter to the editor of the Post. I saw it online along with other letters.

When the pen is less mighty

I was surprised the Nov. 5 obituary for Edward Cody, “Globe-trotting correspondent at The Post was 82,” failed to mention that Haiti was among the trouble spots from which he reported.

That’s where I met him in the mid-1980s, when I was the U.S. Embassy’s public affairs officer and he arrived to cover unfolding events before and after the ouster of President Jean-Claude Duvalier. I was impressed with how Ed reported independently of other international journalists; how quickly he developed sources in a country that was new to him; and how he always seemed to get the most important details of the story right.

I recall as well that even though Creole was not one of the several languages he spoke, Ed managed to learn some of its colorful expressions. One of his favorites — which applies to other situations around the world today — reflected Haitians’ historical skepticism about promises made to them by their leaders and outsiders: “Treaties are paper, guns are steel.”

Jeffrey Liteman, Arlington

Choosing a path other than military service

Carl Robinson - As many of you have been sharing memories of military service for Veterans Day, I thought I’d offer a different kind of contribution—one that runs counter to the uniformed path, though not without its own convictions.

I was a Conscientious Objector (CO), having declared myself one upon registering for the Draft at age 18 in 1961. Raised by pacifist Methodist missionary parents in the Belgian Congo, it was an expected course of action, though hardly popular at the time. The Vietnam War wasn’t yet on the horizon, and I didn’t go around boasting about it. It was a quiet, thoughtful decision.

Ironically, I ended up in Vietnam anyway—an idealist in JFK’s economic aid mission, USOM (later USAID), part of the “hearts and minds” campaign in 1964. I couldn’t tell one military rank from another, and when I first mentioned I was a CO, someone asked, “That stands for coward, doesn’t it?”

I stayed on. Resigned in protest after the Tet Offensive in 1968. Joined the AP in Saigon. And just after our wedding in 1969, the Draft Board came after me—demanding I serve two years of Alternative Service as a CO. I hadn’t kept them informed. I gave them my story instead.

Here it is: Me & the Draft.

William Kennedy, Legs Diamond, Albany and my grandfather the crooner

Chris Carola - On Nov. 13 The New York Times published a story by its Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Dan Barry (a fellow St. Bonaventure Univ. graduate, Class of 1980), on a recent reading at an Albany bar of William Kennedy's novel “Legs,” about Jack “Legs” Diamond, the gangster/bootlegger shot to death in his bed at an Albany boarding house in December 1931.

The hit, according to Kennedy, was carried out by Albany cops under the orders of the local Democratic Party headman who had become quite displeased with Diamond's continued presence in his city, where there was only so much graft and corruption to go around. Click here.

One of Kennedy's Albany cycle novels mentions the Phil Romano Orchestra, Albany's most popular jazz band in the late 1920s and early '30s. My paternal grandfather, Billy Carola (right), was the banjo/guitar player and crooner for the band. Billy also served as master of ceremonies for the entertainment in the Rain-Bo Room at the New Kenmore Hotel in downtown Albany, and he was billed in local newspaper ads as “the boy of a thousand songs.” It’s known that Legs spent the last night of his life getting drunk at the Rain-Bo room with his dancer girlfriend.

Billy was performing and living in Albany when Legs was killed (my father was born nearby two months before Legs was whacked). I like to think that the last live music Legs heard before his demise later that night likely was either performed by Billy or introduced by him.

Memory from a day at the State Fair

Dennis Conrad - I came across this amusing item in one of my old files from when I was an AP newsman (1987-2001) at the Illinois Statehouse. On an off day, in Springfield, I took my daughter Julia, age 7, to the Illinois State Fair to participate in a kids’ run. We had an encounter with a well-known celebrity from that era. Folks from California AP may recognize him. Julia came up with her own account of the event. I couldn’t resist filing my own story for the AP and it got used in the daily roundup of celebrity news. I didn’t bother to bill anyone for my time. Neither did Julia!

P.S. Julia remains the best writer by far in our family but she never became a journalist. Among other things, she was a Presidential Management Fellow in the U.S. Education Department and is now on the staff of the medical school at Duke University.

AP sighting

Francesca Pitaro - I was surprised to see Murray Becker's famous Hindenberg picture displayed in an empty storefront in Chester, Connecticut over the weekend. If you look hard, you can see the old AP Wirephoto logo in the lower right corner.

Connecting sky shot

Paul Stevens – I guess this is why they call us Flyover Country. The atmosphere had to be just right to hold these contrails for so long…

Today in History - Nov. 18, 2025

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 18, the 322nd day of 2025. There are 43 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 18, 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide, resulting in the deaths of more than 900 cult members.

Also on this date:

In 1928, “Steamboat Willie,” the first cartoon with synchronized sound as well as the first release of the character Mickey Mouse, debuted on screen at the Colony Theater in New York.

In 1987, an underground fire broke out in the King’s Cross St. Pancras subway station in London, causing 31 deaths.

In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.

In 1999, 12 people were killed and dozens injured when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed. The stack of thousands of logs more than 50 feet tall gave way ahead of an annual bonfire tradition marking a Texas A&M-Texas rivalry football game in College Station.

In 2005, eight months after Robert Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife at a criminal trial, a civil jury decided the actor was behind the killing and ordered him to pay $30 million to Bonny Lee Bakley’s children.

In 2021, more than half a century after the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, two of his convicted killers were exonerated; a New York judge dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation had found new evidence that undermined the case against them.

Today’s Birthdays: Author Margaret Atwood is 86. Actor Linda Evans is 83. Actor Delroy Lindo is 73. Comedian Kevin Nealon is 72. Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon is 69. Actor Oscar Nunez is 67. Actor Elizabeth Perkins is 65. Rock musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica) is 63. Author and lecturer Brené Brown is 60. Actor Romany Malco is 57. Actor Owen Wilson is 57. Commentator Megan Kelly is 55. Actor Chloe Sevigny (SEH’-ven-ee) is 51. Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz is 50. Rapper Fabolous is 48. NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is 45. Actor-comedian Nasim Pedrad (nah-SEEM’ peh-DRAHD’) is 44. Actor Damon Wayans Jr. is 43. Olympic track and field gold medalist Allyson Felix is 40. Fashion designer Christian Siriano is 40. Actor Nathan Kress is 33. NFL quarterback Caleb Williams is 24.

AP classes, by the year...

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a listing of Connecting colleagues who have shared the year and the bureau where they started with the AP. If you would like to share your own information, I will include it in later postings. Current AP staffers are also welcome to share their information. We include deceased staffers when their information is shared; their names are italicized.)

1951 - Norm Abelson (Boston)

1953 – Charles Monzella (Huntington, WVa)

1955 – Henry Bradsher (Atlanta), Paul Harrington (Boston), Joe McGowan (Cheyenne)

1957 - Louis Uchitelle (Philadelphia)

1958 – Roy Bolch (Kansas City), Robert Dubill (Buffalo)

1959 – Charlie Bruce (Montgomery)

1960 – Claude Erbsen (New York), Bill Lenz (Detroit), Carl Leubsdorf (New Orleans), Harry Moskos (Albuquerque)

1961 – Peter Arnett (Jakarta, Indonesia), Strat Douthat (Charleston. WVa), Warren Lerude (San Diego), Ed Staats (Austin)

1962 – Paul Albright (Cheyenne), Malcolm Barr Sr. (Honolulu), Myron Belkind (New York), Dave Mazzarella (Newark), Peggy Simpson (Dallas), Kelly Smith Tunney (Miami)

1963 – Hal Bock (New York), Jeff Williams (Portland OR)

1964 – Rachel Ambrose (Indianapolis), Larry Hamlin (Oklahoma City), John Lengel (Los Angeles), Ron Mulnix (Denver), Lyle Price (San Francisco), Lew Simons (New York), Arlene Sposato (New York), Karol Stonger (Indianapolis), Hilmi Toros (New York)

1965 – Niles Andersen (Omaha), Bob Dobkin (Pittsburgh), Harry Dunphy (Denver), John Gibbons (New York), Bob Greene (Kansas City), Jim Luther (Nashville), Larry Margasak (Harrisburg), Rich Oppel (Tallahassee), Jim Rubin (Trenton). Lynn Sherr (New York), Mark Thayer (San Francisco)

1966 – Shirley Christian (Kansas City), Mike Doan (Portland, OR), Edie Lederer (New York), Nancy Shipley (Nashville), Mike Short (Los Angeles), Marty Thompson (Seattle), Nick Ut (Saigon), Kent Zimmerman (Chicago)

1967 – Dan Berger (Los Angeles), Adolphe Bernotas (Concord), Lou Boccardi (New York), Linda Deutsch (Los Angeles), Don Harrison (Los Angeles), Frank Hawkins (New York), Doug Kienitz (Cheyenne), David Liu (New York), Bruce Lowitt (Los Angeles), Chuck McFadden (Los Angeles), Martha Malan (Minneapolis), Bill Morrissey (Buffalo), Larry Paladino (Detroit), Michael Putzel (Raleigh), Bruce Richardson (Chicago), Richard Shafer (Baltimore), Victor Simpson (Newark), Michael Sniffen (Newark), Kernan Turner (Portland, Ore)

1968 – Lee Balgemann (Chicago), John Eagan (San Francisco), Earleen Fisher (Indianapolis), Joe Galu (Albany/Troy), Peter Gehrig (Frankfurt), Charles Hanley (Albany), Jerry Harkavy (Portland, Maine), Herb Hemming (New York), Brian King (Albany), Samuel Koo (New York), Karren Mills (Minneapolis), Michael Rubin (Los Angeles), Rick Spratling (Salt Lake City), Barry Sweet (Seattle)

1969 - Ann Blackman (New York), Ford Burkhart (Philadelphia), Harry Cabluck (Pittsburgh), Dick Carelli (Charleston, WVa), Dennis Coston (Richmond), Ron Frehm (New York), Mary V. Gordon (Newark), Daniel Q. Haney (Portland, Maine), Mike Harris (Chicago), Brad Martin (Kansas City), David Minthorn (Frankfurt), Cynthia Rawitch (Los Angeles), Bob Reid (Charlotte), Mike Reilly (New York), Doug Tucker (Tulsa), Bill Wertz (Minneapolis), Jim Willse (New York), Bill Winter (Helena)

1970 – Richard Boudreaux (New York), David Briscoe (Manila), Sibby Christensen (New York), Richard Drew (San Francisco), Bob Egelko (Los Angeles), James Gerstenzang (San Francisco), Steve (Indy) Herman (Indianapolis), Tim Litsch (New York), Lee Margulies (Los Angeles), Arthur Max (Tel Aviv), Chris Pederson (Salt Lake City), Brendan Riley (San Francisco), Chuck Robinson (Indianapolis), Larry Thorson (Philadelphia)

1971 – Harry Atkins (Detroit), Jim Bagby (Kansas City), Larry Blasko (Chicago), Jim Carlson (Milwaukee), Jim Carrier (New Haven), Chris Connell (Newark), Bill Gillen (New York), Bill Hendrick (Birmingham), John Lumpkin (Dallas), Kendal Weaver (Montgomery)

1972 – Hank Ackerman (New York), Rod Davis (Dallas), Bob Fick (St. Louis), Joe Frazier (Portland, Ore.), Terry Ganey (St. Louis), Mike Graczyk (Detroit), Denis Gray (Albany), Lindel Hutson (Little Rock), Linda Kramer Jenning (San Francisco), Brent Kallestad (Sioux Falls), Tom Kent (Hartford), Nolan Kienitz (Dallas), Kent Kilpatrick (Detroit), Andy Lippman (Phoenix), Mike Millican (Hartford), Bruce Nathan (New York), Ginny Pitt Sherlock (Boston), Lew Wheaton (Richmond)

1973 - Jerry Cipriano (New York), Susan Clark (New York), Norm Clarke (Cincinnati), Marty Crutsinger (Miami), Steve Fox (Los Angeles), Joe Galianese (East Brunswick), Merrill Hartson (Richmond), Mike Hendricks (Albany), Tom Journey (Tucson), Steve Loeper (Los Angeles), Jesus Medina (New York), Ellen Miller (Helena), Tom Slaughter (Sioux Falls), Jim Spehar (Denver), Paul Stevens (Albany), Jeffrey Ulbrich (Cheyenne), Owen Ullmann (Detroit), Suzanne Vlamis (New York), John Willis (Omaha), Evans Witt (San Francisco)

1974 – Norman Black (Baltimore), Julie Dunlap (Philadelphia), David Espo (Cheyenne), Dan George (Topeka), Robert Glass (Philadelphia), Steve Graham (Helena), Tim Harper (Milwaukee), Elaine Hooker (Hartford), Sue Price Johnson (Charlotte), Fong Lien (Los Angeles), Dave Lubeski (Washington), Janet McConnaughey (Washington), Lee Mitgang (New York), Barry Shlachter (Tokyo), Bud Weydert (Toledo), Marc Wilson (Little Rock) 

1975 – Peter Eisner (Columbus), Charles Hill (Charlotte), Jim Limbach (Washington), Bill McCloskey (Washington), David Powell (New York), Eileen Alt Powell (Milwaukee)

1976 – Brad Cain (Chicago), Judith Capar (Philadelphia), Dick Chady (Albany), David Crary (Jackson), Steve Crowley (Washington), Diane Duston (Columbus), David Egner (Oklahoma City), Carole Feldman (Newark), Ed Golden (New York), Steve Hindy (Newark), Marc Humbert (Albany), Steven Hurst (Columbus), Richard Lowe (Nashville), Mike Mcphee (Boston), John Nolan (Nashville), Guy Palmiotto (New York), Charlotte Porter (Minneapolis), Greg Thompson (Dallas), Chuck Wolfe (Charlotte)

1977 – Bryan Brumley (Washington), Robert Burns (Jefferson City), Charles Campbell (Nashville), Carolyn Carlson (Atlanta), Dave Carpenter (Philadelphia), Solange De Santis (New York), Jim Drinkard (Jefferson City), Ken Herman (Dallas), Mike Holmes (Des Moines), Doug Jeffries (New York), Brad Kalbfeld (New York), Larry Kilman (Atlanta), Scott Kraft (Jefferson City), John Kreiser (New York), Peter Leabo (Dallas), Kevin LeBoeuf (Los Angeles), Ellen Nimmons (Minneapolis), Joyce Rosenberg (New York), Dan Sewell (Buffalo), Estes Thompson (Richmond), David Tirrell-Wysocki (Concord)

1978 – Jane Anderson (Providence), Vinnie D'Alessandro (Hartford), Tom Eblen (Louisville), Ruth Gersh (Richmond), Monte Hayes (Caracas), Matt Mygatt (New Orleans), Doug Pizac (Los Angeles), Charles Richards (Dallas), Reed Saxon (Los Angeles), Steve Wilson (Boston)

1979 – Jim Abrams (Tokyo), Peter Banda (Albuquerque), Brian Bland (Los Angeles), Scotty Comegys (Chicago), John Daniszewski (Philadelphia), Frances D’Emilio (San Francisco), Pat Fergus (Albany), Ken Fields (St. Louis), Brian Friedman (Des Moines), Sally Hale (Dallas), Susana Hayward (New York), Jill Lawrence (Harrisburg), Thomas Leone (Harrisburg), Warren Levinson (New York), Joe Madison (New York), Barry Massey (Kansas City), Phillip Rawls (Nashville), John Redman (London), John Rice (Carson City), Kurt Rossi (New York), Linda Sargent (Little Rock), Joel Stashenko (Albany), Rebecca Trounson (Denver), Robert Wielaard (Brussels)

1980 – Alan Adler (Cleveland), Christopher Bacey (New York), Diane M. Balk (Indianapolis), Jeff Barnard (Providence), Nancy Benac (New York), Peter Coy (Albany), Mark Duncan (Cleveland), Bill Kaczor (Tallahassee), Mitchell Landsberg (Reno), Mike Mazzo (East Brunswick), Kevin Noblet (New Orleans), Lee Perryman (Tampa), Jim Rowley (Baltimore), David Speer (Jackson), Hal Spencer (Providence), Jo Steck (Los Angeles), Carol J. Williams (Seattle)

1981 – Paul Davenport (Phoenix), Dan Day (Milwaukee), John Flesher (Raleigh), Ray Formanek Jr. (St. Louis), Alan Fram (Newark), Debra Hale-Shelton (Little Rock), Len Iwanski (Bismarck), Ed McCullough (Albany), Drusilla Menaker (Philadelphia), Kim Mills (New York), Mark Mittelstadt (Des Moines), Susan Okula (Hartford), Roland Rochet (New York), Larry Ryckman (Carson City NV), Lee Siegel (Seattle), Marty Steinberg (Baltimore), Bill Vogrin (Kansas City)

1982 – Dorothy Abernathy (Little Rock), Al Behrman (Cincinnati), Tom Cohen (Jefferson City), John Epperson (Chicago), Ric Feld (Atlanta), Kiki Lascaris Georgio (New York), Nick Geranios (Helena), Mike Gracia (Washington), Howard Gros (New Orleans), Mark Humphrey (Nashville), Dan Juric (East Brunswick), Robert Kimball (New York), Rob Kozloff (Detroit), Bill Menezes (Kansas City), Jack Messmer (New York), David Ochs (New York), Eric Risberg (San Francisco), Cecilia White (Los Angeles)

1983 – Elise Amendola (Boston), Edward L. Birk (Boston), Donna Cassata (Albany), Scott Charton (Little Rock), Sue Cross (Columbus), Mark Elias (Chicago), Mary Esch (Albany), Doug Fisher (Columbus), David Ginsburg (Washington), Lisa Hamm-Greenawalt (Washington), Diana Heidgerd (Miami), Kevin McGill (New Orleans), Sheila Norman-Culp (New York), Carol Esler Ochs (New York), Jim Reindl (Detroit), Carol Riha (Detroit), Amy Sancetta (Philadelphia), Angie Lamoli Silvestry (New Orleans), Rande Simpson (New York), Dave Skidmore (Milwaukee), Barbara Worth (New York)

1984 – Laurie Asseo (Phoenix), David Beard (Chicago), Owen Canfield (Oklahoma City), Raf Casert (Brussels), Wayne Chin (Washington), Jack Elliott (Oklahoma City), Jim Heintz (Columbus), Candice Hughes (Dallas), Danny Johnston (Little Rock), Kelly P. Kissel (New Orleans), Hank Kurz (New York), Joe Macenka (Richmond), Paul Newberry (Atlanta), Eva Parziale (San Francisco), Walt Rastetter (New York), Malcolm Ritter (New York), Keith Robinson (Columbus), Cliff Schiappa (Kansas City), David Sedeño (Dallas), Andrew Selsky (Cheyenne), Pedro Sotomayor (Los Angeles), Lindsey Tanner (Chicago), Patty Woodrow (Washington)

1985 – Dennis Anderson (Los Angeles), Dennis Conrad (Cleveland), George Garties (Los Angeles), Beth Grace (Columbus), Bob McHugh (Newark), Betty Kumpf Pizac (Los Angeles)

1986 – Joni Baluh Beall (Richmond), David Beard (Jackson), Tom Coyne (Columbia, SC), Dave DeGrace (Milwaukee), Alan Flippen (Louisville), Paul Geitner (Montgomery), Jim Gerberich (San Francisco), Howard Goldberg (New York), Mark Hamrick (Dallas), Sandy Kozel (Washington), Arlene Levinson (Boston), Robert Meyers (London), David Morris (Harrisburg), Susan Ragan (New York), Lori Dodge Rose (Jefferson City), Bob Seavey (Lima), Barbara Woike (New York)

1987 – Donna Abu-Nasr (Beirut), Jim Anderson (Mexico City), Dave Bauder (Albany), Bob Bellafiore (Albany), Chuck Burton (Charlotte), Ted Duncombe (Philadelphia), Beth Harris (Indianapolis), Lynne Harris (New York), Steven L. Herman (Charleston, WVa), Elaine Kurtenbach (Tokyo), Rosemarie Mileto (New York), John Rogers (Los Angeles), Julia Rubin (Denver)

1988 – Chris Carola (Albany), Peg Coughlin (Pierre), Frank Eltman (New York), Kathy Gannon (Islamabad), Steve Hart (Washington), Melissa Jordan (Sioux Falls), Mark Lennihan (New York), Margaret Lillard (Nashville), Bill Pilc (New York), Philip Rosenbaum (New York), Kelley Shannon (Dallas), Darlene Superville (Newark)

1989 – Charlie Arbogast (Trenton), Susan Boyle (New York), John Braunreiter (Milwaukee), Ted Bridis (Oklahoma City), Paul Randall Dickerson (Nashville), Katie Fairbank (Indianapolis), Ron Fournier (Little Rock), Ann Gibson (Richmond), Josh Lemieux (Kansas City), Teresa Walker (Nashville), Michelle Williams (Nashville)

1990 – David Boe (Chicago), Gary Fine (Washington), Frank Fisher (Jackson), Ken Giglio (Washington), Dick Lipsey (Kansas City), Kathryn Loomans (Washington), Dan Perry (Bucharest), Steve Sakson (Baltimore), Sean Thompson (New York)

1991 – Amanda Kell (Richmond), Suzanne Mast Lee (Washingon), Santiago Lyon (Cairo), Lisa Pane (Hartford), Wayne Partlow (Washington), Ricardo Reif (Caracas), Bill Sikes (Buffalo), Susan Walsh (Boston)

1992 – Emery P. Dalesio (Trenton), Jennifer Garske (Washington), Kerry Huggard (New York), Wilfredo Lee (Washington)

1993 – Connie Farrow (St. Louis), Shawn Pogatchnik (London), Jim Salter (St. Louis), Tim Sullivan (New York), Adam Yeomans (Tallahassee)

1994 - Bill Gorman (Washington), Glen Johnson (Boston), Ralph Siegel (Trenton), Margie Szaroleta (Washington)

1995 – Kathy Barks Hoffman (Lansing), Ray Long (Springfield IL), Elaine Thompson (Houston), Donna Tommelleo (Hartford)

1996 – Patricia N. Casillo (New York), Burt Herman (Sacramento), John Khin (New York)

1997 – J. David Ake (Chicago), Peter Banda (Albuquerque), Martha Bellisle (Carson City), Kia Breaux (Kansas City), Chuck Burton (Charlotte), Pamela Collins (Dallas), Aaron Jackson (New York), Rachel La Corte (Miami), Madhu Krishnappa Maron (New York), Jim Suhr (Detroit), Jennifer Yates (Baltimore)

1998 – Alan Clendenning (New Orleans), Guthrie Collin (Albany), David Koenig (Dallas), Mitch Stacy (London), Richard Turkheimer (New Orleans)

1999 – Melinda Deslatte (Raleigh), Stacey Plaisance (New Orleans), Laura Rauch (Las Vegas), Terry Spencer (Miami)

2000 – Carrie Antlfinger (Milwaukee), Betsy Blaney (Dallas), Gary Gentile (Los Angeles), Ken Miller (Oklahoma City), Kevin O'Sullivan (New York), Rhonda Shafner (New York), Tom Tait (Las Vegas), Juliet Williams (Milwaukee)

2001 - Mike Weissenstein (New York)

2002 - Michael Casey (Jakarta)

2003 - Lolita Baldor (Washington), Valerie Komor (New York)

2004 - Jim Baltzelle (Dallas)

2005 – Ric Brack (Chicago), Richard Jacobsen (Mexico City), Frank Jordans (London), Angie Yack (Washington)

2006 – Jon Gambrell (Little Rock)

2008 - Steve Braun (Washington)

2011 - Joseph B. Frederick (New York)

2013 - Alex Sanz (Atlanta)

2014 - Peter Costanzo (New York)

2024 - Gabriela Aoun (San Diego)

Got a photo or story to share?

Connecting is a daily newsletter published Monday through Friday that reaches 2,000 retired and former Associated Press employees, present-day employees, and news industry and journalism school colleagues. It began in 2013. Past issues can be found by clicking Connecting Archive in the masthead. Its author, Paul Stevens, retired from the AP in 2009 after a 36-year career as a newsman in Albany and St. Louis, correspondent in Wichita, chief of bureau in Albuquerque, Indianapolis and Kansas City, and Central Region vice president based in Kansas City.

Got a story to share? A favorite memory of your AP days? Don't keep them to yourself. Share with your colleagues by sending to Ye Olde Connecting Editor. And don't forget to include photos!

Here are some suggestions:

- Connecting "selfies" - a word and photo self-profile of you and your career, and what you are doing today. Both for new members and those who have been with us a while.

- Second chapters - You finished a great career. Now tell us about your second (and third and fourth?) chapters of life.

- Spousal support - How your spouse helped in supporting your work during your AP career. 

- My most unusual story - tell us about an unusual, off the wall story that you covered.

- "A silly mistake that you make"- a chance to 'fess up with a memorable mistake in your journalistic career.

- Multigenerational AP families - profiles of families whose service spanned two or more generations.

- Volunteering - benefit your colleagues by sharing volunteer stories - with ideas on such work they can do themselves.

- First job - How did you get your first job in journalism?

- Most unusual place a story assignment took you.

Paul Stevens

Editor, Connecting newsletter

paulstevens46@gmail.com