By: E&P Staff Lon Grahnke, who was editor of the Chicago Sun-Times' now-defunct suburban paper and became the tabloid's long-time television critic, died Friday at 56, several years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
In a Sun-Times obit written by staff reporter Thomas Frisbie, Managing Editor Don Hayner said Grahnke had a great passion for his work and a depth of knowledge to go with it."
Martin Yant, a weekend editor a the old Chicago Daily News who hired Mr. Grahnke at the start of his career, told the Sun-Times that Grahnke was "the best copy editor" he had ever worked with.
"The breadth of his knowledge and the detail of his knowledge were hard to believe," Yant told the newspaper.
Grahnke started at his journalism career in 1972 at Suburban Week, an insert for both the Sun-Times and Daily News. When the publication became a standalone daily called the Suburban Sun-Times, Grahnke became its editor.
As entertainment editor of the Sun-Times, he headed up the creation of the pullout weekend section in 1985. He was the newspaper's TV critic through the 1990s.
He took an extended sick leave before retiring in early 2001.
Grahnke is survived by his wife, Gwen Gotsch, two sons, Kris and Kurt; a daughter, Eliza; his brother Gary; and his parents, Grace and Arthur Grahnke.
The Sun-Times said a service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Grace Lutheran Church, 7300 Division St., River Forest, Ill.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here