Thank you, Bob Estabrook

Last week, Robert Estabrook, editor and publisher emeritus of The Lakeville Journal Company (including The Millerton News, which he purchased in 1972),was recognized for his long and distinguished career in journalism by being inducted into the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame. This Hall of Fame was created by the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and the award was given at their annual dinner.

Two other longtime journalists were honored along with Estabrook, both from TV broadcasting: Tom Monahan of WVIT-TV in Hartford and Patrick Sheehan, formerly of a range of TV stations in Connecticut, who helped found CT-N, the Connecticut equivalent of C-SPAN. All three gave inspiring speeches at the event last Thursday, but for those of us from the Tri-State region, Estabrook’s was the one that stood out.

He sets the standard for all who work at The Lakeville Journal Company’s three community weekly newspapers, and is a constant inspiration as a journalist, a champion for open information, a writer and a person. He’s in the office every morning he’s in town, and faithfully writes his weekly column, "Perambulating," with an eye on international, national and very local events — from what’s happening in the Middle East to what’s happening in his own backyard. His insights can be provocative or poignant, but are always the result of boundless intellectual curiosity.

Estabrook has been honored many times before, having been inducted into the New England Press Association Hall of Fame almost a decade ago, in addition to having received many other journalistic awards over a long career. It seems that we who have had him in the Tri-State region since the early 1970s may take our good fortune for granted at times. This is our opportunity to say congratulations, and thank you, Bob Estabrook, for your untiring commitment to these hills and their towns and their people. You have made a real difference in the way life has evolved throughout the Tri-State area over the past 40 years.