Reflection / Mike Krokos

Thank you, Jack, for your tireless commitment to our newspaper

In this week’s issue of The Criterion, you will read about John F. “Jack” Fink’s decision to “retire” from penning his weekly column, “From the Editor Emeritus,” on our Perspectives page.

We, of course, have mixed emotions about Jack stepping away from his longtime commitment to our publication, but we are more than happy to share that he will continue as a member of our editorial committee who will still pen editorials, and write other pieces on occasion as well.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I had heard of Jack long before I became editor of The Criterion in late 2005.

Not to embarrass him, but he was—and still is—an icon in the Catholic press. His work with Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) publishing company, The Criterion and as a member of the Catholic Press Association (CPA) for decades—not years—makes him one of its most respected members. And the mention of these three organizations only offers a brief glimpse into the tremendous work Jack has done for the universal Church.

Jack’s hard work was recognized when he won the St. Francis de Sales award—the CPA’s highest honor—in 1981.

Though it was before my time—I was a senior in high school—my “veteran” press colleagues told me they were delighted to see Jack’s outstanding commitment to the Catholic press highlighted. In their opinion, there was no one more deserving.

I still remember my introduction to Jack’s work at The Criterion: Greg Otolski, our current director of communications who was then editor of the newspaper, told me about Jack’s weekly column and his longstanding commitment to our mission as then-Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein’s primary tool of evangelization.

“Jack writes a weekly column, editorials and never misses a deadline,” Greg said.

I took Greg’s words with a grain of salt: Everyone occasionally misses a deadline, I thought.

Nearly 13 years later, I must sheepishly say I am again eating those words. Like Archbishop Buechlein—who never missed a deadline in his 19 years as publisher of The Criterion—Jack demonstrated the same commitment to our newspaper.

Beyond his column and editorials, Jack’s contributions to our annual Christmas issue were a must read. He wrote Easter columns, too. And when we asked him to contribute when The Criterion celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010, Jack stepped up, went to work, and wrote a well-researched piece on the history of our publication. (Yes, it easily arrived before the deadline.)

Though there are umpteen more stories about Jack’s “history” with the Catholic press worth sharing, I believe this one best demonstrates his longetivity. (I don’t think I’ve shared this one with Jack.)

During the 2015 Catholic Media Conference in St. Louis, The Criterion was recognized with several awards for excellence in journalism.

After the awards program, people gathered to congratulate each other and pick up their awards certificates.

A gentleman, probably in his 50s, came up and congratulated me for our publication’s recognition, including an award won in editorial writing by John F. Fink.

He said, “Wow, it’s great to see the Fink family tradition in journalism is continuing.”

He then asked, “Is that Jack’s Fink son who won that honor? “No,” I replied.

“His grandson?” he asked. “Nope,” I said.

“That can’t be the Jack Fink who was editor of The Criterion back in the 1980’s?” he said.

“Yes,” I responded, “it certainly is.”

From Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and the staff of The Criterion and our readers, thank you, Jack, for 70 years of unwavering commitment to the Catholic press, including 30-plus years to The Criterion.

God willing, we hope we see your byline on our editorials and in our newspaper for years to come.
 

(Mike Krokos is editor of The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.) †