The newspaper that you are reading – either in print or online – simply will not be the same after today.
That’s because John Roman will no longer work here.
That’s something we at the Daily Times have not been able to say since 1971.
In the 39 years in between, John was a steadfast presence and integral part of some of the biggest stories the Daily Times has ever covered.
His bylines amount to a Top 10 list of our biggest covered: The great Chester Creek flood of 1971 that killed 10 people; the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and subsequent standoff at the John E. du Pont estate; the shooting rampage by Sylvia Seegrist at the Springfield Mall.
But it’s another story that for me will always be synonymous with John’s byline.
Nick Yarris was convicted in the 1981 rape-murder of Linda Mae Craig, an Upper Chichester woman who was abducted as she walked to her car in the parking lot of the Tri-State Mall in Claymont, Del.
Yarris was sentenced to death row. He always maintained his innocence.
One of those who took an early interest in the case was John Roman. He developed a relationship with Yarris, and actually went to visit him after his escape from prison and re-arrest in Florida.
John started writing about the DNA evidence that Yarris insisted would prove he did not commit the crime.
>From time to time, Yarris would call me here at the office. There was only reporter he trusted, who he would talk to. He always asked for John Roman.
John was there at his parents’ home in Southwest Philly when Yarris arrived there after being freed from prison after a 12-year legal battle to prove his innocence.
But it was the care and style that John gave everyday stories that made him a very special journalist.
I guess he was a little like me. He was old-school. Unflappable. I never once saw John lose his temper in the newsroom. It’s a trait I could only dream of.
All of us here at the Daily Times have learned much from John over the years. Now we will have to fend on without him.
And you, dear readers, have lost a trusted byline.
John Roman was a newspaperman. And a damn good one.
We will miss him dearly. I think you will, too.
That’s because John Roman will no longer work here.
That’s something we at the Daily Times have not been able to say since 1971.
In the 39 years in between, John was a steadfast presence and integral part of some of the biggest stories the Daily Times has ever covered.
His bylines amount to a Top 10 list of our biggest covered: The great Chester Creek flood of 1971 that killed 10 people; the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and subsequent standoff at the John E. du Pont estate; the shooting rampage by Sylvia Seegrist at the Springfield Mall.
But it’s another story that for me will always be synonymous with John’s byline.
Nick Yarris was convicted in the 1981 rape-murder of Linda Mae Craig, an Upper Chichester woman who was abducted as she walked to her car in the parking lot of the Tri-State Mall in Claymont, Del.
Yarris was sentenced to death row. He always maintained his innocence.
One of those who took an early interest in the case was John Roman. He developed a relationship with Yarris, and actually went to visit him after his escape from prison and re-arrest in Florida.
John started writing about the DNA evidence that Yarris insisted would prove he did not commit the crime.
>From time to time, Yarris would call me here at the office. There was only reporter he trusted, who he would talk to. He always asked for John Roman.
John was there at his parents’ home in Southwest Philly when Yarris arrived there after being freed from prison after a 12-year legal battle to prove his innocence.
But it was the care and style that John gave everyday stories that made him a very special journalist.
I guess he was a little like me. He was old-school. Unflappable. I never once saw John lose his temper in the newsroom. It’s a trait I could only dream of.
All of us here at the Daily Times have learned much from John over the years. Now we will have to fend on without him.
And you, dear readers, have lost a trusted byline.
John Roman was a newspaperman. And a damn good one.
We will miss him dearly. I think you will, too.
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