Ledger-Enquirer reporter to retire on April Fool’s Day

Sunday is Easter. And April Fool’s Day. And Larry Gierer’s last day at the Ledger-Enquirer.

That’s right, Larry’s retiring after more than 43 years as a reporter and editor.

The other day, I asked Larry what he liked most about working here.

“The people,” he said without hesitation.

He mentioned reporters and editors and people in the composing room.

“I liked working with everybody, except for…” and then he gave the name of one person who worked here a long time ago.

“Nobody liked him either,” Larry said.

Of course not. If Larry doesn’t like you, you can at least take consolation in the fact that he was probably the last person on earth not to like you.

Some reporters have big personalities – again, no names here – and you notice them as soon as they arrive on the scene. They’ve already figured out the questions they’re going to ask and the story they’re going to write.

Not Larry. When he arrives on the scene, he acts like just other guy on the street trying to figure out what’s going on. He watches and listens.

I’ve always thought the best attribute a reporter could have is curiosity, and Larry has that in spades.

He considers everybody to have an interesting story and to be an expert at something, and when he’s talking to a person it’s his mission to discover what that is.

Don’t get me wrong. Larry’s not one of those sunshine-pumping lovers of people. I’m pretty sure he’s never read “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” He’s certainly not trying to win anybody over.

But Larry cares deeply about people, both the people he writes about and the people who are going to read what he’s written.

In the newsroom we call the subjects of his stories “Larry’s People,” because few other reporters could have found them.

Larry’s held a lot of different jobs in the newsroom. He started out as a sports reporter and still calls getting paid to attend SEC football and World Series games the highlight of his career. He’s covered features and crime and government. Lately, he’s covered a little bit of everything.

He’s brought the same curiosity, understanding of people, and eye for a good story to everything he’s done.

The last thing on Larry’s mind is winning awards or pleasing anyone outside of our readers.

In 2003, Larry was curious about a sports medicine program that Auburn University has for dogs and horses, so he wrote a story about it. Then he moved on to the next story.

Months later, I got word that Larry had won the Michael DeBakey Journalism Award for the coverage of biomedical research in laboratory animals.

When I gave Larry the news, he said something like, “Well, I suppose those things happen.”

He was flown to Washington, D.C., for a banquet in his honor. He got $3,000 and a heart-shaped trophy created by a Canadian glass artist.

“I try to introduce the readers to something they might not know about and that might be helpful to them,” Larry said at the time. “That’s why you get in the business, to keep people aware of what’s going on.”

Larry’s been doing that for 43 years.

On April Fool’s Day, he calls it quits, a bit of timing that he seemed to enjoy.

I kept hoping he was joking, but he said once you fill out all that retirement paperwork, there’s no turning back.

Well earned, my friend.

This story was originally published March 30, 2018 at 1:05 AM with the headline "Ledger-Enquirer reporter to retire on April Fool’s Day."