Jack Kramer

Kramer, Jack
Jack Kramer, age 65, of Branford, formerly of North Haven, passed away on May 5, 2020, after a battle with cancer.
Jack is survived by his wife, Audrey Kramer (née Ellis), his children, Tamara (Robert Canning) and Kyle, and his brother, Richard Kramer. He was predeceased by his mother, Lucille Comen Kramer, his father, Harry Kramer, and his brother, Barry Kramer. In late 2019, in the middle of his cancer fight, Jack drafted the following column as a reflection on his career and family. We share his words, as he, as always, said it best. A celebration of life will be planned for later in 2020. His family would also like to acknowledge the incredible staff at the St. Raphael's Campus on Verdi 4 West.
Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be made to the Connecticut Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists (Checks can be made out to The CT SPJ Foundation and sent to CT SPJ at P.O. Box 5071, Woodbridge, CT 06525. (Please include Jack Kramer in the memo line.)

Goodbye, Keep Up the Good Fight
I'll try and keep it short and on point.
Due to a difficult cancer battle, I am putting on hold, for now, a 43-year journalism career.
While I have held much higher positions during that career, I want to reflect on the work I've done for two publications the last four years.
The missions of CTNewsJunkie and Connecticut Patch on the surface could not be more different.
One a staunch watchdog of state government; another who digs into the "chicken dinner" and much, much more of the police, school, municipal news of Connecticut towns -- often before anyone else.

But the more work I did for both I realized at the core they were really filling voids, huge vacuums that legacy news organizations had left behind in towns and the state of Connecticut.

For NewsJunkie, I have written hundreds of stories. Two issues stick out for me where I think our coverage has made a difference.

I'll never forget that moment when I walked into the Guilford Community Center a few years ago and expected a few people, a few reporters, the usual crew to be there. I was blown away as I was hit full frontal with a crowd of hundreds as a Guilford parent talked about the "opioid crisis" that had claimed the life of her son, Nick, in 2013.

I've gone on to write dozens of stories about that crisis that takes three lives in the state of Connecticut every single day. Thank you, Sue Kruczek, for being the person who brought the issue to mine and the state of Connecticut's attention.

A few short years later I was back in Guilford -- telling the sad story of the Song family.

Ethan Song was 15 years old when he fatally shot himself in January 2018 in Guilford while playing with guns with a friend. Now, due to the advocacy of the Song family and I'd like to think in part because of the scores of stories about "Ethan's Law," we have the safest gun storage laws in the country in Connecticut.

That law may soon become the model for similar federal legislation. I should note that "Ethan's Law" passed with strong, bipartisan support in both chambers and was quickly signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont.

The good news is I see a return -- the past few years -- to good old-fashioned town news reporting and the reporting staff at the state Capitol is second to none.

I should have paid more attention to that coverage when I spent more than a decade-and-half as editor in New Haven, but I'm glad Christine Stuart, who is as good as there is in this field, helped me join the cause four years ago.

To Christine, her husband Doug Hardy, what can I say -- thanks for pulling an old reporter off the scrap heap.

I also believe the core, basic values of town journalism have made Patch a player in Connecticut -- and -- again, has forced legacy organizations to do a somewhat better job at returning to their core mission of reporting local news.

To Brian McCready, my ex-colleague in New Haven, we had some fun the past few years. I'm particularly proud of the accountability that Patch has re-established in many town boards. Wouldn't have happened without solid reporting, combing through town websites for minutes of meetings -- oftentimes meetings where reporters no longer routinely attended.

A bit about my family: my beautiful daughter Tammy who is helping to lead the good fight at Planned Parenthood. Do what's right, Tam. Don't look back.

My son, Kyle, is a market research analyst who lives in Brooklyn. He's got a hard exterior but beneath it would do anything for anybody.

Most importantly my wife, Audrey, a more than decade breast cancer survivor herself. Her message to me: be positive, you'll beat this. Ok, dear.

To the thousands of those who I have interviewed for NewsJunkie and Patch, thanks for helping me do the only job I ever wanted -- except centerfielder or shortstop for the New York Yankees.

I won't be writing - at least for awhile - but I'll be reading.

It's been my pleasure.

Jack

Share a memory and sign Jack's guest book online at www.iovanne.com. The Iovanne Funeral Home, Inc. is in care of his arrangements.