Statement from President Obama on the Passing of Chicago Reporter Carlos Hernandez Gomez

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

I’m sad to say I never had the unique pleasure of meeting the celebrated journalist Carlos Hernandez Gomez.

This is how his obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times described him:

"Carlos Hernandez Gomez, political reporter for CLTV, stood out among Chicago reporters not only because of his old-school fedora, but also because of his encyclopedic knowledge of Chicago politics.

He didn’t need notes to tell his audience who was backing whom in a campaign, why a specific endorsement was so important — or why two politicians couldn’t stand each other.

Off camera, he was the life of the party, a friendly, down-to-earth storyteller who would do spot-on renditions of politicians’ speaking styles — often at their request.

Mr. Hernandez died Sunday evening following a battle with cancer that was diagnosed on Christmas Day, 2008. He was 36.

"Carlos was more than a great reporter and a great friend to hundreds of people. He had a great heart," said Sun-Times investigative reporter Steve Warmbir, who was best man at Mr. Hernandez’s wedding.

"In a business filled with cynics, he was one of the kindest and most decent people you would ever want to meet."

Mr. Hernandez grew up in the Chicago neighborhoods of Lincoln Park and Portage Park, and was fiercely proud of his ancestral home of Puerto Rico.

A graduate of Quigley Seminary, he attended DePaul University and was an editor at the DePaulian, the school’s student newspaper.

He covered local and national politics for WBEZ-FM and the Chicago Reporter before joining CLTV in 2005.

"To a certain extent he was a throwback," said U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, who visited Mr. Hernandez at Northwestern Memorial Hospital Sunday. "He wanted to dress the part with the glasses and the hat. He was kind of retro. He decried modern journalism where you do a superficial story as fast as you can."

"Coming from public radio, he was determined not to dumb down the news. He would rather do a thorough story about a complicated issue and he explained it. He had this great sense of humor and could do great impressions of elected officials. With his boyish sense of humor he made us all laugh and smile."

Survivors include his wife, WGN-TV reporter Randi Belisomo Hernandez; father, Carlos Hernandez Sr.; mother and stepfather, Myrna and Tom Kinsella and brother Jason.

Funeral arrangements were pending

President Barack Obama released the following statement at 12:45 today:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 18, 2010　

Statement from the President on the Passing of Carlos Hernandez Gomez

"I was saddened to hear of the passing of Carlos Hernandez Gomez.　 Our paths first crossed when I was a State Senator.　 He was a throwback in the style of Chicago’s storied political reporters.　 He loved Chicago, and he relentlessly sought to tell its story with the commitment to truth and the insatiable curiosity that any good reporter has to have.　 I quickly learned that when you saw his sharp fedora in a crowd, hard questions were coming.　 But Carlos always played it straight.　 And I always enjoyed our interactions in Springfield, Chicago, or on the campaign trail.　 Carlos was a role model to many, and an integral part of the Chicago story he strived to tell.　 My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Randi and his family."

##

Mr. Gomez had the same profound impact on the city as many of the stalwart reporters Chicago is famous for but he did it as one of a very, very few Hispanic journalists working today – and, most notably to me, as a journalist who neither highlighted his heritage for any sort of gain, nor shrank away from it.

My very favorite part of his reporting was when he said his name! It was always this perfect, perfect English throughout the report and then his perfectly pronounced name in all it’s rolled R’s glory. I loved that!

Yet people would complain about it to me! They were literally surprised, or offended at the aural intrusion, they felt he was waiving his heritage in their faces when the guy was simply just pronouncing his name correctly.

Either way, people took notice of Carlos Hernandez Gomez – and not mostly for his name. He was a respected and knowledgeable journalist with a style all his own. A real American original.

And he will be missed.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Comments

[Salim Muwakkil]

I thought I was the only one cracking up at Carlos's hilarious impersonations of some pompous Chicago pol, but now I know he had that kind of relationship with many people. That was his way; Carolos made everyone feel as if they were a special friend with a unique connection. We had many good times and I will miss my good friend, my brother.

[Edgar Vargas, Producer ABC7]

The last article I read from Carlos Herandez Gomez was printed in Cafe Magazine. (read "Used, Chewed and Spit by the Machine" July 2009. If you know anything about the Southeast side the article rings true to the core of Chicago politics.

I never met him, but follwed his work, because he was an insightful journalist.

!Que Viva Carlos Hernandez Gomez!

[Reggie Gonzales]

I never met Mr. Carlos Hernandez Gomez, but I think I would have liked to had a cup of java with him and talk about news reporting. Many take the newspaper for granted but those hard working reporters are sometimes the vanguard of our civil liberties and making government and corporations more accountable to the people.
Peace.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=521667679]

I met Carlos back in the late 1990s when he worked for Extra News Paper. He was covering my organization's fight to protect our community festival from being derailed by our local alderman. I liked his style and his critical attitude about power and politics. Few jouralists have that old-school, practical talent of sifting through spin and BS that he did. This is a great loss for Chicago.

[Spencer Maus]

Nothing specific. My overall all experience was that he was extremely sharp, intelligent, knowledgeable, and a very, very tough and very, very fair/honest reporter. My impression was that he would not stay long in Chicago or CLTV. He was definitely destined for the CNN, CNBC or major network Washington DC bureau. He was one of the really good reporters, who was ticketed for greatness.

[Benito Herrera, Jr.]

I first met Carlos Hernandez-Gomez in 2008 in Forest Park, IL when The Beatle Brothers band was performing at a local bar. (he was a huge Beatles fan according to Phil Angotti, a member of the Beatle Brothers band). I recognized Carlos right away from having seen him appear several times on Chicago Tonight WTTW Channel 11. He was very easy to approach and was also a super cool guy. I asked Carlos how he arrived at his current stage in his career and he said "man I hustled, I just really enjoyed being around people and around exciting situations, I wanted to be in the know", and that he was, very sharp minded; talented and also very street savvy.
Rest In Paz.

[john viramontes]

I never met him but I vote for him Chicago Latino List 2010