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.
[...]
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."
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 its rolled Rs 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 about Hispanics, journalism, and much, much more on www.600words.com