RIP, Tim Cuprisin

Milwaukee lost one of the good guys today with the passing of Tim Cuprisin:

It is with great sadness that we must announce the passing of our friend and colleague, Tim Cuprisin, OnMilwaukee.com's media columnist.

Tim died Wednesday morning after a short but valiant fight with melanoma.

Cuprisin joined OnMilwaukee.com in 2009 after many years with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His sense of unbiased, journalistic integrity served a model for our team of young and veteran journalists. In our brief time with Tim, he impacted all of us greatly with his professionalism, sense of humor and eagerness to embrace new media.

OnMilwaukee.com also announced that they are giving a fitting tribute to Tim by naming their editorial office after him. Andy Tarnoff also has a very moving tribute to him.

I lamented the day that I learned that Tim was being pushed out by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was the first step in what ultimately led me to stop by subscription to the paper. I was not the only one to express concern that day either.

Tim was a great source of information when it came to the follies of our local squawk radio hosts, from the temper tantrums of James Harris to the inane behaviors of Mark Belling to the ultimate demise of Jessica McBride's painful time on the radio.

I held Tim in such esteem that one of my earliest honors as a blogger was learning that Tim read my stuff regularly. That made me try harder and inspired me to try to be half as good as he was.

On top of his skill, he was a genuinely nice man that was more than willing to have a conversation or to unhesitating helping a person out with some information.

So when I heard the news today of his passing, after the initial shock, I felt the pang of losing not only a great and respected columnist, but a friend.

Milwaukee did indeed lose one of the greats today.

Stuart Carlson Still The Best

From OnMilwaukee.com's TV and radio writer Tim Cuprisin:

Stuart keeps drawing praise: My former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel co-worker Stuart Carlson is now, as he puts it, "laboring in the solitary vineyards of syndication."

He's still an ace political cartoonist, as shown by his inclusion in Time Magazine's list of of the 10 best editorial cartoons of 2009, with his take on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cuprisin and Carlson were both pushed out the door by MJS due to their continuous budget and staff cutting.

Carlson, as the blurb points out, is syndicated and award winning (although this one is my all time favorite by him).

Cuprisin obviously got another gig at OnMilwaukee.Com.

And what of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that pushed both of these class acts out the door? Well, they're not doing so hot.