Rust Belt Reporter: John Gallagher in Conversation with W. Kim Heron

The Author Series Committee at DPL is pleased to welcome veteran journalist John Gallagher, who will be sharing insights from his new memoir Rust Belt Reporter (Wayne State University Press, 2024). Reflecting on his life's work as a reporter, including 32 years with the Detroit Free Press, John merges memoir with an insider's account of the challenges facing Detroit and other Rust Belt cities, as well as the tensions inside local newsrooms throughout the country - and the path forward.
John will be joined by his friend and fellow journalist W. Kim Heron, who has worked for The Kresge Foundation since 2013.

Copies of Rust Belt Reporter will be available for sale from Detroit's own Source Booksellers.

About John: John Gallagher is a veteran journalist, author, and authority on urban affairs, particularly relating to Rust Belt cities. Educated at DePaul University in Chicago and Columbia University in New York, he joined the Detroit Free Press in 1987 as an urban affairs writer and continued reporting there for 32 years. A resident of Detroit, John continues to do freelance journalism, book projects, and public speaking.

About Kim: W. Kim Heron joined The Kresge Foundation in 2013 after more than 30 years in journalism and broadcasting. As senior communications officer, he provides strategic communications support to the foundation’s Detroit Program.

Kim previously worked as a newspaper editor, copy editor, reporter, critic and photographer for Metro Times (Detroit), Detroit Sunday Journal, Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal. He has also been a TV co-host (Back Stage Pass on WTVS) and hosted a Sunday night jazz radio program for more than 15 years on WDET-FM. Kim also has served on the board of the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

In 2013, he was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, which cited his 16 years as managing editor and then editor of Metro Times, “a paper that promoted arts and culture in metro Detroit while also asking the hard questions that viewed in a different light the issues of the day.”

Kim earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University and a master’s in library science from the University of Michigan.

Seating will be available on a first-come, first serve basis. Questions? Email [email protected] for help!

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