In 1967 a young idealistic journalist with a heightened sense of hypocrisy walked into the newsroom of what was at that time the Rockville Journal to start his first job in the news business. In 1974 he was named managing editor and in January of next year that same young man will walk out of what is now the headquarters of the Journal Inquirer, on Progress Drive in Manchester, at age 67, with his ideals and integrity uncorrupted by the decades.
Chris Powell announced his retirement Wednesday.
For much of the last five decades Powell has distinguished himself as a daily seeker of truth. For much of that time he occupied a lonely post as one of the few conservative political writers in the state. His views on a variety of subjects made him stand out in the crowd. He has been an advocate for the expansion of Freedom of Information Laws. He has never lost his disdain for hypocrisy of all kinds, but especially the hypocrisy of those in power.
He has done his best to meet the folklore standards of a gruff newspaperman – born a curmudgeon in a log cabin he built with his own hands – but he has also shown great passion and compassion for the issues and people he has covered over the years, including the case of Richard LaPointe and the pursuit of justice for Kara Lacynski, a reporter who was killed while employed by the JI.
One of his signature issues however was his one man crusade to shame Connecticut Senate Democrats into removing the portrait of former Lt. Governor T. Frank Hayes from their caucus room in the state capitol. Why dozens of current and former state senators have consistently found it in their political interest to protect the legacy of the corrupt Hayes is hard to explain, but a fitting gesture to Powell’s distinguished career as a chronicler of the capitol might be to hold a ceremony to take the painting down and allow Powell to place it into a crate.
Though Powell is retiring from the JI he intends to continue writing on current affairs, in the best traditions of Twain, with a Pen Warmed Up in Hell. Mr. Hayes, this fight is not over.
