This morning Ross Ramsey, our beloved executive editor and co-founder, told his Texas Tribune colleagues that he plans to retire on May 1. It would be inaccurate to say I thought this day would never come. I knew it would. Ross and I have been talking about it for the better part of a year. I confess I hoped it would come much later. Even with a lot of advance warning, I\u2019m broken up.<\/p>
I\u2019ve never had a more trustworthy, more loyal, more decent and more generous friend and colleague than Ross, and I know everyone at the Trib feels the same way. He\u2019s enriched my life over the last 13 years \u2014 he\u2019s made me a better CEO and a better journalist and a better person by his example. There\u2019s no one I rely on more \u2014 no one whose judgment, counsel or blessing I seek more or heed more.<\/p>
In untold ways he\u2019s made the Tribune better. Without his contributions as a writer, editor, mentor, steady hand, diplomat, historian, backstop, puncher of sacred cows, resolver of moral quandaries, calmer of waters and sayer of sooth, we surely would not be what we are today. No him, no this. No him, no us. Our success is his legacy.<\/p>
Ross did not have to join our founder John Thornton and me at the start of this crazy ride. He had a long, lucrative career as a reporter and Capitol wise man. But he had the same voices in his head that we did. He was bothered by what journalism was becoming, or un-becoming, and he wanted to be part of a solution. He helped us refine our idea, persuaded young smarties at the biggest news orgs to enter the transfer portal and smoothed the way with the inside crowd.<\/p>
By attaching himself to us as co-founder, he bestowed his credibility \u2014 the profound respect every elected official, lobbyist, issue activist and political consultant had for him. We were legit because Ross was on the team.<\/p>
And then he got to work. Not a day has passed since Nov. 3, 2009, when Ross didn\u2019t show up in the most literal sense. He\u2019s always been fully and enthusiastically engaged in the exercise of fulfilling our public-service mission.<\/p>
Whatever was called for, he stepped up. Edit this story. Write this column. Break this news. Put this thing that just happened into context. Explain how this system works. Call this person we need something from. Call this person who\u2019s mad at us. Introduce us to this person you\u2019ve known for decades. Share this phone number that only you have. Write this poll question. Interpret this poll result. Give this speech. Interview this big dog. Moderate this panel. Lead our newsroom.<\/em><\/p> As much as I hate the thought of Ross exiting, I understand why it\u2019s time. After four-plus decades in the business, he\u2019s earned the right to downshift; to hang with his wife, Becky; and to watch the St. Louis Cardinals without work to distract him. I also know, as he does, that we\u2019re more ready than ever for what comes next. He\u2019s part of the reason: He\u2019s prepared us so well. His fingerprints will be all over our future.<\/p> One of the most admirable things about Ross is his modesty. He never gives himself enough credit \u2014 in fact, he works like a dog to avoid getting any. Nonetheless, over the next few months I\u2019m going to make sure everyone inside and outside the Tribune appreciates the magnitude of our debt to him. And then, close to his last day, we\u2019ll toast him and his accomplishments.<\/p> Lots of love and respect and best wishes to our hero. We thank you so much, and Texas does, too.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A beloved reporter and columnist who knows more about Texas politics than just about anyone alive, he\u2019s been instrumental to the Tribune\u2019s operations and evolution. No him, no us. Our success is his legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":172272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"By [Author id=85]Evan Smith[\/Author]","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"_photon_skip_featured_image":false,"_photon_quality_featured_image":0,"manual_modified_date":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":true,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28,23],"tags":[1825],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"tt_series":[272],"coauthors":[124],"class_list":["post-110040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-state-government","tag-t-squared","tt_series-t-squared","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n