In recent years, journalists have had an unfortunate tendency to be on our kitchen tables one day and to vanish the next. Ignoring the impact this has on the journalists themselves, it’s disorienting to those of us who follow the news and the writing of specific working stiffs who produce it.
 

So I’d thought I’d add an occasional “What happened to them?” post on this blog for anyone who cares about where the disappeared journos have landed.
 

One such journalist who vanished abruptly after 36 years at The Denver Post is Bob Ewegen. He left without explanation in November of 2008. ColoradoPols readers may have noticed his reappearance on Pols (as “voyageur”) in January.

Here’s what he has to say (via an email) about the state of Colorado journalism and his current situation:
 

On the one hand, my one-year noncompete clause has now expired.  But the non-disclosure parts of my separation package are probably still in place.  In any event, I want to stay away from the posture of “everything was great on my watch but it all went to hell when I left.”
 

Charles de Gaulle liked to say “The graveyards are full of indispensable men.”
 

On the health front, I’m definitely better.  My blood sugar is down due primarily to less stress and more exercise.  I am continuing my paralegal classes at Community College of Denver, where I currently have a 4.0 average, and am on track to certify as a paralegal in May, just a few weeks before my 65th birthday.
 

When not attending classes, I work part-time at The Law Office of Misty Ewegen as Director of Research and Communication. My work there has focused primarily on writing, legal research and editing.  Our practice is picking up and the flexible hours can accommodate outside activities.
 

In Colorado, anyone can call himself a paralegal but you can’t call yourself a certified paralegal unless you’ve been certified.  I find the classes stimulating and figured why not get the certificate?  Of course, I also have my B.S. in Journalism and my M.S. in Labor Relations.  Given the parlous state of both the news business and trade unions, that proves my mastery of lost causes. Perhaps I can now pursue a Ph. D. in Building the Titanic. 😉
 

Seriously, I still entertain thoughts of attending law school in 2011.  Meanwhile, I serve pro bono on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Judicial Institute and am also Journalist in Residence at CJI. We work to preserve fair and impartial courts in Colorado and promote excellence in our legal system, avoiding the kind of horrors that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Caperton case revealed.  John Grisham’s novel “The Appeal” is admittedly modeled after that case.
 

The reason I am not even thinking about law school until 2011 is that 2010 is an election year.  I remain passionately committed to the goal of restoring the state budget to solvency and have told state Treasury Cary Kennedy I’d like to do what I can for her campaign on a volunteer basis.

Now that I am no longer a journalist, I am free to do such radical things as going to a caucus (effectively banned at The Denver Post). It is possible the election may lead to other opportunities.