John Lux was an editor at the Tribune and a predecessor newspaper, Chicago Today, for more than three decades, earning the respect of colleagues for his deft hand at shaping and improving reporters’ copy.
“John was a supportive editor with a sharp eye, an excellent ear for language and a good sense of humor,” said Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, whose work Lux oversaw in the early 1980s, when Zorn was a feature writer. “He was always a pleasure to work with.”
Lux, 73, died of complications from kidney cancer on Thursday, Aug. 31, at the JourneyCare hospice center in Glenview, said his wife of 40 years, Marilyn. He had lived in Northfield, and previously was a resident of the east Lakeview neighborhood in Chicago and the northern suburbs.
Born in Chicago, Lux grew up on the Southwest Side, near Midway Airport. His mother taught in Catholic schools and his father worked for Western Electric. He graduated from Brother Rice High School in Chicago and then studied journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lux’s first job was as city editor for the now-defunct Champaign-Urbana Courier. After a year there, he worked as an editor for the Salt Lake Tribune.
In 1971, Lux joined the staff of Chicago Today as an editor. After Chicago Today was absorbed by the Tribune in 1974, Lux came to the Tribune and worked first on the news side as a makeup editor, laying out news pages. That required him to “work 11 to 7 the hard way,” his wife said with a laugh.
Retired Tribune reporter and rewriteman Jerry Crimmins recalled Lux’s work on the overnight shift in the 1970s, with deadlines at 11:15 p.m., 1:10 a.m. and 3:10 a.m., as well as for an 8:30 a.m. deadline after Lux’s shift ended.
“As a boss, John enforced high standards and was able to do this in a way that was easygoing and even gentle,” Crimmins said. “He had a good sense of humor every day, could be quite funny and was great to work for because he trusted us. I don’t believe I ever saw him rattled, despite the occasional chaos and pressure in the newsroom and the world at large.”
Retired Tribune copy editor Chris Rauser said Lux took him under his wing early in his career.
“John was just a great fellow and a real journalist’s journalist,” Rauser said. “He kind of taught me the ropes when I first came to Chicago from a small town in Michigan. He was very welcoming when we started working together at Chicago Today.”
Rauser also hailed Lux’s presence in the newsroom.
“He was always smiling and always had a joke to tell, and he was a friend to anybody,” Rauser said. “And he saw the best in people and always saw the positive side to things.”
In 1977, Lux began working as an editor in the Tribune’s features sections. Among other duties, he oversaw the comics section and the launches of new features sections, his wife said.
“John made coming to work on the features copy desk fun, especially when the newsroom was undergoing remodeling and we were relegated to a solitary space in a corner amid the noise of jackhammers, saws and shouting workers,” said retired Tribune copy editor Don Frost. “He oversaw the assignment of ‘desk names’ for all of us, names that evoked a persona that fit us as individuals.”
Lux occasionally wrote restaurant reviews and “arts at large” profiles of performers, particularly those aimed at children and families. Writing about the Wisconsin Dells in June 1989, Lux noted that “the eternal carnival that is the Wisconsin Dells is shrouded in mist. There’s nothing Fellini-esque about all this, though. The mist is real and rising from the aquatic theme parks that are now the Dells’ main attraction.”
Lux later worked as an editor for the Tribune’s business section and as a digital editor before retiring in 2005.
Lux was part of a crew mostly comprised of retired Tribune workers who would take weekend fishing trips three times a year. Known as the “Bellyboys,” the group was started some 30 years ago by Lux, Frost, Bob Jones and the late Jim Masek, and three items were on every agenda: morning fishing, dinners out at night, and spirited poker matches.
“He was the heart and soul of the Bellyboys,” Frost said.
In retirement, Lux also enjoyed reading and hosting dinner parties with his wife. He also started a weekly activity for retired Tribune colleagues, who would meet on Thursdays for lunch and a movie at a Chicago theater.
“He picked all the movies,” his wife recalled.
A previous marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his second wife, Lux is survived by two daughters, the Rev. Margaret Cumings and Claire Winnard; five grandchildren; and two brothers, Robert and David.
A visitation will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Donnellan Family Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. A funeral service is set for at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 3637 Golf Road, Evanston.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
