A few weeks ago, we noticed that Herm Faubl’s History Highlights column didn’t come in by deadline, a peculiarity to say the least. His timing was impeccable and he always met deadline, which concerned us. Assistant Editor Kelsey O’Kelley followed up the missed deadline with an email to Herm. His partner, Janet, replied, informing us Herm was in the hospital and unable to submit his column for the 5/4 edition. Of course, we excused the missed deadline and wished Herm well and carried on with producing that edition, rather unconcerned but not because we didn’t care (Herm was among my favorite MSDN contributors – and among the longest running) but because Herm Faubl always struck me as the type of person impervious to…well, about anything, so I thought there was little cause for alarm (bear with me because I’m paying Herm a very high compliment). I honestly thought Herm would make a quick recovery and be back at his computer in a few days.
Sadly, that wasn’t the case.
About a week later, we learned that Hermann Faubl passed away, a fact that I learned at his wake shocked about everyone because he seemed on the mend, proving my assumptions and experiences with Herm correct, that Hermann Faubl was an all-around impervious person.
Herm Faubl started writing History Highlights at the end of 2012 and gave us about 10 years of dutiful writing and research that kept our past alive, which doesn’t surprise me.
In my experience, Herm was dedicated to keeping up with current affairs. The thing about current affairs is they soon become our history and our history is what makes us who we are today. Herm worked to preserve that history with his History Highlights column. To me, he was a forever student of our ongoing and constantly evolving culture, a culture that he not only recorded but had a passion for understanding. I saw this in the way he would meticulously read each edition of My Sun Day News and react to anything that didn’t fit the checkboxes in his mind. He wasn’t often without comment or criticism. But his came from both the head and the heart, which was always appreciated, and I learned to trust his assessment of My Sun Day News. I’ll miss that assessment.
Truth is, as a newsman Hermann Faubl was among my favorite types of people. He was direct, persistent. He sought knowledge and truth. And challenged me in a way that made my work better. These are all things journalism is based on. But more so, these attributes are the very things that make history in our world, so it makes sense that Herm sought to study and preserve our history: so we could better understand our present and be better prepared for our future. He definitely did this for My Sun Day News, so I’m sure he did this in his life, too.
Thank you, Herm, from all of us at My Sun Day News for the 10+ years you put into keeping history alive within our pages.
