Van Guilder to work for Trustee's Office

My boy Larry Van Guilder has taken a job with the Knox County Trustee's Office, continuing a recent trend of local reporters jumping paper ships to join the Deathstar.

Most recently, Angela Starke from some TV channel and Benedict Mayoral-Shark from the Metro Pulse joined Mayor Madeline Rogero's staff.

Anyhoo, Larry signed the papers today and starts work Jan. 16, according to his new boss John Duncan III. He fills a vacant staff accountant position. (He swears it was advertised.)

In a spin release, Duncan said: “We’ve carefully evaluated our needs over the past year. I believe Larry’s training and experience will prove a valuable addition to this office.”

He also said this is “another step forward in enhancing the services we provide” and blah, blah, blah.

Heh.

Now, don't get me wrong, Larry can actually do this job. It's just fun to make fun of spin releases.

Here's the rest:

Van Guilder is currently editor of the Shopper-News. In addition to the institutional knowledge acquired during his years of reporting on Knox County government, Van Guilder has extensive accounting experience in the private sector working with Fortune 100 companies as well as smaller organizations. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, a United States Air Force veteran and a Knoxville native. He and his wife, Becki, reside in the Farragut community.

Larry told me his first full-time job was with Union Camp Corporation in Morristown (it's since been bought out by International Paper). He started off as a bean counter and then somehow took a job in the sales department because it paid more. He transferred to Decatur, Ala. but left cause his boss sucked. He worked for a few local companies, got burned out and went back to UT to study history.

He thought about teaching but realized that teaching 17-year-old kids sucks, too.

Larry, however, always dabbled in writing and by late 2005 he was penning columns for the Shopper-News. He later wrote features and was covering Knox County government by the time Black Wednesday hit.

That's the abbreviated story of his life. So far.

He'll be 62 in March and hopes to retire in three years, and then – if there still is a Scripps newspaper company – freelance for us in some capacity.

“Government isn't going to go away, but newspapers? We just don't know,” he said when asked about the new job.

In addition, Larry will also oversee some public relations for the Trustee's Office.

On a personal note, I wish him well. I like the guy and I will miss his sharp wit and good-natured humor. Good luck, buddy.