AJR  Features
From AJR,   April/May 2004

Cashing Out   

By Lori Robertson
Lori Robertson (robertson.lori@gmail.com), a former AJR managing editor, is a senior contributing writer for the magazine.      


John M. Berry, age 65
Post life: almost 25 years at the paper covering the Federal Reserve and the economy in general
Post Post life: joined Bloomberg News as a columnist--five days after he left the Post
What it's like out there: "Bloomberg has very extensive coverage of all aspects of the Federal Reserve.... My job here is to go beyond that.... Here as a columnist, instead of a regular reporter, I'm able to express my own views about things in a way that would not have been appropriate in a regular news story. So that's interesting."

Cheryl Butler, age 59
Post life: almost 23 years at the paper; first 19 on the news desk, designing the Metro section; director of recruiting and hiring for the newspaper since June 2000
Post Post life: "I hope to retire...when I retire" (she worked under contract for the Post through March). She'll spend time traveling, decorating and doing volunteer work.
What it's like out there: "I have no idea what life on the outside will be like. I just hope it's fun."

Bob Levey, age 58
Post life: 36 years at the paper, nearly 23 of them as a columnist
Post Post life: senior vice president for development at Washington Hospital Center, where doctors once saved his life.
What it's like out there: "Real weird," he said before he landed his new job. "This is a Thursday in February, and I have spent the first half of the day doing errands. The last time I did errands on a Thursday in February, I might have been 17 years old."

Ray Lustig, age 65
Post life: 22 years as a photographer
Post Post life: working as a part-time automotive service adviser at Tony's Auto Repair in Alexandria, Virginia
What it's like out there: "I have had an interest in automobiles all my life...and I've done a fair amount of automobile photography for fun," he says. "I wanted a break from journalism. I wanted a break from photography."

Edward Walsh, age 62
Post life: 32 years; his last job was covering politics on the national desk
Post Post life: is accelerating a planned retirement move with his wife to Portland, Oregon, but he hopes to keep working in the newspaper business
What it's like out there: "It was not easy to leave on an emotional basis at all. If I were still working, I'd be out there covering the presidential campaign, which is a great story," he says. "I've got 'Inside Politics' on right now. It's a poor substitute for actually being there."

Kathy Sawyer, age 61
Post life: 28 years, covering space, science and technology since 1986
Post Post life: was on contract until the end of February; now writing a book
What it's like out there: "At least initially, I'm doing a book for Random House in my area of so-called expertise," she says. "This is a book about the question of life on other planets and specifically on Mars, and real earthlings whose lives were changed by controversies over that."

Claudia Levy, age 60
Post life: 38 years; her last job was writing obituaries
Post Post life: working as a part-time manager of an art gallery
What it's like out there: "I do silk painting, which I've been doing for years, and show in galleries," she says. "I had always intended to do that more as I got older."

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