Ex-News-Sun writer Tony Gordon dies
NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT August 6, 2012 7:53PM
Former News-Sun staff writer and veteran journalist Tony Gordon died Monday at age 60 following a battle with lung cancer. . | Thomas Delany Jr.~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 6, 2012 1:55AM
Former News-Sun staff writer and veteran journalist Tony Gordon, whose career covering the Lake County crime beat included the trial of spree killer Alton Coleman in the 1980s and all three trials of Juan Rivera over the past two decades, died Monday at age 60 following a battle with lung cancer.
His passing was reported Monday afternoon by the Daily Herald newspaper, where Gordon covered the county’s legal beat since leaving The News-Sun in 1994. A native of Mundelein and most recently a resident of Wildwood, Gordon began his News-Sun career in February 1985 and also worked briefly for Pioneer Press newspapers in the late 1980s.
As a prolific reporter on both the police and courts beats for The News-Sun, Gordon covered some of the more notorious criminal chapters in recent county history, including the trials of the Rev. L. R. Davis, the Waukegan pastor convicted of molesting teenage boys, and William Carlson, the 16-year-old from Wildwood who killed his parents and then attempted to flee the country in 1990.
In many cases, Gordon would chronicle both the arrest and courtroom proceedings of an individual case, with examples that include bike-path rapist Christopher Hanson in 1993 and the 1994 double slaying at Maude’s Pizza in Waukegan. His coverage of the Rivera saga began in the summer of 1992, and one of his final bylines for The News-Sun was a reaction to Rivera’s first conviction in November 1993.
One of four children born to Edward and Rita Gordon of Mundelein, Tony Gordon served in the Army in Vietnam. He earned an associate’s degree from the College of Lake County and a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
During this years as a journalist, his continuing education included paralegal courses at Harper Community College in Palatine and completion of a 40-hour course with the Illinois State Police’s narcotics investigation unit, the latter of which led to him riding with narcotics units for area police departments starting in 1988.
Among his many honors over the years was a 1994 press coverage award from the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center, which he shared with News-Sun colleague Dick Tuchscherer. This spring, he was presented with the Liberty Bell Award from the Lake County Bar Association, honoring him for promoting better understanding of the rule of law in the community.
Visitation is scheduled for 4-8 p.m. Thursday at Kristan Funeral Home, 219 W. Maple Ave., Mundelein, with funeral Mass slated for 10 a.m. Friday at Santa Maria del Popolo Church, 116. N. Lake St. in Mundelein. Interment reportedly will be Saturday in downstate Paris.
