Tammerlin Drummond

When I began writing columns for this newspaper, I arrived at work one day to find a cartoon at my desk, drawn by a talented colleague. It showed a woman with a head of curly hair, clearly meant to be me, sitting in front of a computer. A boxing glove comes out of the screen and punches her in the face. The caption reads, "opening the email."

I had a good laugh.

It was 2006, and I was getting some pretty hot emails from people who didn't like what I was writing about the Iraq War. One man penned a letter to the editor demanding that the publisher fire me for being "unpatriotic."

Since becoming a regular columnist for the Oakland Tribune in 2008, I've gotten more than a few nasty missives. But far more often, I've communicated with intelligent, thoughtful people whom I like to think of as the silent majority. They've come from all disciplines. What they have in common is a genuine desire to find solutions to pressing issues. I've developed long-running dialogues with folks I've met only through email around issues such as public safety; economic, social and racial inequality; and xenophobia.

As a columnist you develop a unique personal relationship with readers. That is something I will truly miss.


This will be my last column. Effective Tuesday, the daily Oakland Tribune will be merged with the Contra Costa Times to create the new East Bay Times -- part of the Bay Area News Group consolidation. The Times will continue to cover news in Oakland, and a new weekly paper will carry the Oakland Tribune name.

It saddens me that Monday will be the last publication date of the 142-year-old daily, which is steeped in history. When I was a cub reporter, the Tribune was owned by Bob Maynard. Maynard was the first African-American publisher of a major daily newspaper. He and his wife, Nancy (both of whom have since died), turned the Tribune into a model for newsroom diversity.

The Tribune always operated on a shoestring and the goodwill of its devoted employees. Despite its financial challenges, it was a gutsy, scrappy newspaper that reflected its community. In 1990, the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for photography for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Yet the past few decades have been challenging for newspapers. The Tribune is among the many that have been hit hard by the rise of the Internet, which blew up the traditional newspaper revenue model.

As current and former Tribbies (Tribune employees) prepare to mark the official end of an era, I have mixed feelings. It has been painful over the years to see the paper struggle economically.

Yet as the Tribune masthead disappears from the daily paper, I feel almost as though I'm coming to grips with releasing a terminally ill loved one after a long period of suffering. This column, which I suppose has caused suffering for some of you, is also drawing to a close.

I am grateful for the chance I've had to chronicle some of the tectonic changes in Oakland, the larger Bay Area and the country. Oakland went from being awash in foreclosures to a boomtown with an exploding restaurant, arts and cultural scene that has made the city a hot destination.

Developers suddenly got Oakland fever. While that investment has helped usher in positive changes, it also has led to serious concerns about displacement and how that is rapidly changing the face of the city that has so long prided itself on its diversity.

One of my major focuses has been to try to highlight what, sadly, has not changed over the years: Oakland's high numbers of killings and other violent crimes. My one regret is that I was not able to devote the attention to this topic that it deserved.

I will move to a new assignment covering East Bay culture. If you have any topics you'd like to suggest, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email.

I'll also be exploring how the newspaper can use audio to tell stories about life in the East Bay in exciting new ways.

It's a new chapter for all of us here at the newspaper, but the book's not over.

Contact Tammerlin Drummond at tdrummond@bayareanewsgroup.com, and follow her at Twitter.com/tammerlin.