The words legend and icon are overused these days. But sometimes they apply, and the Cape Region has lost an icon and a legend. Both words accurately describe Trish Vernon, who died Oct. 30.
As founder of the Cape Gazette, along with longtime colleague Dennis Forney, Trish guided this paper for nearly 30 years. In that time, she observed and wrote about the life of our communities, always with deep concern and keen perception. My first time meeting Trish was at my first meeting as a Rehoboth Beach planning commissioner in 1998. Trish was the Cape Gazette reporter covering the planning commission meetings. After the meeting concluded, I was introduced to her by fellow planning commissioner Mable Granke, who said this about Trish: “Trust her. She always does her research, asks the hard questions and always gets the story right.” Truer words were never said.
There is a reason the motto of this paper, which appears on the front page of every issue, is “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Trish and Dennis were dedicated to both liberty and vigilance. Trish understood that to make our world work, our communities strong and our lives full, we have to be aware of all that is going on around us, and speak the truth.
Ours is an age when entertainment often overtakes journalism, when opinion frequently replaces objective reporting, and when spectacle outshines careful attention. Trish never fell prey to the urge to sensationalize or press her point of view when she was reporting the news. As editor, she was occasionally called upon to express an opinion, but she never confused those statements with news.
I always admired Trish’s journalistic integrity, but was also fortunate to know her as a friend. We will miss her, but she leaves a world better for having shared her smile, her laugh, her voice and her eternal vigilance with us all.
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