Ray Gibby Gibson Died Friday Here is what I posted on my FB Page: He Saved My Life ... And Then Some ... Ray Gibson, a former investigative reporter for many years at the Chicago Tribune and a fellow journalism graduate from Northern Illinois University, died in his home in Evanston yesterday morning. Gibby – that’s what we called him -- won many awards for his exposure of governmental corruption, waste and ineptness in Illinois and Chicago. His stories were among the first to expose some of the mortgage frauds that led to the housing bust and the Great Recession. He also uncovered the convicted felon in the George Ryan trial. I will remember him most, however, for saving my life. It was 1969. A bunch of us from NIU were at a national journalism convention in Miami. And, as journalists are known to do, we were drinking after a long day of meetings, seminars and/or sleeping at this fancy hotel on the beach. Being a lifeguard with a love for the water I decided – somewhere around midnight – to go for that proverbial midnight swim. It was dark and the water was a bit choppy. The sandy beach was only a few hundred feet long. On either side were 20-foot high cement walls and pilings along the way. I waded out into the water and started to swim the length of the beach. I was a strong swimmer – in a pool and Lake Michigan – but I was no match for the strong ocean currents that I rapidly discovered. (I learned later there were small craft warnings.) I knew enough to stay calm and swim at an angle to the current but I couldn’t stop it from pulling me away from the beach and sweeping me along the concrete wall. Each powerful wave slammed me into the wall and pilings. Time, time and time again. I tried to grab at the top of one of the pilings as a wave would come rushing in and raise me up against the piling but I was no match for the incredible force of the tide as it swept back and pulled me with it. I was convinced I would die. I felt badly because I had been married only a few months and would leave behind a young widow. But what really bothered me is that my father would say, “I told him to stay out of the water.” He had a fear of deep water and yelled at me whenever I’d get into water higher than my knees. Did I mention I had been a lifeguard? A Chicago lifeguard – the Marines of the Midwest. (I later became a Lifeguard Instructor for the American Red Cross.) Funny, what crosses your mind when you think that youre going to die. I wasn’t giving up but I already had planned to drown without a fight when the time came, knowing that it was a painless way to die if I didn’t struggle. Suddenly I heard someone call my name in the darkness. It was Gibby. He was standing atop the concrete wall and reaching over a metal pipe railing. “Grab my hand,” he yelled. Without discussing it we both knew that I might be able grab his hand when the tide came in and he’d be able to raise me up and out. “No,” I yelled back. “The tide is too strong. It’ll suck you in, too.” Gibby straddled the bottom pipe, hung over the wall and reached out his arm. “Come on, grab it,” he yelled. Against my better judgment I did grab his hand and was able to get a hold of the railing before the wave pulled back. I hung onto Gibby with one hand and the pipe with the other. The wave lost. Gibby later told me that he had noticed I was missing from our drinking party and came out looking for me. “Weren’t you afraid?” I asked him. “Nah,” he said. I can still hear his voice to this day whenever I read or hear the word “Nah.” Gibby and I remained friends and kept in touch over the years. On one occasion, at a Norhtwestern football game with him and my son, I thanked him again. “I owe you my life AND his,” I told Gibby. “Nah.” Yes, Gibby. And thanks again. I now owe you for three wonderful grandchildren, too. ****** Article from when Ray was inducted to the Northern Star Hall of Fame northernstar.info/alumni/hall_of_fame/article_c6678d62-19e1-11e0-a03e-0017a4a78c22.html
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:59:41 +0000
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