“We Bid a Fond Farewell, But Not Goodbye, To Lynne”

Our former Editor, Lynne Hummell, has filled this space in virtually every edition of The Bluffton Sun and The Hilton Head Sun since her arrival in 2009 - over 170 columns. Lynne wanted to call it “Sunny Side Up” which was a perfect title for a commentary that filled us all with joy, laughter, optimism, sentimentality, wonder, motivation and, occasionally, sorrow.

And we knew our readers read and enjoyed her musings because of countless anecdotal stories such as this:

One of our ad guys was at a chamber meeting talking with a few clients and a woman rushed up to him, after noticing his Bluffton Sun name tag, and said “I take you to bed twice a month!” She then told the surprised ad guy that when the Bluffton Sun arrives in her mailbox, she grabs it and runs upstairs and locks her bedroom door, jumps into bed, and reads the entire paper, starting with Lynne’s column, while her kids plead with her to open the door.”

During her tenure here, Lynne was a beacon of profound insight and sensibility. As a long-time resident her local knowledge of the Lowcountry was immense and invaluable and her writing and editing was in total sync with the Bluffton and Hilton Head communities we serve. In fact, we heard time after time from Sun City residents and readers of The Bluffton Sun that they would love a Sun paper of their own, so we created The Sun City Sun. The same was true of Hilton Head residents that continually requested a Sun paper of their own and the Hilton Head Sun was launched. Much of this success and reader loyalty was due to Lynne’s tireless efforts over the years. It is a rarity these days to find newspapers that are expanding and growing like our Sun publications. Most are slashing local news budgets and filling their pages with national and international news that you have seen on other media days before. Every bit of the editorial content in our papers is produced locally and was magically edited into a readable, well-written and enjoyable local journalism by Lynne and Lynne alone.

As our readership, distribution and advertising support grew, so did our page counts and the amount of editorial content. Lynne never wavered from her responsibility to produce quality content about our neighbors, businesses, social trends, education, sports and more that our readers would enjoy, savor, and learn from. Whether our papers contained 24 pages every month to upwards of 220 or more, our readers could always count on a paper that was interesting, well written and on time! Lynne’s professional and personal relationships with her writers, correspondents, co-workers, and readers was always congenial which was not always easy to achieve as the mighty pressurized print deadlines loomed.

Well, Lynne is off on her well-deserved new journeys. While most of us view retirement as a time to watch “The Price Is Right”, play some golf, or collect stamps on our passports, Lynne said she has a wish list that starts off with “writing a book, taking short trips and long naps.” Knowing Lynne, she will want to spend much more time with “her boys”- her long-time husband, local noted artist, Amos and sons, Clark and Chandler. Her ongoing and relentless responsibilities here at the papers prevented her from enjoying a leisurely life and we are sure she will fill her time with interesting experiences, hobbies, and adventures.

We are hoping that Lynne can find the time to occasionally fill this space with her wonderful prose in the future. In the meantime, we wish her a wealth of good health and boundless happiness as she enjoys her long overdue next steps in her journey.

-Her Bluffton, Hilton Head and Sun City Sun co-workers