Charles Apple

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Here’s wishing the happiest of VizEds birthdays to Steve Ravenscraft of the Chicago Tribune. Steve Turns 45 today.

No, you’re not experiencing deja vú. Last Saturday, Newsweek’s Kevin Hand — another of my old Tribune pals — turned 45. Today is Ravenscraft’s turn.

I’m in the habit of referring to Steve as “Ravenscraft.” That’s not meant to be cold. When I worked in the Tribune graphics department, we had three Steves working in the room: Steve Ravenscraft, Steve Duenes and Steve Layton.

Now, of course, that graphics department is run by Steve Cavendish. Duenes is now the graphics director of The New York Times.

Layton and Ravenscraft work there still. Layton worked management for a while and probably suffered greatly trying to supervise yours truly.

Ravenscraft, too, worked management for a while and has spent the last half of his 17 years at the Trib shuttling back-and-forth between the graphics department and the features design operation, depending on the needs of the paper.

Last I heard, he was overseeing the Tribune graphics department’s multimedia efforts, alongside his longtime buddy Rick Tuma.

Steve Ravenscraft, as rendered by Rick Tuma.
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Steve born in Tacoma, Wash., but, as an Air Force brat, grew up in Germany, New Mexico, Missouri, Washington and other places.

Rick Tuma writes:

Steve is one of those people that can wear every hat you put upon his head in the news business – and wear it damn well!

I’m getting to see this up close and personal as I assist him moving Design and Graphics onto the CT.com site. There are many days when I leave the building shaking my head. I’ll be happy if just half of his natural skills and abilities rub off on me by the time this is all over.

He quickly gains the confidence of the leaders above us and always delivers – setting the stage for even greater opportunities for our small group. What I admire the most is his ability to provide constant streams of ideas and better ways to do things. It’s hard to sit still around him.

Steve is a rock. His unflappable good humor, his patience and his his strong faith served as a strong, strong example for his patience-challenged, ill-tempered colleague in the next cubicle.

I’m referring to me. Not Rick.

Because Steve is a man of strong faith, I always felt bad when, in a fit of frustration, I’d mutter curses so strong that the action figures on my desk blushed. Steve always said he never really noticed. Since Steve doesn’t seem like the lying type, I can only assume that means he’s hard of hearing.

You wouldn’t believe the crap Tribune editors would lay on Ravenscraft at the last minute. I would watch in amazement as he rolled with each blow; as he solved each problem in a way that made it look easy.

I learned a lot about patience and how to deal with demanding editors by watching Steve. I only wish I could put that knowledge to use as well as he did.

A few examples of Steve’s work:

Steve doesn’t post his stuff online. You can see more, however, in just about any SND award annual.

Steve also designed the Chicago Tribune Literary Prize:

This is one of four awards given annually to worthy literary folks. Past winners include Arthur Miller, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, and August Wilson. Read more about them here.

One more Ravenscraft story, before I let you go…

A few weeks ago, I was contacted out of the blue by an old, old friend who grew up in my home town. He had Googled me, found this blog and tossed an e-mail my way. “How have you been?,” he asked.

When I last saw Mickey, I was just starting the fifth grade. That was the fall of 1972. How the hell do you catch up with someone you last saw 35 years ago?

We exchanged a few messages and got caught up — at least a bit. In closing his last message, Mickey told me:

As I was looking through your blog, I came across another name I had thought about over the past weekend, Steven Ravenscraft. I don’t know why, I even thought about him while I was cutting the grass on Monday. Weird.

Anyway, Steve was in Anniston (Ala.) when I lived there, working at The Anniston Star.

What a small world.

A small world indeed.

Steve shares a birthday with news anchor Bryant Gumbel, singers Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Autry and Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and founder of that country’s Solidarity political party.

Plus, today is Poisoned Blackberries Day. Seriously.

Happy birthday, Steve! Best wishes!

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