Happy birthday, Jeff Schnick
Let’s pause a moment to offer the happiest of VizEds birthdays to Jeff Schnick of The Dallas Morning News. Jeff turns 29 today (Sunday).
‘Schnick at Nite,’ as he was known
in the old VizEds chatroom. Photo
by Annie Schnick.
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For someone who’s not quite 30 yet, Jeff’s certainly been around. Designer at The Knoxville News Sentinel and at The Orlando Sentinel. AME of The Abilene (Texas) Reporter News.
He also has a long line of folks who are eager to talk about him.
First up is Doug Jessmer of The Pinellas News:
Jeff Schnick is one of the hardest-working journalists I know, or maybe, ever knew. He works hard, he plays hard, he never bullshits you, and he’s just a helluva guy. Jim McBee, Schnick and I — we were the “Gruesome Threesome” on VizEds back when the chat was really popular — swore to each other that we’d all work in the same shop together at some point in our careers.
Jeff is in the process of learning to fly. Here he is
with what Jessmer assures me is a Cessna 172.
Photo by — or, at least, via — Doug Jessmer.
—Schnick’s an asset to whatever paper he’s working for, whether it’s Orlando, Knoxville, Abilene, Dallas… he might be the best thing to ever come out of South Bend, Ind., and that includes Notre Dame.
Happy birthday, pal. 29… damn, you’re wiser than your years.
DMN Assistant Managing Editor Rob Schneider says
Jeff is a pleasure to work with. For projects of a massive scale or on the tiniest, he will give you every bit of energy he has.
He’s a talented designer, no doubt, but I’m really impressed with the way he approaches organizing information on each of his pages. He knows if that’s not right, then it doesn’t really matter what the page looks like.
He’s been doing some exceptional work for us in business and helped Chuck Stewart launch a redesign of the section last summer. Recently, we’ve been moving his wonderful skills and mentoring abilities to other news sections, which is producing similarly great results.
We’re blessed to have Jeff in Dallas.
Jeff wonders if this is his big chance to
make some doe. Photo by Annie Schnick.
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And the aforementioned Chuck Stewart — the news design editor for the Morning News — says:
Jeff has given new meaning to my life…I now try to use the word “Schnick” is as many ways as possible. My favorite pasttime is to work it into songs, like:
I don’t want anybody else/
When I think about you/
I Schnick myselfOr, if that’s too X-rated…
Schnick, Schnick Schnick/
Scnick, Schnick, Schnick/
Schnick your booty…His personality? Unique, to say the least. His current passion is flying lessons, and it frightens me to no end to think that anytime, anywhere, Schnick could be overhead…
Schnick Skywalker. Photo by Annie Schnick.
—We reserve only our highest compliment for Schnick…“he hardly sucks at all.”
He’s the only person I know whose life story is in non-narrative form.
A few recent samples of Jeff’s work:
Find outdated stuff in his NewsPageDesigner portfolio.
Jeff shares a birthday with Yuri Victor of The Times of Northwest Indiana, Rob Bourdon — the drummer for Linkin Park — Paul Stanley of Kiss, TV host Bill Maher, directors David Lynch and Federico Fellini, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and fake astronaut DeForest Kelley, “Bones” from the original Star Trek.
Plus, today is National Buttercrunch Day. Seriously.
Best wishes for a happy birthday, Jeff! We hope turning 30 next year won’t “jam you up“!
January 20th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Didn’t Jeff star in “National Treasure,” “Face Off,” and “Raising Arizona?”
Happy 2-9 … My God, you’re still a pup!
January 20th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Happy birthday, Mr. Schnick!
January 20th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
There may come a time when Schnick and I are behind the yokes of a plane. Pity the poor people who sit behind us. Heh.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
The yoke will be on them, Dougie.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Is Schnick still around? Haven’t heard hide nor hair from that dude in waaaay too long.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:38 pm
WOW, I don’t think my last name will ever become a verb or, for that matter, a noun. Happy Birthday, Jeff.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
LOL, thanks gang. I see Charles got some people to do some digging for him. Charles has way too good of a daybook to remember all of these dates!
Love the “jam up” reference, totally Chuck Stewart, who tends to “get his song on” when it comes to my last name. Not sure that the rest of the desk likes it.
Jim, been around, stuff’s been busy at the DMN, started in a new role not long ago, plus with flying, not a lot of free time as of late.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Joe, there’s always Greco-Roman Wrestling.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Funny you say that. My wife and I recently had another baby boy. Partly in jest, I was pitching Roman as a first name, but she wouldn’t go for it.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Saw your Dad the other day he was having lunch with Otis, I went over there to show him my new ride. So when you going to take me up and do an inverted stall? You been up to the 6th floor yet I thought it was awesome. Later dude, Stephen Dale