Where might we find a Northeast Ohio version of George F. Will for the next generation? We can find plenty of people who can write opinion columns from left of center, but finding a new and pensive voice on the right -- like Will -- is a challenge. I’ve long respected Will. He’s smart. He writes well. He offers perspectives you don’t find elsewhere. He backs up his arguments with facts. I often don’t agree with him, but I’m grateful to receive such clear insight from someone with a different viewpoint. I also appreciate Will for offering an important journalism lesson early in my career. I was at the Harrisburg Patriot at the time, and Will came to town for a speech. A colleague covered it and added what I thought was a great piece of color: that Will arrived for the talk from Washington in a limousine. This was the go-go 80s, the Ronald Reagan era, and I thought the simple detail about the limo captured the spirit of the age. The Harrisburg newspaper editors back then regularly sent letters to sources quoted in stories to ask about accuracy. One such letter went to Will. His response was sobering. If memory serves, the response began with, “Since you asked,” which likely meant that Will would not have complained absent the newspaper inquiry. He then explained that his planned transportation to Harrisburg (I think it was a plane) had been canceled at the last minute. He refused to let down the people who had invited him to speak, so at his considerable personal expense, he chartered the limousine. That put a very different spin on the limo detail. Instead of it being about excess and privilege, it was about duty and responsibility. The lesson to a young journalist was clear. Assume nothing. Always ask. Will was in his 40s at the time and already had an established legacy as a top opinion columnist. That he’s still doing it four decades later is testament to his work ethic. We continue to publish his pieces in The Plain Dealer. But Will can’t be around forever. He’s 83. And our own conservative columnist, Ted Diadiun, as well as our liberal columnist, Brent Larkin, have both been writing in retirement longer than many on our newsroom team have been journalists. I hope they all keep writing, but the clock is always ticking. Eventually, we won’t have their voices, and the question that nags me is who replaces them? It’s not easy to do what they do. You have to know what you’re talking about, and that means reading incessantly and talking to people who know things you don’t. An insatiable appetite for information is prerequisite. You have to know how to write, and I’m not talking about stringing sentences together. You have to understand complex topics to the point where you can explain them simply. You have to order your thoughts logically, to take the reader through the progression of your arguments. You have to know how to tell a story. Institutional knowledge is important. Knowing a few decades of local, state and national history is the best way to avoid mistakes. Will, Diadiun and Larkin have been around long enough to have seen plenty of situations and can speak to what might happen when similar situations arise. Columns are not recitations of facts. They are opinions fortified by facts. The best ones help us see things from new perspectives and, maybe, alter our way of thinking. We’ve brought some dynamite voices into our opinion pages in recent years. Eric Foster is so brilliant that we asked him to keep writing for us even after he left the region to be close to his daughter. He should be a syndicated national voice. Leslie Kouba and Justice Hill provide a richness to our opinion platforms each week. Content Director Laura Johnston writes from the perspective of a mid-career mom in Our Best Life. In 2025, our public interest and advocacy editor, Leila Atassi, will write a weekly column. She was a metro columnist before becoming an editor. She loves to debate – I speak from experience – and I think her pieces will spark some healthy discussions. What we have not found is a conservative writer for a new generation, someone who is credible with our readers who are right of center and can provide insights for those who are on the left. We need to. I'm at [email protected] Thanks for reading | 