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When Bob Hill was writing newspaper columns, it was a different era. But after our conversation, I realized some things are still very much the same. Bob is 82 years old. He's published a new memoir called "Out Here: Essays And Encounters From The Heart, Soul, And Left Field." It is a treasure trove of anecdotes about his time as a newspaperman along with examples of columns that transcend time and space to be meaningful still today.

When Bob walked into The Louisville Courier Journal in June 1975, he had already worked for two other newspapers. I, on the other hand, was just starting out. Literally. I was born in June 1975. I wouldn't walk into that same newsroom until 2021.

Though decades apart, and under different ownership, we wrote columns for the same town and with the same objective -- to tell the stories of our community. Technology has certainly changed the way we do the job, and even how editors quantify the success of the job. Even so, there is much we can learn from Bob about the purpose of column-writing and why it matters.

Much of the columns and commentary published these days leans towards reactionary rather than illuminating. Hot takes can be written without ever logging off the internet or stepping out into the community. Some reporters mine social media for comments to quote without ever leaving the office. The expediency of our digital world fuels corporate journalism and satisfies the bottom line. It's a race to be first, to get the clicks while readers are Googling for information about news that's trending. First and fast means you satisfy advertisers and make the corporation more money.

Do we need to rile people up for clicks? Is that the purpose of public commentary? I say no. The true purpose of commentary should be to lift community voices and engage in productive discourse with the objective of solving community and cultural issues. There's value in taking the slower route to produce more thoughtful columns.

This rings true in advice Bob had for columnists when we talked, and I think it applies to all of us -- especially since social media has turned us all into commentators.

"You have to talk to people," Bob said, and he didn't mean behind a phone or computer screen. "Go out there and look for it," he said. "Listen to people and really care."

Do we know how to listen anymore?

In the age of "fake news" and threats against journalists, I wondered how it was when he was writing. I asked him if he ever felt any animosity in the community while on the job. No, he said, "Because I wasn't out there looking for trouble. I was looking for stories."

Because of this, columns Bob wrote 40 years ago still resonate today. He wrote about the human condition -- something we all have in common. Our collective humanity is easy to see if we let ourselves talk to one another as humans and not in terms of ideology or with divisive rhetoric. We can't let our anger and frustration lead us to self-righteousness. Be willing to talk, to listen without judgment and to get involved with the goal of being part of the solution.

In a world where loneliness is an epidemic, fostering belonging is the antidote. Kindness is an act of rebellion. Show me an extremist group and I'll show you a group of people who didn't know where they belonged. Remind yourself that each American story is one of humanity. Read Bob's book filled with columns of the people he encountered. You'll see that things don't look so different now than they did back then. I hope I can carry Bob's columnist baton forward by writing stories that shine light on everyday people doing their best to make our country -- and our world -- a better place for all.

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You can watch Bonnie Jean Feldkamp's full conversation with Bob Hill on YouTube at Bit.ly/BobHill25

Do you know anyone who's doing cool things to make the world a better place? I want to know. Send me an email at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com. Check out Bonnie's weekly YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/bonniejeanfeldkamp. To find out more about Bonnie Jean Feldkamp and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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