Dennis Shook's Death Is A Shock

People who worked in Milwaukee City Hall as I did in the late 1990's got to know Dennis Shook when he covered Milwaukee and especially transportation issues for The Freeman, in Waukesha.

He was bright and fair, and wry, industrious, even dogged - - a Kenosha guy, as he told it who had even once run for the legislature, so appreciated politics in ways that other reporters could not.

He'd come to the Mayor's office and report, and kibbitz. He was a pro, and great company.

There was talk that he was too liberal for The Freeman, for whom he also had an editorial position before it cut him loose ( I don't recall the exact date, but I want to say at least five years ago, maybe more?).

For many of us outside of Waukesha, Dennis was the face of that paper, and though he missed The Freeman (he later worked for The Shepherd), he made a life outside journalism and we shared a few laughs about his having gone to work for WisDOT, an agency that he had covered.

A lot of people are going to miss Dennis.

His death is sad news, for sure.