By Maureen Hart

It is with both sorrow and pride that the staff and I have worked to produce this memorial edition in honor of my late husband, John M. Hart Jr., founder and publisher of The Dunmorean for the past 35 years. 

We will miss John and his leadership immensely, but we are proud and determined to continue his legacy at The Dunmorean, which, ironically, became the last locally-owned newspaper in Lackawanna County on the day of his funeral when the century-old Scranton Times was sold to a conglomerate. 

People mentioned to me on that day that John would have been pleased to have survived as the last local paper, because he had worked as a tough competitor against the Times during his reporting days at the old Scrantonian-Tribune. 

But, actually, John would have been deeply saddened by such a major loss to Northeastern Pennsylvania. On his behalf, I offer my sympathy to the entire Lynett family and their employees. I’ve been there–when the Tribune closed in 1990 it was exactly like losing family, much less your career and your own professional identity. 

John believed in community journalism wholeheartedly, and although The Dunmorean switched to upbeat, positive coverage of Bucktown and its citizens when it became a monthly, it was originally a weekly publication that covered the police and fire departments, school board, and council.

John and I both owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to those who have helped in this labor of love, including Steve Svetovich, our writer, columnist, and sports editor who started with us in the newspaper business 40 years ago at the Tribune and has been with John every step of the way in multiple journalistic endeavors. 

Cheryl Sempa Radkiewicz is our very popular food columnist, and her association with John and me also dates back to the Tribune where her late father, Frank Sempa, was city editor, and Cheryl took over from her grandmother as Down Valley correspondent. Cheryl has also followed John through his various ventures including The Scranton Weekly, The Mid Valley News, and The Dunmorean.

A newer colleague, and such a valuable one, is Emily Fedor Gerchman, who came aboard right out of college to be our online editor as The Dunmorean entered the digital age. Emily is a native Dunmorean who brings valuable insight to this publication.

Dunmorean Tim Drewes is our official photographer, but fellow Dunmorean Rich Banick has always contributed greatly to the publication and continues to do so.

Dunmoreans Nibs Loughney assisted John with ad sales and Sarah Masucci serves as our art director.

Bill Healey and Bob Sulger handle distribution of the paper on the first Wednesday of every month, and they often describe how people are eagerly taking copies of the Dunmorean out of their hands when they deliver at the many outlets where the paper is available.

Last, but not least, is our legal columnist John Hart III, John’s son, who is an attorney with law offices on Grove Street in Dunmore.

On a personal level I want to share with our readers that John and I were colleagues, friends, and finally husband and wife over a period of 50 years. We met at the Tribune in 1973, shortly after I married my first husband, Jorge Garcia-Pons. In 1979, John married his beloved Meg Holland. In 2005, both families were hit with unimaginable tragedy when Jorge died on St. Patrick’s Day after a long illness and Meg died very suddenly that August. 

And so here we are again, our combined families sharing grief and trying to find positive ways to move forward. We believe The Dunmorean is one way to do so, and we hope the ever-generous and loyal people of the borough will support that dream. 

We have always been grateful to our wonderful advertisers. During the pandemic, when business was at a stand-still, our advertisers stayed with us. I don’t know how they did it when their restaurants, offices, and showrooms were shut down, but the majority of them stayed.

I will never forget that support, but I also know that for many of them, their loyalty was based on their friendships with John Hart. I hope all of John’s friends will stay with us now, even though he is gone. This really was his dream, his pride and joy, and we hope to continue bringing good news to Dunmore for a long time.

Sincerely,
Maureen Hart