Geoff Larcom is retiring from Eastern Michigan University after serving over 11 years as the University's Executive Director of Media Relations. Before that, he spent more than 25 years as a journalist working primarily for the Ann Arbor News.
He talks with WEMU's Lisa Barry about his career on both sides of the journalism spectrum and shares some family history about his ties to the Ann Arbor area.
Geoff Larcom says he grew up steeped in journalism, both from his mother and father's great interest and experiences in media.
His father was the first city administrator in Ann Arbor, and the city administration building is named after him--Larcom City Hall. Guy Larcom served from 1956 to 1973. He also taught a class in reporting public affairs at the University of Michigan at the same time he was Ann Arbor city manager.
Geoff's mother helped to create the journalism curriculum at Eastern, when she taught at the university in the late 60's and early 70's.
Following several decades as an editor and reporter, Larcom started working at EMU in the media relations department. He said switching from media to media relations helped him better learn to "meet people where they are" and better serve them as a media representative for the university. He says he enjoyed working with university administration to students and would join them in on-campus demonstrations, one time directing traffic as they marched through busy roads.
Larcom says he looks forward to getting out from behind the desk and being more physically active once he retires. He plans to spend time with his wife Kristen, who recently retired as a city attorney working for Ann Arbor in the same building named after his dad.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
