At the beginning of this bar year, Tom Kirvan was kind enough to interview the incoming OCBA president (me) for an article in the Legal News. There was nothing special about me; Tom, who is the editor-in-chief of the Detroit Legal News, has interviewed and published an article about every OCBA president in recent memory. Tom and the Legal News — a company that publishes a dozen newspapers around the state — regularly run articles about the OCBA and our events and gatherings, as well as issues facing the local legal community. As this bar year draws to an end, I thought I’d turn the tables and write about Tom for once. He was kind enough to let me interview him.
For those who don’t know Tom, he can be found at many of our major events and has been instrumental in our Judicial Candidate Forums, held during election years.
Tom got his start in writing at an early age. He worked on his high school yearbook in Ann Arbor and covered local sports for a local paper in his youth. Since then, he has spent most of his professional life working in the newspaper industry.
Tom came by his gift for writing, and editing, naturally. Tom’s late father, Bud Kirvan, was a newspaperman for many years. A gifted writer, the World War II veteran worked as a weekly newspaper editor and for many years wrote a weekly column for a group of Midwest newspapers before eventually transitioning into corporate communications. Tom always appreciated how his father could make any written work better. As Tom recalls, “He could distill ideas in just a few seconds and make the words sing off the page.” His late mother, Annalee, was a registered nurse, working for years at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.
“She was the rock of our family and helped spearhead the creation of a daily breakfast program for the homeless through her church in Ann Arbor,” says Tom.
Always an athlete, Tom played baseball and basketball growing up and on into high school. A bright if not motivated student, he laughingly credits his three older sisters with helping him stay academically eligible for sports. His childhood dream was to be the next Al Kaline, and although a career with the Detroit Tigers wasn’t in the cards, Tom’s love of athletics never waned. An accomplished runner, Tom has completed 10 marathons and countless half-marathons and was running 40-60 miles per week in his prime. He now prefers biking and swimming to running.
He also is an avid downhill skier, a passion he shares with his son, Jesse, a Park City, Utah, resident who last year was promoted to captain with Delta Air Lines.
Michigan sports, and U-M basketball in particular, have been among Tom’s passions his entire life. He is in his 63rd season as a Michigan basketball season ticket holder, a joy he began with his father during the Cazzie Russell era in the 1960s.
And he still plays sports as well. One of the highlights of Tom’s summers is a weekly golf group with some very well-known and longtime OCBA members whose identities — to protect the innocent, of course — will remain secret. Tom reports all have become close friends, although not all have become great golfers.
Tom spent 26 years embedded in Washtenaw County working as a weekly newspaper editor and publisher, all while being heavily entrenched in Washtenaw life. During those years, he chaired capital campaigns for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor and for years served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County as well as several other nonprofit organizations in the community.
One fact you may not know about Tom: In addition to his passions for writing, editing, golf, and running, Tom somehow found time to own and operate a nursery. For 15 years, he held two jobs: newspaperman by day and nurseryman by night. He spent his days traveling to meetings, covering local events, and editing and rewriting copy, then spent his evenings and weekends digging, planting, pruning, and caring for trees on a beautiful 90-acre plot of land along the Saline River just outside the city of Saline. He loved it. If he wasn’t in the newspaper business, Tom says, he would be running a tree nursery.
Tom recounts that he wasn’t sure what to expect when he started work at the Detroit Legal News. He didn’t know many lawyers and didn’t know what lawyers would be like. He soon found that those in the legal community were giving of their time and talents. He credits OCBA member Joe Papelian with helping to introduce him into the OCBA community. Tom recalls being sent to cover his very first event, the Signature Event at Oakland Hills Country Club, not really knowing anyone. As Tom describes it, Joe Papelian saw him looking lost, took him aside, and began to introduce him around to judges and attorneys in attendance. And the rest is history. Tom has been a regular at OCBA events in the many years since. His involvement with our organization and his commitment to the community led to Tom receiving the OCBA’s Allene and Martin Doctoroff Liberty Bell Award in 2018.
Thanks, Tom, for all you do for our community and our OCBA.
Sign-Off
It is tradition for the OCBA president to use the last LACHES column to reflect on the year. While we’ve had a good year, and accomplished much, I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on our organization a bit and express my gratitude for those who make it work. I’ve had the privilege of being around the OCBA since I was a kid, and I served on committees for years before joining the board. I believe our OCBA continues to play an important role in the practice of law in our community. This is the result of decades of people working together.
So, as this bar year winds down, I extend my thanks and appreciation to all of the folks who have helped make the OCBA what it is: members who get engaged; committee members who take the time to participate; committee chairs and vice chairs willing to step up and take leadership roles; our judges, especially our district, circuit, and probate judges, who are so very generous with their time to attend OCBA events; our intrepid OCBA staff, who make the place run; and my boards, past and present, who have given so much of their time and talents to our organization. Thank you, to all of you, for what you do to make our OCBA great.
I depart with confidence that our OCBA is in good hands.
————————
Dean M. Googasian, of The Googasian Firm PC, is the 92nd president of the Oakland County Bar Association.
For those who don’t know Tom, he can be found at many of our major events and has been instrumental in our Judicial Candidate Forums, held during election years.
Tom got his start in writing at an early age. He worked on his high school yearbook in Ann Arbor and covered local sports for a local paper in his youth. Since then, he has spent most of his professional life working in the newspaper industry.
Tom came by his gift for writing, and editing, naturally. Tom’s late father, Bud Kirvan, was a newspaperman for many years. A gifted writer, the World War II veteran worked as a weekly newspaper editor and for many years wrote a weekly column for a group of Midwest newspapers before eventually transitioning into corporate communications. Tom always appreciated how his father could make any written work better. As Tom recalls, “He could distill ideas in just a few seconds and make the words sing off the page.” His late mother, Annalee, was a registered nurse, working for years at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.
“She was the rock of our family and helped spearhead the creation of a daily breakfast program for the homeless through her church in Ann Arbor,” says Tom.
Always an athlete, Tom played baseball and basketball growing up and on into high school. A bright if not motivated student, he laughingly credits his three older sisters with helping him stay academically eligible for sports. His childhood dream was to be the next Al Kaline, and although a career with the Detroit Tigers wasn’t in the cards, Tom’s love of athletics never waned. An accomplished runner, Tom has completed 10 marathons and countless half-marathons and was running 40-60 miles per week in his prime. He now prefers biking and swimming to running.
He also is an avid downhill skier, a passion he shares with his son, Jesse, a Park City, Utah, resident who last year was promoted to captain with Delta Air Lines.
Michigan sports, and U-M basketball in particular, have been among Tom’s passions his entire life. He is in his 63rd season as a Michigan basketball season ticket holder, a joy he began with his father during the Cazzie Russell era in the 1960s.
And he still plays sports as well. One of the highlights of Tom’s summers is a weekly golf group with some very well-known and longtime OCBA members whose identities — to protect the innocent, of course — will remain secret. Tom reports all have become close friends, although not all have become great golfers.
Tom spent 26 years embedded in Washtenaw County working as a weekly newspaper editor and publisher, all while being heavily entrenched in Washtenaw life. During those years, he chaired capital campaigns for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor and for years served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County as well as several other nonprofit organizations in the community.
One fact you may not know about Tom: In addition to his passions for writing, editing, golf, and running, Tom somehow found time to own and operate a nursery. For 15 years, he held two jobs: newspaperman by day and nurseryman by night. He spent his days traveling to meetings, covering local events, and editing and rewriting copy, then spent his evenings and weekends digging, planting, pruning, and caring for trees on a beautiful 90-acre plot of land along the Saline River just outside the city of Saline. He loved it. If he wasn’t in the newspaper business, Tom says, he would be running a tree nursery.
Tom recounts that he wasn’t sure what to expect when he started work at the Detroit Legal News. He didn’t know many lawyers and didn’t know what lawyers would be like. He soon found that those in the legal community were giving of their time and talents. He credits OCBA member Joe Papelian with helping to introduce him into the OCBA community. Tom recalls being sent to cover his very first event, the Signature Event at Oakland Hills Country Club, not really knowing anyone. As Tom describes it, Joe Papelian saw him looking lost, took him aside, and began to introduce him around to judges and attorneys in attendance. And the rest is history. Tom has been a regular at OCBA events in the many years since. His involvement with our organization and his commitment to the community led to Tom receiving the OCBA’s Allene and Martin Doctoroff Liberty Bell Award in 2018.
Thanks, Tom, for all you do for our community and our OCBA.
Sign-Off
It is tradition for the OCBA president to use the last LACHES column to reflect on the year. While we’ve had a good year, and accomplished much, I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on our organization a bit and express my gratitude for those who make it work. I’ve had the privilege of being around the OCBA since I was a kid, and I served on committees for years before joining the board. I believe our OCBA continues to play an important role in the practice of law in our community. This is the result of decades of people working together.
So, as this bar year winds down, I extend my thanks and appreciation to all of the folks who have helped make the OCBA what it is: members who get engaged; committee members who take the time to participate; committee chairs and vice chairs willing to step up and take leadership roles; our judges, especially our district, circuit, and probate judges, who are so very generous with their time to attend OCBA events; our intrepid OCBA staff, who make the place run; and my boards, past and present, who have given so much of their time and talents to our organization. Thank you, to all of you, for what you do to make our OCBA great.
I depart with confidence that our OCBA is in good hands.
————————
Dean M. Googasian, of The Googasian Firm PC, is the 92nd president of the Oakland County Bar Association.
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