Longtime Photojournalist Remembered As ‘The Photographer You Most Needed To Have Round’

MANCHESTER, CT — Jim Michaud, a ubiquitous presence in north central Connecticut as a photojournalist for the previous 4 many years, has died.

He was 67. Michaud handed away Monday after a sudden sickness. He was recognized for these 40 years as a face of the Journal Inquirer newspaper, together with his lens capturing the triumphs, tragedies and tribulations of the area.

He additionally labored for the Boston Herald and based the net website Breaking Now in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.

Longtime colleague and former JI managing editor Chris Powell mirrored on his profession.

“I worked with Jim for the first 37 of his nearly 40 years at the the Journal Inquirer. He embodied the newspaper. He was so into his work and so loyal to the paper,” Powell mentioned. “He could be called at any hour, day or night, and he’d hustle to the scene of the story, often being the first journalist there. He was the photographer you most wanted to have around when news was exploding.”

Powell additionally cited Michaud’s perseverance.

“He had the courage to stand up to those who tried to prevent or obstruct news coverage,” Powell mentioned. “His contribution to the paper was immense. He was a good friend as well, someone to be thankful for.”

Michaud was recognized for driving across the space with a wide range of antennas on his automobile that gave the impression to be bigger than the compact automotive itself. He even pressured the Department of Motor Vehicles for a press registration plate to make issues simpler at emergency scenes.

Tolland hearth chief John Littell not solely referred to as Michaud a trusted colleague, however an in depth good friend.

Vernon Fire Marshal Dan Wasilewski echoed these sentiments whereas including Michaud would by no means hesitate to supply pictures from a scene that assisted in an investigation.

“And some of those images were key to investigations,” he added.

Over the years, his small canine constantly stored him firm as he drove from task to task.

Breaking information was actually Michaud’s forte, however he was equally as snug at a college honest or a sporting occasion. He was there each Thanksgiving morning for the Manchester street race within the fall. He braved the frigid temperatures contained in the Bolton Ice Palace for Hockey video games within the winter and was recognized to get a exact photograph of a primary baseman rigorously holding a runner on throughout springtime baseball video games.

“Jim Michaud was a tremendously gifted news photographer whose brilliant images always told the story and proved the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words,” street race spokesman Rick Dyer mentioned. “His race day photos of the Manchester Road Race were always excellent. He will be tremendously missed by the Manchester Road Race Committee and the thousands of JI readers who enjoyed his photos for so many years.?

And Michaud was there on Groundhog Day.

Michaud was a popular presence during the pre-dawn hours while a crowd awaited the season prediction of Chuckles, the state groundhog housed at the Lutz Children’s museum.

He didn’t speak groundhog like the mayor of Manchester, but he certainly let his images do the translations.

Said Mayor Jay Moran, “I used to be unhappy to listen to of Jim’s passing. He coated so many issues and I admire all he did for me and the city of Manchester. He was a fantastic asset to the Journal Inquirer and the cities he coated. An actual good man gone too quickly.”

A police official summed it all up.

“Jim was a fantastic man with the distinctive capacity to inform tales by means of his lens,” Capt. Robert Marra of the Vernon police Department said. “He can be missed.”