FORMER PUBLISHER, COLUMNIST DIES AT 63
By Gregory J. Lamoureux
County Courier
Former publisher of the County Courier, Edward Thomas Shamy Jr., died last week at this home in Georgia, VT.
Shammy owned the County Courier, alongside his wife Kim Asch, from November of 2008 through May of 2014. Prior to that era, he penned a column for the Burlington Free Press. Shamy continued his column with the County Courier until his retirement in 2014.
As a journalism junkie, Shamy was truly a one-of-a-kind individual who enjoyed showing his curmudgeonly side, but deep down inside was a caring individual who had a knack for questioning authority and prying for more answers.
A New Jersey native, Shamy spent time in Virginia, St. Louis, and Maryland before relocating to and finding joy in the State of Vermont.
From his whimsical humor that showed in his column, to his gruff questioning of public officials when things just didn’t seem to add up, the largely self-taught journalist would at times speak of his time at Columbia University. For those in the news industry, the thought of speaking with a journalist who went to Columbia was impressive, but he would usually fess up later on in the conversation that he actually studied political science while attending the university in the heart of the Big Apple.
He would later go on to lead newsrooms through the east coast, mentoring journalists who are still making their mark on society today.
His column would highlight the abnormal and odd parts of life in northern Vermont. From a feature of a longtime hunter who died of a heart attack while dragging his one and only deer, to the naming of the ice formations beneath vehicles on Vermont’s winter roadways- crusticles.
Shamy’s creativity was one that few could match, illustrated by the stories of the young Shamy traversing the nation as a young pup, way before the modern communication systems were even thought of. To keep up with their son, Shamy would dial his parents’ home number from the now obsolete and rare payphones along America’s highways. If everything was okay, he would change his last name to the City he was calling from- “Mrs’ Shammy, we have a collect call from Ed Albuquerque for you,” the operator would say if he were calling from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
SEE RELATED: Edward T. Shamy Jr. Obituary
If everything was okay on the home front, the family wouldn’t take the call, but if they needed to speak with their son, they could.
On the flip side, if Shamy needed to get through to his parents, he would give his full name to the operator.
It was this kind of creativity and ingenuity that drove Shamy through life, and the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that he left with his co-workers, employees, and family.
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