On the finale episode of Finger Painting the Future Season One, our esteemed hosts thought it was only fitting to do an episode about empty nesting. We wanted to round out Season One with a big & fun celebration — and thanks to this week's guest, we realized that it makes sense for all empty nesters to do the same! 

Join Florence Ann & Joe as they chat with Chicago Tribune writer, and father of 4 young adults, Jerry Davich, about his personal experience going through two rounds of children flying the coup and why he decided to celebrate it the second time.

About our guest: Jerry Davich’s writing career began in 1995 as a freelance journalist and political cartoonist for The Times Newspaper of Northwest Indiana. One story led to hundreds, then thousands. In 2006, he was offered a position he couldn’t refuse – full-time metro columnist for The Post-Tribune, the same newspaper he delivered as a boy.

As a columnist, Jerry has always shined a light on society’s darkest corners while offering a voice to the voiceless. He has written about every imaginable issue and situation – including the last days of a woman with terminal cancer in a hospice; flying upside down in a U.S. Thunderbirds fighter jet at 9.2 G’s; visiting New York City’s Ground Zero just days after the terrorist attacks in 2001; witnessing a coroner perform an autopsy; and jumping out of a perfectly fine plane with a recorder in hand.

Along the way, Jerry has won more than 50 state or national awards from various journalism organizations while now writing for Chicago Tribune Media. He also writes freelance stories for various magazines while completing four books: “Connections: Everyone Happens for a Reason,” “Lost Gary, Indiana: Rusted Landmarks of the Steel City,” “Crooked Politics of Northwest Indiana” and the history of Andrean High School.

Jerry is in the business of connecting people, asking unpopular questions, and provoking a needed dialogue. He is the father of two children, ages 36 and 35, and also the dad to two stepchildren, ages 21 and 19. Jerry cruises the Chicago area on a daily basis, never leaving home without his notebook, his iPhone and his curiosity.

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