By Michael Glenn
With Crow and Co. closing this past Saturday, Gina and I visited the bookstore one last time to reminisce on some memories and discuss some editorial topics as we usually do on the weekends.
Crow and Co. holds a special place in my heart as the place where the players of The Hutchinson Tribune met for the first time.
In Aug. 2022, I met Gina for the first time in a philosophy book club at Crow and Co. The book we were discussing that month was “Sophie’s World,” a book I still have to this day.
Gina and I were, and still are, interested in just about anything. As time went on, the book club would discuss more topics about philosophy and the world around us.
It wasn’t until around May 2023 that I started looking into journalism. While I researched in newspapers and publications for debate class, most of what we needed we could find in national newspapers or other websites.
But seeing the state of journalism in our local community in 2023, Gina and I decided to try and fix it. While neither of us had formal training in journalism, we began researching other local publications that did it better than what we had in Hutchinson.
We found the Harvey County Now, and I called the publisher of that paper under Gina’s suggestion. After meeting with Joey Young and Adam Strunk, the publisher and editor of the Harvey County Now, I convinced Gina to start the Tribune with no end goal in mind.
A year and a half later, I’d say we’ve done well for a high schooler and a librarian.
Crow and Co. was also the place where we met our first writing contractor, where we covered the 2024 election cycle and where Gina and I have regularly met for around two years now.
I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to Sara and Lara Crow, who created the bookstore and gave Gina and me a place to make what we do possible. Sara had even joked at one point that Crow and Co. was our de facto office because of how much we met there.
Crow and Co. will be missed in Hutchinson, and I wish the Crows all the best in their future endeavors.
