Jon Shirek retired on Friday, February 23 after more than 43 years in Atlanta. He started working at NBC affiliate WXIA in 1980.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the station called Shirek “one of the best writers, best journalists and the kindest person in the Atlanta television market.”
Jeff Hullinger, a former 11Alive anchor who worked with Shirek for 14 years, said his “intellect, empathy and understanding of Atlanta metro showed every night in his reporting.”
AdvertisementJohn Pruitt, who worked with Shirek at 11Alive for several years, called him a “thoughtful reporter whose narratives often had a poetic quality.”
In fact, his newsroom nickname was “the Poet,” according to former 11Alive reporter Paul Crawley, who spent 36 years at 11Alive.
“His writing was just beautiful,” said Crawley in a follow-up interview. “It’s hard to write well on deadline in television, but Jon had a way of doing it even if it was just a minute and a half long. He was probably the best I ever worked with.”