Apr 22, 2009

Chicago Tribune Lays Off Garden Writer

ChicagoBusiness.com is reporting that the Chicago Tribune has laid off Elizabeth Botts. Elizabeth Botts is the garden writer for the Home & Garden section of the newspaper. For a brief time Ms. maintained Chicago Gardener, a garden blog on the Chicago Tribune website. The blog is no longer active.

When she launched her garden blog she gave me a mention in an article in the print edition of the Chicago Tribune. At the Chicago Flower & Garden Show I had the pleasure of finally meeting Beth in person. A couple of days ago I emailed her to ask her for advice and now I'm starting to wonder if I'm bad luck. Not long after I had communicated with Ketzel Levine by email she was laid off by NPR. You can now find Ketzel Levine at Ketzel.com and hopefully Beth will make the transition to the internet because I know she has a lot of fans in Chicago.

On the web: Tribune cuts jobs, parent seeks approval for $13M in bonuses.

Update: Beth Botts has recently launched her own garden blog GrowingInChicago.Com
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6 comments:

  1. Very sad to hear this. The ONLY reason I still buy the Tribune (and only on Sunday) is for the gardening section, which just will not be the same without Beth Botts. Keep us posted if/when you find out where she lands!
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  2. I am sure you are not bad luck... only the times ... so many lay offs... and papers especially having hard times... but a good garden writer is just what folks need right now. Too bad.
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  3. Thanks for informing us of this sad news. I hope all the garden bloggers and writers will send their opinions to the Chicago Tribune online edition. I have.
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  4. It's the bad luck of the economy Mr. Brown Thumb. I hope your friend fairs well, and good luck @ your Spring Fling, keep up the good work for gardeners everywhere! xo~
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  5. Hi everyone, sorry for the late reply. I've updated the entry with the URL for Beth's blog.
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  6. Somehow I only just found this blog post. Thanks to all for you kind comments! I really appreciate knowing that you folks have liked what I've done. I'm still doing a little freelance for the Chicago Tribune. I've started writing for Chicagoland Gardening magazine (www.chicagolandgardening.com), have started a new blog (growinginchicago.com) and am looking to the future. I'm on Twitter at chicagogardener and on Facebook. Thanks again. Beth Botts
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