PRSA Hoosier Chapter Mourns the Passing of a Leader

The public relations profession lost a leader and a legend with the passing of Jim Hetherington. David Shank, APR, of Shank Public Relations Counselors provided the following post to pay tribute to Hetherington who passed away on July 23.

Thank you, Jim Hetherington.

We lost a great guy with the passing of Jim Hetherington, APR, this week. Jim was quiet and reserved but he knew how to get things done. He served well as President of the Hoosier Chapter, PRSA in 1979. Like many of us he started his career in journalism and took those skills to become a leader in public relations. You can see his accomplishment in his obit (http://bit.ly/1l9ObzJ), but what’s not mentioned is that for years he was the guiding force and editor of the really bad jokes and puns on the downtown Indianapolis signboard, now a cultural icon, of AUL Insurance, the predecessor to OneAmerica,. He would often privately tell of the even worse and unpublishable submissions that never saw daylight.

Jim is missed but he leaves a wonderful professional legacy.

David Shank, APR