When I was 17, I wanted to be a journalist, so I reached out to The Chronicle to see if I could intern there. The rest is really history. I had no clue that all of those people in those doors would become my second family. Especially the publisher, Hank Hyora. Since I was 17 I have worked at The Chronicle on and off in different positions, Hank being the constant. He always believed in me…always wanted me to write more, take more photos, supported all of my ideas.

I’ve never had someone older than me encourage me and love me the way Hank did, outside of my family. The funny thing is that Hank was more family than some of my family. Every time I gave my notice, he would cry and I would cry. Every achievement I had, he would cheer me on. Every time he would talk about his love for the Bee Gee’s and Barbara Streisand, I would make fun of him. He wore his heart on his sleeve. 

Justin [Alex] and I had a great visit with him at the hospital not knowing it would be our last coherent conversation with him. We laughed as we reminisced about funny stories. It was heartwarming. Hank, I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me over the last 25 years, beyond a boss but as a family member and friend. You gave me so much love. You were there for every milestone in my life (high school and college graduations, meeting Paul, marrying Paul, having kids, buying a house, supporting my business venture and so on) and I know you know how important you are and will be to me forever. I will miss our daily conversations about life and politics and food and people and memories…all of it. And our sarcastic humor! You understood my sicko humor more than anyone and I understood yours! 

My heart has a hole in it that will never be filled, but I promise to carry your legacy on at The Chronicle and in everything I do. Love you Hank. I am going to miss you more than words can convey. Thank you for being my second dad, my dear friend and the best damn boss I could ever ask for. I’m so happy you’re back with Karyn.

Courtney Wittenstein
Harwich

Goodbye Dear Friend.

Hank Hyora and I became friends in the first grade at Chatham Elementary School and remained so for the next 70 years. In fact, my very first job was thanks to Hank. We were in the eighth grade and Vito Sammartano, who managed the Chatham Beach Club, asked Hank to find a friend to be “beach runners” for the summer. Our job was to run sandwiches down to the beach, seven days a week for 10 weeks. We were paid $10 a week, but only if we stayed for the whole summer! Hank immediately saw the futility in this arrangement. After two weeks he said, “This is crazy, I can make $100 in just one week digging quahogs.” And that was the beginning of his successful entrepreneurial adventures.

Hank was a very low key, unassuming, hardworking guy who had no tolerance for fools! Most importantly, he was an amazingly talented publisher who took a fledgling paper and developed it into the most turned-to media outlet on the Lower Cape. As local and national news gathering organizations around the country continue to evaporate, The Chronicle keeps getting stronger — a tribute to Hank’s vision and his leadership in developing an extraordinary staff. 

Whenever I complimented Hank on his success, he’d always say, “Oh, it’s not me, it’s the staff.” Newsprint ran in his blood. Like the proverbial busman’s holiday, for vacation, Hank would buy every newspaper he could get his hands on!

So many of us will miss this splendid man and true Chathamite, but thanks to his fortitude and insight into what readers want, his legacy will live on in every issue of The Cape Cod Chronicle. 

Goodbye dear friend. 

Jack Gillis

In 1965, a group of Chatham businessmen created a local paper to highlight local businesses. They eventually added a bit of community news. In 1974, the Cape Cod Chronicle emerged, then serving both Chatham and Harwich. In 1984, one man became sole owner/publisher and built a true community newspaper. We lost Hank Hyora last week. The Cape Cod Chronicle, we hope, will remain. 

In the era of radio, TV, and newspaper takeovers by large scale media outlets, we are fed snippets of information intended to influence our view of the world we live in. That is the absolute opposite of a community newspaper as fine as The Chronicle.

A true community newspaper keeps us all focused on what is important: shared local and regional goals, a sense of belonging, support for an idea, the opportunity to understand both sides of an issue, and a feeling of being part of something more important than ourselves. Each Thursday I read of the issues facing Brewster, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans. I sadly learn who among us has passed. I rejoice for the high school teams which are doing well. I am delighted for the scholarship winners. I get the skinny on the arts in the area, the community events, the nonprofit news, the news of new restaurants and businesses. I learn of the crises facing our four towns, some similar and some different. And I think — I love it here on Cape Cod! This is where I belong. This is where my efforts must be, united with the hundreds of others who love their towns.

We owe a great deal to the one man who made his vision for a true community newspaper a reality! His heavenly community must certainly have embraced Hank Hyora.

Pattie Tworek
West Harwich

The passing of Henry Hyora is a huge loss to the Cape Cod community. He set a high standard for excellence in journalism and community support in the towns covered by The Cape Cod Chronicle.

He was a newspaperman par excellance, an endangered species in today's world of media mergers and acquisitions. He led by example, without undue alarm and decorum and gave his editors and writers wide range to produce what has become one of the finest community newspapers in the country. It has provided comprehensive and dependable coverage to its readers. People would often ask me “How do you know that?” and my response was “I read about it in The Chronicle!”

To his beloved staff and family, we mourn with you the loss of a great man. Keep strong and share the many wonderful memories of Henry. 

In his honor, a Henry Hyora Award for Local Journalism should be created.

George Buckley
South Orleans

If Charles Foster Kane had been a better man, he could have lived a happy life as Hank Hyora.

Both the fictional press lord and the publisher of The Cape Cod Chronicle loved newspapers, but Hyora was wiser in his complementary loves: his wife Karyn, his town of Chatham and its corner of Cape Cod, and his newspapering colleagues.

From a fishing family, Hank’s calling was to captain a weekly journal that harvested a sea of stories with a crew that sailed with him for decades rather than years. Unlike Kane, who famously said, “I think it would be fun to run a newspaper,” and then lost his focus, Hank made running The Chronicle his life’s work.

That commitment gave his staff and his community assurance that the paper they relied on would not be flipped to corporate ownership so Hank could profit. As the story goes, he was offered a million dollars for The Chronicle by a chain in the 1990s. What would he do with a million dollars, he replied, without a newspaper to run?

As publisher, Hank was always in conversation with the communities The Chronicle covered. Everyone — political leaders, advertisers, elders, youth — deserved a hearing, but the news, even when controversial, took priority.

Hank Hyora’s standards can be illustrated with another tale from the 1990s. A member of the Chatham police department had been using abusive language during traffic stops and was not being held accountable. Citizens petitioned the state attorney general to investigate and down came an 80-page report confirming the abuse. A long story was prepared by a Chronicle reporter new to the paper, who included the language cited. Managing Editor Bill Galvin reviewed the story and conferred with Hank about how to present that aspect. As the new reporter listened, Hank said, “Let me make a call.” Who, the reporter wondered, was the publisher calling? His attorney? “Hello, Mom,” Hank said. The story ran with the words, with some letters replaced by dashes. 

 “Citizen Kane” ends with the publisher’s possessions being burned in a furnace. Because of Hank’s commitment, that will not be the fate of his Chronicle, whose mates will keep the ship on course.

Hank’s life work calls to mind the words of Pope John Paul II, who wrote in 1991:

“In fact, the purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit, but is to be found in its existence as a community of persons who in various ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basic needs, and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society. Profit is a regulator of the life of a business, but it is not the only one; other human and moral factors must also be considered which, in the long term, are at least equally important for the life of a business.”

Thanks for getting it right, Hank.

Ed Maroney
Hyannis

When I saw the brief message announcing Henry “Hank” Hyora had left this world for the next, I was in disbelief. We are the exact same age and knew each other for 50 years. He had a very bad fall at home last autumn. At the rehabilitation facility he seemed OK and couldn’t wait to get home and back to work. Alas, it was our final visit and that conversation is now locked in my memory.

We talked about his mom and dad, Del and Bob, both of whom were terrific people, loving parents, hard workers — much like Hank. Del had opened bay scallops for me some 40 years ago. She had a shucking station set up in her basement. I would carry the baskets into the house, down the stairs and she was right there, ready to go. Hank said “Bill, I have to tell you, a few of those scallops ended up at our table more than once.” He almost looked relieved to tell me, a smile on his face.

 “No harm, no foul, glad to have had her opening for me and would have given more than she probably served to the family.” We both got a laugh out of it.

Hank was an honest person. Very dedicated to The Chronicle, holding it to the highest of journalistic standards. He loved and respected the staff who were faithful, long-term employees. His newspaper was like a family, his troops like brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. He had a sense of community that set an example and will be sadly missed. I feel very honored to have had my stories appear in The Chronicle for the past four years. Stories he said he loved to read and looked forward to each month. He once sent me a message when I wrote about his family’s fishing background. In it he said he got sick every time he went over the bar with his dad. In a way, I am glad he did. The citizens of our Cape communities benefited greatly because he didn’t go to sea. He instead dedicated himself to the town of Chatham, our sister communities and anyone who wanted to understand who we, as Cape Codders, are.

We will miss you, Hank. The Chronicle is your legacy and what a legacy it is — and will continue to be.

So long old friend. We’ll see you on the other side.

Bill Amaru
Orleans