Authoring, Researching, Reporting, and Other Work 

Learning On-Line by Howard Taylor

The Coles County Reporter
A new generation of the Lynch Family takes to
News Reporting and Gathering

Page One of the Louise Taylor "Coles County Reporter" Story


"Every Little Breeze Seems to Whisper Louise"
The Coles County Reporter's  theme song for several years. 
When the Maurice Chevalier tune would come on, the news would be next.

  Nina Louise (Lynch) Taylor,
    Born June 5, 1923, would be 30 yrs. old and the mother of two rambunctuous boys (including the maker of this page).  She had been married to a professional fireman for 7 years.  She was a Lynch and had already worked at the bus station and the Clark Funeral Home.  Her Uncle Art and Cousin Lee Lynch, were influential to her in many ways.  Louise graduated from Charleston High School (Illinois)  and later at Utterback's Business College at Shelbyville, Il.

Lee Lynch Dies on Floor of  Illinois House

    Lee Lynch would die on the floor of the Illinois General Assembly in 1951.  Ray Livesay of WLBH, Mattoon, encouraged Lee's wife Emily to keep the Coles County Reporter Sunday afternoon program alive.  She did for a while, but decided it was too much and moved to Texas. 
Somehow, Louise Taylor was coaxed into "filling in for Emily".  She started a long career in news broadcasting and was very good and popular at it.
      The phone at our home would be turned into a news gathering tool, as well as a fire alarm phone.  Our dad was a new professional fireman for the Charleston Fire Department (on-duty every other 24 hour period).  My brother and I were taken to just about every disaster and fire in the area throughout our growing-up lives.  We saw a train wreck at Loxa, Illinois with casualities (see picture below) among a myriad of Charleston social/political events.

Loxa Passenger Train derailment (1950's)
    We went to fires abundantly and helped dad with hoses, axes and messages (no two-way radios in the old days).  We went with mom to manhunts in corn fields, to see the body of Adlai Stevenson I arrive on Air Force One at Springfield (got to skip school for that one), as well as the big hostage event of June, 1959, in which the Coles County Reporter went up on the porch to attempt to convince Kenny Atkins into surrendering.  The gun went off with no one harmed,  and later he was captured.  Law enforcement rules were different in the old days.

Louise leaving the porch of the alleged kidnap/hostage event.  She would broadcast this live with reports for several hours.  She knew the kidnapper and victim and was asked by local police to talk to them to calm the kidnapper, and perhaps convince him to come out.

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