Whenever I thought about Roland Hemond, I smiled. He was such a generous, kind, and talented man, a breath of fresh air and sunshine every time we spoke.
But, as befits a site editor, I also worried about what would happen when we lost him.
That day has come, as word leaked out at midday Monday that Hemond had died, at 92.
We will plan a longer tribute to publish later today, but for now, I’d like to publish a piece I worked on with Roland during one of the anniversaries of the South Side Hit Men.