By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
OKLAHOMA CITY — My parents must be so proud.
I’ve finally arrived.
That’s right: I’ve reached cartoon status in an international Christian newspaper.
Over the past 19 years, I’ve written more than 150 Inside Story columns for The Christian Chronicle. Readers have become accustomed to seeing my mugshot on Page 3.
“You look just like your picture in the paper,” I’ve heard repeatedly in my reporting travels.
But now my photo is gone — replaced with a professional artist’s rendering of my, um, interesting face.
My first reaction was: Is that what I really look like? My wife, Tamie, said no. My adult children shared giggles and disparaging remarks in the family group chat.
Related: Religion News Association honors Bobby Ross Jr. with Supple Award for Feature Writing
Then I showed the image to my granddaughter, Norah, who is almost 3. She recognized the face immediately.
“That’s Papa,” she said without hesitation.
Well, if a toddler can see the resemblance, I guess we’ll go with it. It could be worse. My cartoon could picture a guy in serious need of a beard trim (sorry, Erik).
All joking aside, change can be hard.
This edition of the Chronicle marks the launch of our first major redesign in 24 years. The headline fonts and text styles are new (our old ones had outlived the technology we use to lay out the paper). The page sizes are slightly taller and thinner (I wish I could say the same of myself).
This column appears in the May print edition of The Christian Chronicle.
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 