Eric Lund Obituary

Lund, Eric R. A newspaperman whose innate decency matched his journalistic acumen, died January 16, 2016, at age 90 in Evanston with his wife of 25 years, Grace Carlson-Lund, at his side. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 6, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Avenue in Evanston. According to his wishes, he was cremated. In lieu of flowers, a donation to Doctors Without Borders would be welcome. He began his newspaper career as city hall reporter for the Evanston Review 1946-1956, and from 1961 to 1966, he edited the Evanston Review. He worked for The Chicago Daily News in 1957-1961 and again in 1966-1977, beginning as a reporter and winding up as assistant managing editor. In 1973, he received the Marshall Field Award for Outstanding Editorial Contribution to The Chicago Daily News. He was also a respected teacher at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and North Park College, as well as director of Columbia College's journalism graduate program, which he helped to create, and where he retired in 1994. Born in Chicago to Swedish immigrants, he earned a bachelor's degree from Medill in 1949 after U.S. Army service that included occupation duty in Japan. A prominent figure for decades in Chicago's Swedish-American circles, he served as president of the Swedish-American History Society from 1976-1982. He was honored in 1976 with a bicentennial medal from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, awarded Knight First Class, Royal Order of the North Star in 1978. He received the Swedish-American Historical Society Carl Sandburg Medal in 1998, and Swedish Council of America Award of Merit in 2011. He contributed numerous articles to the Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, and was editor of the Society's newsletter since 1997. His final Daily News project, which he devised as a lark, was the Trivia Quiz. He created that alumni newsletter feature each month for 21 consecutive issues, from May 2014 to January 2016. His first wife, Florence Johannsen Lund, a journalist and artist, died in 1989. Survivors include his second wife, Grace Carlson-Lund, a photographer, and cousins in Sweden.