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FREE Vol. 40 No. 28
July 15, 2026 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Author re-grieves father killed in Austin 40 years ago
Kimbrough adamant she won’t let students or their parents down
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
See BOOK on page 8
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St. Angela teacher named Big Shoulders Educator of the Year
Alan Austin’s memoir ‘The Long Echo: Re-grieving a Parent Lost in Childhood’ shares how to help kids navigate the death of a loved one Earlier this year, Alan Austin released his first book on the 40th anniversary of his father’s murder in Austin, which occurred when he was 5 years old. Now 45, Austin wrote his memoir, “The Long Echo: Re-grieving a Parent Lost in Childhood,” to tell the story of how, throughout his life, he’s navigated the grief of losing his father. He hopes his memoir will educate adults on how grief affects children who don’t have the words to describe what they’re feeling — and how they can help kids navigate that heartache. Austin was inspired to start writing his memoir last year after watching “The Perfect Neighbor” documentary on Netflix. One scene showed children’s reactions when they found out their mother was dead, and Austin said, “I know exactly what those kids are going through.”
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By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter
JESSICA MORDACQ
Alan Austin at New Sound Cafe with his memoir “The Long Echo: Re-grieving a Parent Lost in Childhood” on July 7.
BREAKING
Ariel Kimbrough is fervent in her belief that teachers don’t want to let anybody down. That includes students, of course, especially those in her first-grade classroom at St. Angela’s Catholic School in Austin. But it’s also about their parents. Her approach creates confidence among kids and parents alike, which is one reason she was named a 2026 Impact Educator of the Year award winner from Big Shoulders Fund, which manages St. Angela’s and 37 other high-need schools. She was one of three Chicago-area teachers so awarded in the Big Shoulders Plus network, and received $5,000, plus $500 to dedicate to her classroom. Why does she teach? “The thing that I love about teaching is seeing See TEACHER on page 9
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