Suburban journalist ‘cared about the communities he covered’; hailed as mentor
A veteran community journalist, James Pluta reported and wrote newspaper stories covering a broad swath of the west, southwest and south suburbs for three decades.
“No one knew south and southwest suburban politics ... better than Jim Pluta,” said Yvette Shields, the Midwest regional editor for the Bond Buyer newspaper and a longtime friend. “His genuine friendliness, modesty and curiosity made him a really fine reporter, a loyal friend and the life of any party.”
Pluta, 56, died of sepsis on Feb. 6 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, said his brother, Joseph. A Willow Springs resident, Pluta long had battled diabetes and heart disease and had been on dialysis, his brother said.
Born James Thomas Mark Pluta in Chicago, Pluta grew up in Justice. He graduated in 1982 from Argo Community High School, where he served on the school’s radio station. He attended Moraine Valley Community College and Columbia College.
At 18, Pluta began working as a high school football and basketball statistician for Chicago’s storied and now-defunct news service, City News Bureau. Pluta ceased that work in 1986 but returned to City News Bureau in 1987, covering Chicago’s City Hall, the Cook County Board and courts.
“He was kind of a true Chicago character even though he came from the southwest suburbs. He came from a blue-collar background and he really knew how people thought and what was important in people’s lives,” said John Holden, who worked with Pluta at City News Bureau. “He also had a tremendous sense for how local government works and how the political process intersects with government. He was like an old-school, gumshoe kind of reporter.”
Former Chicago Sun-Times reporter Abdon Pallasch, a longtime friend who is now director of communications for the Illinois State Comptroller’s office, worked at City News Bureau in 1987, when Pluta rejoined the wire service.
“He was just larger than life, and was a gentle giant,” Pallasch said. “His mild-mannered demeanor was inversely proportional to his size. He was like 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds and was just the nicest guy. It was why he was such a good reporter. He could get people to open up and talk to him because he was nonthreatening. He was a great conversationalist.”
Pluta won a Chicago Headline Club Peter Lisagor Award for his part in the City News Bureau’s coverage of the death of Mayor Harold Washington.
In 1989, he took a job at the Midwest bureau of the United Press International wire service. He worked in early 1991 as a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covering Winfield and Warrenville, before joining the now-defunct Wheaton Daily Journal covering the police and courts beat.
Pluta remained with the paper in mid-1992 after it changed its name to simply the Journal and shifted to being published two days a week.
Pluta was equally comfortable covering hard news as he was writing human interest and feature stories. On the front page of the June 17, 1992 Journal, for example, Pluta wrote side-by-side articles about a “farm day” open house at a Wheaton zoo and about a school principal accused of improperly touching a student.
Pluta joined the Suburban Life newspaper chain later in 1995, and covered various suburbs including La Grange and Oakbrook Terrace. He eventually co-authored a political column called “Word on the Street” for the Elmhurst Press.
In 2007, he began writing for the Desplaines Valley News, a southwest suburban newspaper chain.
“He knew everything about every town,” said Rick Kambic, a former Desplaines Valley News reporter. “We would be done covering something and in the car heading to dinner and we’d pass a house and he’d be like, ‘I remember when there was a fire in this house.’ ”
Kambic said Pluta was a mentor who knew people wherever he went.
“He’s the one who taught me to do stories about kids, about business and then about politics, because subjects will open up to you. You never know when a human interest story could lead to someone willing to tell you a little something about village hall,” Kambic said. “He was an exceptional political reporter, but he loved every part of his beat — the schools, the businesses and the human interest.”
While working for the Desplaines Valley News, Pluta also worked as a community reporter for an online website, OnLaGrange.com. He had gotten to know the site’s founder, Scott Hardesty, while both worked at competing newspapers.
“Jim had many interests but I would submit that people and journalism were his greatest passions. He knew how to listen and how to talk to people in an empathetic way,” said Hardesty, who now is the director of communications for Fenwick High School in Oak Park.
“He also cared about the communities he covered as a journalist. This is what made him a great reporter. He wanted to bring the truth to the people and towns he revered,” Hardesty said. “He knew how to ask the right question at the right time, and because of the trust he had within the community was more often than not able to develop an angle that was unique and engaging.”
Hardesty recalled Pluta spending many hours at La Grange Village Hall, chatting with community leaders.
“Because of his endearing personality, Jim was welcomed inside village offices where his unwavering pursuit of the truth manifested in incredible stories that mattered,” Hardesty said.
Pluta remained with OnLaGrange.com until it was sold to a competitor in 2010, and he left the Desplaines Valley News in 2013.
Pluta long had battled diabetes. Over the past 16 years, he had successive amputations of his limbs, including both legs and several fingers, forcing him to need a wheelchair, his brother said. He also was on kidney dialysis.
However, Joseph Pluta said his brother “didn’t let this stuff slow him down at all. He still socialized and went to restaurants. He was more active than I was. It was an amazing attitude. The thing that impressed me the most about my brother was his spirit.”
Outside of work, Pluta was an avid Chicago Cubs fan, collected vintage postcards and he enjoyed volunteering at Brookfield Zoo and serving on advisory committees affiliated with the Amputee Coalition of America and the American Kidney Foundation.
There were no other immediate survivors.
A visitation will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Damar-Kaminski Funeral Home, 7861 S. 88th Ave., Justice. A funeral will follow at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.