Palo Alto Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson announced today he will retire from his position in February after an award winning career of reporting and editing that has spanned 50 years.

However, he intends to write a regular online and print column for the paper after his retirement. Thorwaldson has been at the Weekly for the past 10 years, public affairs director at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation for 18 years, 15 years at the now defunct Palo Alto Times and its successor, the Peninsula Times Tribune.

Before that, he was employed the Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer, San Jose Mercury News and Merced Sun-Star. Thorwaldson’s heart, however, is in Palo Alto.

“Nowhere in the world could you find a more interesting community and people than in Palo Alto. It’s been a true privilege to be a central part of local history and to have developed so many friends along the way,” he said.

A link to Thorwaldson’s personal reflections as he retires.