When Gary Stein arrived at NIU and applied to be a sports writer at the Northern Star, he told editors of his qualifications: sports editor of his high school paper and winner of several writing awards. They hired him on the spot.

Now the truth can be revealed: None of it was true. Before he came to the Star, Gary hadn’t had a word published in his life.

“I hope they check their facts better now,” he joked.

What Gary hadn’t lied about was his ability to write. The Chicago native quickly started amassing clips, covering NIU sports and falling in love with journalism. The Star was located in Kishwaukee Hall then, and populated by students who would go on to journalistic greatness: people like Gene Mustain, Allan Zullo, Gary Watson, Mike Korcek and Ray Gibson. Gary made $5 a week, but gladly would have paid his editors to work there.

“You couldn’t wait to get to work every day at the Star,” he said. “It was electric, what we had down there.”

A stint in the Army Reserves interrupted Gary’s senior year for a semester. He returned with a shaved head – not exactly fashionable on campus during the Vietnam era. “It was like having a target on you,” he said. “So I didn’t have a lot of dates but I wrote a lot of columns.”

After graduating from NIU in 1969, Gary worked as a sports writer and columnist for the Gannett-owned Rockford Register Star for 11 years. In 1980, Gannett moved him to Westchester, N.Y., as a national sports columnist for the entire chain. But his sports days were numbered. A year later, he accepted a job at the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., writing metro columns. He felt ready for the switch.

“Sports was always my heart, but I felt I done everything in sports,” he said. “I had covered the Olympics and the World Series. I’m still the biggest sports fan I know – but I’m not sorry I did it.

He would write 3,000 metro columns over the next 15 years, establishing himself as an institution in south Florida. Then in 1996, he became the paper’s West Broward editor – the position he holds today. He was ready for that move, too.

“My family (wife Jackie and son Mark, 14) is my No. 1 priority, and in this satellite office I’m a little closer to home if I’m needed.”