Beyond the Byline: Lemon brings record of accomplishment to role as high school sports editor

As newly promoted High School Sports Editor for the Daily Herald, John Lemon brings a level of commitment and appreciation for youth sports that make him a worthy successor to such legends as John Radtke and Bob Frisk.

Lemon served for years as Radtke's assistant sports editor before being appointed in July to succeed him.

He joined the Daily Herald as a freelance reporter in the DuPage bureau in 1995 and joined the newsroom staff full-time in 1998, first as a sports reporter and eventually as sports editor for DuPage County, then the Tri-Cities area and beginning in 2018, the Fox Valley.

As sports editor in the Fox Valley, he was responsible for the sports coverage for 25 high schools from Cary-Grove to West Aurora, out west to Kaneland and all the ones in between. In recent years, his duties have expanded to cover the entire Daily Herald circulation area, and in his new role, he'll lead and coordinate reporting that the newspaper has always considered among its most vital areas of community interest.

"It's a joy to work in communities that care so much about sports and the life lessons they teach our kids," Lemon says.

His love of writing started when he grew up in downstate Monmouth and realized in high school his dream of playing shortstop for the Chicago Cubs was not happening, so he'd he better find a different way to stay involved in sports.

He attended the University of Illinois and loved not only writing about the Illini but visiting the other Big Ten schools covering the football and basketball programs.

A resident of Lily Lake, Lemon enjoys golf and watching his own two sons play sports.