Tampa Bay Times’ Dan Ruth in ‘semi-retirement’?

Updated Wednesday — Ruth’s valedictory speech, of sorts, ran in the Times. Here’s an excerpt:

“Am I disappointed to have this particular chapter in my life come to a close? You better believe it. But I’m hardly bitter.

“Ten years ago, I was laid off at the slowly imploding Tampa Tribune. I thought then, at 59, not only was my trade vanishing, but my future job prospects were non-existent.

“But the then St. Petersburg Times rescued me … I’m not going entirely away. Starting next month, I will be writing a monthly column for the Op-Ed page.”

The original post is below.

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As far as we know officially, columnist Daniel Ruth hasn’t left the Tampa Bay Times.

But — of course, there’s a but — after placing a call to him Tuesday at the Times, we were told he no longer works in the newsroom because he’s “semi-retired.”

Seems like news to us.

After some digging, one source tells us Ruth told that person that he had, in fact, retired from the daily grind of newspaper journalism.

A second person confirmed that story, but added Ruth will continue to pen one column a month in, yes, semi-retirement.

No matter the exit, Ruth’s departure as a regular presence in the Times is a high-profile loss for Pinellas County’s paper of record.

He shared with Tim Nickens the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing for “their diligent campaign that helped reverse a decision to end fluoridation of the water supply for the 700,000 residents of the newspaper’s home county.”

His leaving also comes after news of other recent brain-drain from the Times’ editorial trenches.

Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet will leave after Election Day for another gig still to be announced; former Washington bureau chief Alex Leary already decamped for the Wall Street Journal; and managing editor and 30-year Times veteran Jennifer Orsi took a job managing content at Carillon Tower Advisers, an asset management firm and subsidiary of Raymond James Financial.

Ruth’s impish bio describes him as “scribbling away for four decades as a reporter, film critic, television critic and columnist for the Tampa Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Tampa Bay Times.

“He also has worked as a radio talk show host as well as an adjunct professor for the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa and Columbia College in Chicago.

Ruth also “is a Peter Lisagor Award recipient for his columns in Chicago and has been honored by the Pinellas County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union with the Irene Miller Vigilance In Journalism Award.”