Dave Hage, communications director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, will be giving up that job by the end of the summer.

"It's purely a decision based on family,'' said Hage, a former Star Tribune reporter and, later, editorial writer who left the newspaper and went to work for Klobuchar in December. "When you find yourself listening to your son's piano recital on a cell phone from 1,100 miles away, you start thinking maybe something isn't right.''

Under Klobuchar, Hage was working both in Washington and Minnesota.

"The hours are long and hard, but it's also fun,'' he said. "The process can be frustrating. The Senate operates slowly, deliberatively. But every once in a while, you look around and something amazing is happening. One day, you look up and your boss is on the floor of the Senate giving a speech you helped write on something you really believe in and you think, 'Wow, I'm just a little piece of history today.' ''

While working at the newspaper and for Klobuchar, Hage also has been working with Walter Mondale on a book about Mondale's life and times. "It's Mondale's life in his words,'' said Hage, who is assisting in the writing, editing and research. The project has the support of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute.