The laughter and memories were flowing like the kegs of college days long ago. After the celebration of life on Saturday for former Eastern Illinois University journalism professor Dan Thornbugh, a group of EIU journalism graduates and teachers reconvened at Roc’s, a Charleston mainstay of drinking and life-altering conversations.

During a brief lull in the conversation, Tess Norton, a colleague from the Eastern News days in the late 1970s, suddenly exclaimed loudly to me and everyone else in the bar:

“I know who you look like…Rahm Emmanuel!”

Your personal politics aside, would YOU want to be likened to a man whose reputation as a mean-mouthed, political mad-dog proceeds him wherever he claims to live on any given day?

Tess insisted that she only means that my face and hair resemble Rahm’s. I don’t see it; how about you?

If Rahm Emmanuel and I were seated together at a White House dinner, would people get us confused?

Have you ever been likened to someone when that comparison wouldn’t necessarily be considered a compliment? How did you handle it?

Among the solicitations, updates and other items in my personal email inbox on Thursday, one mattered most:

Subject: [Eiujou] D.T. has died

Professor Emeritus Dan Thornburgh, the founder and former chairman of the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) Journalism Department, died at the Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home in Mattoon, Ill., where he had been in hospice care for a few weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken hip.

As the news spread, my journalism school friends began circulating emails with their reactions to the news, and their memories of D.T. This blog is where I’m most comfortable leaving my thoughts, and I needed a little time to sort through the feelings and to recall some of my experiences with this wonderful man/professor/leader.

In October 1976, I walked for the first time into the office of EIU’s daily student newspaper, the Eastern News. (Its name was changed some years later to the Daily Eastern News.) The newspaper’s editorial, advertising and pre-press production functions were housed at that time in the basement of the Student Services Building.

The newspaper’s faculty advisor, John David Reed, and veteran student editors filled me in over time regarding the history of the EIU Journalism Department. It is not an exaggeration to say that much of what I took for granted as a freshman journalist—the facilities, the faculty, the curriculum, the daily newspaper, even the journalism major and department—derived from the vision and determination of D.T.

The photo of me and D.T. that accompanies this post was taken in April 2009 at the 50th annual journalism student recognition banquet. D.T. was honored that night for his many contributions to the EIU Journalism Department, the university, and the city of Charleston. Speakers included former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and newspaper publishers, editors and reporters.

It was D.T. who organized the first student recognition banquet 50 years ago, and he was a former Charleston City Council member, served in the local Rotary Club, and was named Charleston “Outstanding Citizen of the Year” in 1971.

Personally, I learned a few important lessons from D.T.; perhaps none as important as his example of being an engaged member of the community. He helped me to understand that a journalist didn’t have to disconnect from the people and organizations around him; in fact, those connections could make a better, more rounded journalist—and a better human being.

D.T. used his understanding of local history, politics and people to bring context to stories and issues. I remember times when he would pull me aside to provide insight into a story I was pursuing. As he spoke, his soft blue eyes, occasionally crackly southern Illinois twang and warm chuckle would mesmerize me. It felt like I was being schooled by a combination of Andy Griffith, my grandfather and Ben Bradlee.

I didn’t get many As in my college coursework. That was partly due to my declining interest in classroom learning, and more likely due to my desire to spend time at the Eastern News office or a local bar like Ike’s, Sporty’s or Roc’s.

But I earned an A in Communication Law, which was taught by D.T. He made the course relevant and challenged us to debate, think and learn. That A is more a testament to D.T.’s teaching style than to my effort.

Before you submit this as proof of D.T.’s case for sainthood, let’s add that D.T. could be stubborn. When his vision for the Journalism Department or the Eastern News differed from someone else’s, sparks could fly. But that passion never led to the kind of gutter-sniping, vitriolic language and insinuations that has marred popular debate in the United States over the past 20 years.

I don’t look back at my time and experiences with D.T. through a rose-colored lens. I use a journalist’s lens, where the pros and cons, facts and half-truths, lies and distortions are sifted, refined and reported with an eye toward truth and accuracy. That’s how D.T. would want it. That’s how he taught it.

This story ends with the death of a good man, a positive contributor to society, and a credit to the journalism profession. But because of D.T., many thousands of important stories will continue to be written in the decades to come.
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This blurry photo of me with former Eastern Illinois University (EIU) Journalism Department Chairman Dan Thornburgh (DT) is so appropriate. The photo was taken on April 25, 2009 during the annual EIU Journalism Department Banquet.

Why is the photo appropriate? Because DT had trouble remembering who I was (it had been a few decades since we last talked with each other), and because the years have passed in a blur.

This year marked the 50th anniversary of the department’s founding, led by the tireless efforts of DT and those who followed, including John David Reed, James Tidwell and John Ryan.

I’m an EIU Journalism grad, and served on the university’s daily student newspaper, eventually having the honor of being named one of its editors. I’ve drifted away from EIU over the years, just as I drifted away from newspaper reporting.

Being back on campus last month was very meaningful to me, and seeing former classmates and instructors was great. Some things that I can share with any students who are graduating this year:

• Hold onto the friendships you’ve made. The people who seem so special to you now, really are that special.
• Keep your ego in check. You may have excelled at school, but don’t make too much of it. Down the road, you will remember the accomplishments, but they will have been overshadowed by others. The benefit isn’t usually from creating something that lasts, but learning how to create something worthwhile wherever you are at that point in life.
• Don’t stop learning. I graduated from college nearly 30 years ago, and if I hadn’t kept up with communication tools, techniques and trends, I would have been as useful and appreciated as an IBM Selectric Typewriter.

IABC Executive Board Vice Chair Mark Schumann, ABC, just wrote a post about the demise of the Rocky Mountain News newspaper in Denver, CO (USA). I commented briefly on Mark’s blog about my own perspective, but want to expand a bit here.

I was born in 1958 and grew up when newspapers were the dominant source for complete news coverage. Radio news reports, to me, were the irritating, five-minute interruptions that always seemed to come just when I was starting to enjoy the latest rock or pop hits. TV news was visually interesting at times, but otherwise flat and stiff.

Reading the newspaper was a family affair. I remember squirming next to my older brothers and sister, to find a spot on dad’s lap, while he read the Sunday comics to us–and often had to explain the joke. As I grew older, we discussed the local and national news (Chicago is never short of controversial news!), and savored the razor-sharp writing and reasoning of columnists like Mike Royko.

My brothers and I delivered newspapers to earn money. One of the benefits of a morning paper route, that just barely countered the daily 3 a.m. wake-up, was the time spent reading the newspapers after the route was finished. There, in the agency’s poorly lit, barely heated back area, I would sit on a wooden shelf/bench and take my time, devouring just about every word in the two daily newspapers.

As Mark mentioned in his post about the Rocky Mountain News, there was something about the smell of newspaper ink on my hands that I just loved. The ink got into my blood, and I pursued journalism as a college student at Eastern Illinois University.

The journalism professors there were required to have worked previously as a professional journalist. I heard first-hand stories of life as a newspaper reporter: the exciting and rewarding, and the mundane and frustrating. I even got to get ink on my hands again, while helping to print and distribute the daily student newspaper as a fill-in volunteer when the regular press crew or delivery staff weren’t available.

I spent a summer working as an intern at the Decatur Herald & Review. Then when I graduated, I accepted a position there as a reporter/photographer. Although my bosses and coworkers were some of the finest people I have ever met, I left the paper after only one year, because I “wanted to see some mountains.”

I called a college friend and told him that I was planning to move to Denver. That friend said, “I’ll call you back in a few minutes.” When he did, he told me that he had decided to move to Denver with me!

We used the Rocky Mountain News to look for work. My friend was more dedicated, and quickly found a very good job. Me, not so much. After a few months spent laboring at some fun, but not lucrative, “jobs,” I moved back to Chicago, leaving behind a love of the mountains and newspapers in Denver.

Just last night, I discussed with my wife whether we should cancel our subscription to the Chicago Tribune. We just don’t read it much, and unopened newspapers too often get tossed in the recycling bin. But there is something about the physical newspaper—and the journalists who worked so hard to publish it—that makes it nearly impossible for me to let go.

But times have changed. Perhaps nothing says that better than the fact that the links I have provided here to the newspapers all go to electronic web pages. You won’t get ink on your fingers from typing in the URLs. Maybe that should make all of us a little sad.

The graphic to the left features (from left): John Ryan, advisor of Student Publications at my alma mater, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Ill.; Jim Tidwell, chairman of the Journalism Department at EIU; and Rick Popely, reporter at the Chicago Tribune and an EIU journalism alum.

The latest CommaKazi Speek podcast features interviews of these two former and one current journalists (the two former journalists teach journalism at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Il). We discuss the current state of journalism and what the next wave of journalism graduates may face.

I conducted the interviews on July 18, after a charity golf outing at EIU, my alma mater, to benefit the Gene Seymour Journalism Scholarship. (No thanks to me, my foursome managed to win third place.)

Today, I’m enjoying a round of golf at Eastern Illinois University. Early Sunday morning, I leave with a busload of middle-school youth and other adult leaders of my church for a week of fun and spiritual renewal at a Christian camp near Bemidji, MN.

No PCs at camp, so this blog will be quiet for at least one week.

As I drive south tomorrow to my alma mater in Charleston, Ill., I’ll no doubt enjoy memories of my years spent there as a journalism major.

But 2008 isn’t 1980 (the year I graduated), and I expect to have some frank discussions with former journalism instructors and colleagues (and perhaps, some current students) about the current state of the profession. I haven’t walked into a newsroom in about a decade, but I suspect that many are subdued, because of the decline in print advertising and economic forces that are behind continuing staff reductions in many newspapers across the country. Some long-time professionals have had enough—as evidenced by this July 14 article regarding a resignation at the Chicago Tribune.

The workforce and business environment continue to change, not always for the better. Although my B.A. degree from Eastern Illinois University may not be as high as it once was, it remains indispensable to me. I’ve been committed for many years to the concept of being a “life-long learner.” That led me to earn accreditation through the International Association of Business Communicators, and to hone skills in newer communication methods and technologies, including blogging and podcasting.

My professional and personal life today doesn’t look anything like I would have imagined it turning out when I graduated from EIU. Challenges, disappointments, minor successes and major “growth opportunities” continue to be part of my work and life.

Tomorrow, however, will not be a day to dwell on what life isn’t…it will be a day to enjoy life as it is.