A Friend Is Gone
June 25th, 2010
Yesterday I went to a memorial service for an old friend who was a very important person in my life. Bruce Humphrey was the photo editor at the Newark Advocate in Newark, Ohio, when he hired me, at age 16, to be an apprentice photographer. In recent years I would often joke with him that he was the man who ruined my life. Really, he set me on the path that would define my life. And it’s been a good path. Sitting at his memorial service I realized that I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without his influence. He was a good man and a great journalist. In a very unusual career path he rose from newspaper photographer to the position of managing editor. He believed in our system of democratic government and, above all else, the crucial role that the news media play in making this form of government work. He was not afraid to raise his voice to point out what was right and what was wrong in his community. He will be missed. He was just diagnosed with lung cancer in May and he is already gone. A reminder that we never know what tomorrow will hold. So live today.
And that’s another photo of Brooke from the north shore up there. Still from only our first day of shooting.
2 Responses to “A Friend Is Gone”
1Gary M
June 25th, 2010 @ 1:48 pm
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend… sounds like he was a great mentor and role model.
2Unbearable Lightness
June 29th, 2010 @ 10:21 pm
The Big Ones die, said John Berryman. I’m so sorry for your loss and the loss of another old-time journalist. Those were very different times.
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