Ex-Beacon staffer dies at 86
Hal Fry remembered for his intellect; wrote book about newspaper
By Elbert Starks III
Beacon Journal staff writer
Hal Fry, a longtime Beacon Journal editorial writer and newsroom editor described as a brilliant wordsmith, died Saturday at an assisted-living home in Bath Township.
He was 86.
Fry, who retired from the Beacon Journal in 1983 after 34 years of service, was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for the newspaper's coverage of the shootings at Kent State University in 1970.
He also wrote a book, published in 1989, titled ``Print it!'' 150 Years of The Akron Beacon Journal, which detailed various highlights and important events in the newspaper's history.
``He was gifted with his hands and his mind and his heart,'' said his daughter, Elizabeth A. Connelly.
She said her father, a University of Michigan graduate, was fluent in four languages and spoke at least seven.
Connelly said her father enjoyed teaching courses at the University of Akron and at Kent State University, where he stressed principles such as precision and conciseness.
``Hal was probably the brightest person I ever met. I don't recall a subject ever coming up that he didn't know something about,'' said Chuck Ayers, a former editorial cartoonist for the Beacon Journal.
``He was the most incredible person. He was a great guy.... He was kind of like a father, sort of like that, to a lot of people down there. If you ever had a question, you went to Hal. If you were smart, you went to him first.''
Fry's book was described in the Beacon Journal ``as an illustration about the buildings (the newspaper) occupied, the presses on which it was published, the editors and employees who shaped it.'' It also highlighted the changing ways of newsmaking and newsgathering.
Fry also liked to travel, Connelly said, and he ``built two huge additions to the family home in Cuyahoga Falls.''
His wife, Anne, died in 1998. The two were married for 55 years. Fry is survived by five children, 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
The family is planning a memorial service.
Elbert Starks III can be reached at 330-996-3640 or estarks@thebeaconjournal.com
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio, Tuesday, November 16, 2004, page B8, col. 1]
Leave comment below
7 comments:
Hal Fry was a gentleman and a scholar–two qualities not found often even today in newsrooms. Where I would berate, cajole, deride and drive reporters to tears, Fry was ever polite with gentle persuasive questions. He might have asked an editor who handed him the obit above, “I wonder if it would be possible to get the names and addresses of his children. The reporter did talk to his daughter. Perhaps she knows the names and addresses of her siblings. Everyone knew that if Hal had the slightest doubt about a fact in a story you had checked three times that you had better check it again. He was a stalwart Guild member, but did not favor going for all you could get in negotiations. He once told me, “I don’t need any more paid holidays. Always when you return from one, you have a day’s work to catch up.” Yes, he was also logical.
He was one of the greatest editors I have known and I have known many editors.
Hal Fry was a gentleman and a scholar–two qualities not found often even today in newsrooms. Where I would berate, cajole, deride and drive reporters to tears, Fry was ever polite with gentle persuasive questions. He might have asked an editor who handed him the obit above, “I wonder if it would be possible to get the names and addresses of his children. The reporter did talk to his daughter. Perhaps she knows the names and addresses of her siblings. Everyone knew that if Hal had the slightest doubt about a fact in a story you had checked three times that you had better check it again. He was a stalwart Guild member, but did not favor going for all you could get in negotiations. He once told me, “I don’t need any more paid holidays. Always when you return from one, you have a day’s work to catch up.” Yes, he was also logical.
He was one of the greatest editors I have known and I have known many editors.
Hal was the most intelligent person I have ever known in any newsroom during my 43-year newspaper career that included stops in West Virginia, Florida and Dayton and Akron, Ohio. I often checked spelling and grammar and word meanings and history with Hal, even after he had retired to his home on Northland Avenue, four blocks from my Morrison Avenue house in Cuyahoga Falls. Hal was slim, bearded, quiet and so darn smart although he never let on. I often said that, if you asked Hal for a light, he would give you the history of the match. The world is "stupider" today because Hal is gone.
How do you capture somebody like Hal? In addition to his unquestioned intellect -- John S. Knight insisted that Hal read his Sunday columns after they were batted out on an old Royal typewriter -- he added value to the newspaper in other ways. For one, he was fundamentally decent. Hal was defined by integrity, as well as compassion and a Midwest progressivism that never gave up hope that we could find Lincoln's "better angels" and make the world better.
For another, he was professionally generous, willing to help in any way he could to make this a better, more accurate, more readable chronicle of Akron and the world.
A great family man, who kept us abreast of his progeny (... Mike and math, Betsy and her career, and on and on...) Hal was also an undercover adventurer. It wouldn't have surprised any of us if he, rather than that copy editor at the Plain Dealer, had quietly built the little boat and sailed it single-handedly across the Atlantic just for the experience. Only Hal probably could have figured a way to do it without a compass. He once piled the Fry household into the family Ford and took them for a drive -- to Managua, Nicaragua. He said it was an interesting trip and kind of fun except for the earthquake.
When his beloved Annie suffered the cruel ravages of Alzheimer's Disease, Hal was heartbroken, but refused to show bitterness. He kept her home and cared for her without a complaint until his health was nearly broken, too. The flame of love never sputtered. Never.
He never bragged, rarely talked about himself. You had to be around for a while to learn that with the 8th Air Force at the close of World War II in Europe, he drove around behind Russian lines on some sort of intelligence-gathering mission. He was always ready to listen and smile if YOU wanted to brag. He was, as the Jewish term puts it, a "mensch," and a good friend.
The Beacon Journal was a great paper in the '60s and '70s because of an ensemble cast of solid, caring journalists and good citizens (including you). Hal Fry would never permit himself to be pushed into the front ranks of that group. He preferred to be in the background, checking for typos and quietly asking pertinent questions.
Hal is one of those people you are privileged to know, deeply respect and love, and never, never forget.
Charles Buffum
Hal Fry was undoubtedly the most frightening presence in the newsroom -- and that was a newsroom that included Ben Maidenburg. Seeing Hal headed in your direction, copy in hand, was scarier than finding the 60 Minutes van in your driveway when you got home from work. If Hal had a question, then your copy contained an error or omission and there was no reprieve, no appeal. YOU WERE WRONG. And Hal was always so gentle, soft-spoken and SO RIGHT that you knew better than to waffle, argue or bluster. You just took the copy back and fixed it.
He made me a better reporter and editor and I'll always be grateful.
Tim Smith
Hal Fry inspired awe.
He was among the brightest people I've known.
He was modest and principled.
The most interesting conversations I can remember from my copy editing days at the BJ were the ones that Hal Fry held with himself.
The world is a lesser place today.
Terry Oblander
Please pass along my condolences to the Fry family. I was a great admirer of Hal during the years -- 1954 to 1970 -- when we worked together at the BJ.
-- Bob Kotzbauer
Post a Comment