Dale Allen obituary
Here is the well-written obituary for
Dale Allen. There’s nothing I can add to it.
Dale Allen, a newspaper editor who helped shape the news coverage
of two major American dailies, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Akron Beacon
Journal, died September 28 following an illness of several months. He was 81.
His death was announced by his family from his home in Akron where
he was living in retirement with Miki, his cherished wife of fifty-nine years,
and their dog, Barney.
In addition to his newspaper work, Allen was a faculty member of
Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communications for a number
of years.
Allen was editor of the Akron paper in 1994 when the Pulitzer
committee recognized the paper for a comprehensive series on racial issues in
Akron and awarded its top honor, the medal for meritorious public service. The
paper's coverage subsequently engaged the entire community in discussion about
race that continued for a number of years.
Eight years earlier, in 1987, again under Allen's leadership, the
paper was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for general local reporting for its
coverage of unsuccessful takeover attempts by a British financier of Akron's
leading hometown industry, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Allen's newspaper career also included writing and editing jobs in
Arkansas, Missouri, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to coming to Akron,
Allen served as a deputy managing editor at the Philadelphia newspaper where he
was an integral part of the overhaul of the Inquirer by its new editor, Gene
Roberts. Under Roberts' leadership, the Inquirer was awarded seventeen Pulitzer
prizes.
William Dale Allen was born August 16, 1938, in Joplin, Missouri,
where his father worked for the United States Postal Service. Dale went to
South Junior High School in Joplin, Mo. and then to Joplin High School. He
worked on the school newspaper there and was a member of the debate team. He
learned to play the trombone, an introduction to music that led to a lifelong
love of classical compositions. He also was in the ROTC and marched on the
drill team.
After graduating in 1956 he spent six months on active duty in the
Army, followed by serving in the Army Reserve from 1957 to 1964. Coming off
active duty in 1957, he enrolled at Joplin Junior College and got a job as a reporter at the Joplin Globe working Monday through
Saturday from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at $1 an hour.
After finishing at junior college in 1959 he enrolled at the
University of Missouri in Columbia studying at the Journalism School. He and
Marion "Art" Ellis resurrected the university's humor magazine Showme
as co-editors in 1960 since it had stopped publication in 1957.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in journalism in 1961, Dale
took a job as editor of the daily Newport Independent in Newport Arkansas,
where his professional career as a lifelong newsman began.
Soon, a college friend who had worked with him in Joplin urged him
to apply for a job in Charlotte where he started on the copy desk in 1962. The
early days were inglorious. He was on the copy desk from 2 to 11 p.m. Wednesday
through Sunday making $125 per week. He was promoted to telegraph editor in
November 1963 and then kept getting promotions, first to assistant city editor,
then to Carolinas editor and finally to national editor in 1970 before leaving to
take a job at the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he would serve as associate
managing editor prior to making the move to Akron.
Allen amassed his early experience in newsroom management at the
Charlotte Observer where during his tenure he deployed teams of reporters to
address broad issues such as poverty and hunger. These investigative series
helped arouse public response in the Carolinas. It was a style of coverage he
would refine and use in later assignments.
In Philadelphia, Allen reported to managing editor Gene Foreman,
who was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the newsroom. Foreman said
he confidently turned the production of the daily paper over to Allen in the
evening hours. "When there was breaking news at night," Foreman recalled,
"Dale was the editor who led the coverage; when there were unexpected
production problems, he was the editor who solved them. We needed stability in
situations like that, and thanks to his inspired leadership and sound judgment,
we always got it. It also helped that he was a gracious colleague with a
contagious sense of humor. The staff liked and respected him."
Roberts became a legendary presence in Philadelphia. During his
tenure, he turned one of the worst daily newspapers in the nation into one of
the best. Roberts said Allen's "hand was everywhere. He helped engineer
the paper's new look. He was a force in the reorganization of the news desks
and copy desks." His work touched on newsroom finances, space allocations,
and manpower. "The list could go on and on."
Roberts said Allen "came to the newsroom early and stayed late
for years. But his good humor and upbeat style never left him. Just the
opposite. He grew evermore optimistic and cheerful as the paper's successes
mounted. He was through and through a born editor, one of the very best in
journalism."
Allen drew on many of the lessons he learned in Philadelphia to
guide his work in Akron, where he was named executive editor of the Akron
Beacon Journal in 1980. The paper was one of the leading afternoon dailies in
the nation. During his tenure, Allen would guide its transition to morning
delivery. The reading habits of the Akron community were changing as
manufacturing jobs dwindled with the decline of employment in the local rubber
industry. The change was seen as a competitive maneuver to keep the Cleveland
Plain Dealer, a larger newspaper, from encroaching on its territory.
Allen arrived in Akron when John S. Knight was in his last years.
John and his brother, James, had created Knight Newspapers Inc. in 1969 and it
later evolved by way of merger into Knight Ridder Newspapers, Inc. It was one
of the leading newspaper companies in the nation. The Beacon Journal had been
one of its first properties and John maintained an office just down the hall
from Allen's. Knight was a presence and careful reader of his newspaper.
Knight spent more than half the year in Akron and the balance in
Miami. His brother lived there and the Miami Herald was one of the brothers'
leading newspapers.
Stuart Warner worked with Allen in Akron. He said he
"developed one of the best mid-sized newsrooms in the nation." The
man had an eye for talent, Warner said, and brought in good writers and
cultivated their development into better writers. Warner recalled one of
Allen's best days was when writers involved in the prize-winning series on race
were split over where to go next as the last of the stories headed into
publication. One point of view, argued by the women assigned to the project,
was that it was not sufficient to simply publish the series. There should be
more engagement to bring about change. The men working with them argued that
laying out the facts fulfilled their journalistic duty. They were split and
Allen was left to resolve what was an impasse. He arrived at what Warner wrote
was a "Solomon-like decision." Allen invited people in the community
for advice. "And that was the beginning of a totally separate phase of the
project, Coming Together, which evolved into a community organization by the
same name that worked on improving race relations in Akron and other cities.
Mike Needs, another former coworker said, "Anyone fooled by
his Missouri twang or the jingling of coins in his pocket quickly learned that
you didn't, uh, mess with this editor. He would not be deterred. He would point
his relentless spotlight into the deep and dark recesses of all of the problems
that plague the voiceless, the helpless, the victims of powerful corruption. He
was an editor for his time, the kind of editor we need today."
The regard for Dale's principles and humility prevailed over his
career. Former Beacon Journal colleague and longtime friend Marcia Myers, also
said of Allen, "There are days of glory and celebration in journalism -
moments when hard work reaches a pinnacle of achievement, not only for its
diligence in unearthing facts or its elegance in storytelling, but for how it
changes lives and the respect and applause it draws from the public and peers.
Dale Allen was the architect of many, many of those moments. His
story is one that should sustain all journalists, especially in these days when
we're under attack.
Newspapering was only one of Allen's passions. The other was fly
fishing. A regular companion over the years was David Cooper, editor of the
Beacon Journal editorial page. Cooper and Allen started dropping their lines in
farm ponds and lakes around Akron. They also ventured further out into
surrounding streams of northeast Ohio in search of fishing spots, driving along
with opera playing loudly on the car sound system.
Both shared a love of classical music and frequented performances
at Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, as well as Blossom
Music Center.
They later headed west to streams in Montana where they fished the
Missouri River between Helena and Great Falls. One other occasion was a float
trip on the wilderness reaches of the Smith River with its limestone canyons and rainbow and
brown trout.
"Over the years," Cooper said, "we brought friends
and family on our Montana safaris." In retirement, Allen fished the
streams of Ohio and Pennsylvania with a group of like-minded anglers. He also
had a home on Muzzy Lake, on the edge of Ravenna just east of Akron, where he
and Miki would circle in a pontoon boat each evening with their dog, Barney.
Miki came armed with a camera or a paintbrush; Dale brought his fly rod.
Allen is survived by his wife, Barbara "Miki" (Bower);
two daughters, Anna Allen Wolf (Justin), and Kendall Allen Rockwell (Blake);
son, Matt Allen (Cammie); and three grandchildren, Jackson William and Everett
Allen Wolf and Lauren Hope Rockwell; two granddogs, Scarlet and Bruce T.
Beauchamp.
His family cared for and served him with utter love over the final
chapter of his life. He spent these sacred last days in his home, following a
life of service to family and every single community in which he lived.
The family is grateful to Howard E. Covington Jr. and Marion
"Art" Ellis, who penned this obituary, with contributions from Gene
Roberts, Gene Foreman, David Cooper, Marcia Myers, Stuart Warner and Mike
Needs.
A Memorial in Dale's honor will take place at 11a.m. on October 19
at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Akron, 3300 Morewood Road, Fairlawn,
Ohio 44333. In lieu of flowers, friends may donate in Dale's name to the
Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park (https://www.conservancyforcvnp.org/donate/),
and enter memorial information into the donation form. For checks: Conservancy
for CVNP, 1403 W Hines Hill Rd, Peninsula, OH 44264 Dale Allen memorial
information in the memo field.
