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.