On May 20, 1961, John Seigenthaler was helping provide a safe passageway from Birmingham, Alabama to Mississippi for the Freedom Riders when the group was attacked by a mob in Montgomery.
Seigenthaler tried to protect a young protester and was hit over the head with an iron pipe.
“I never saw anything in my life… (that) will ever again… compare with the violence on that parking lot at that Greyhound station,” Seigenthaler said in an interview with the Associated Press in January.
The founding editorial director of USA Today and former editor and publisher of The Tennessean, Seigenthaler died from complications regarding colon cancer on Friday in his Nashville home at 86.
Long-time colleague and friend Dwight Lewis attests to similar demonstrations of character in other aspects of Seigenthaler’s life.
“He didn’t have to do those kinds of things,” Lewis said.
Just seven years earlier at the age of 27, Seigenthaler rescued a man who, after summoning reporters, threatened to jump to his death off a bridge over the Cumberland River.
Such heroism and selflessness, Lewis said, is why Seigenthaler made such an impact as a journalist.
“I thought he was the best journalist America has ever produced,” Lewis said, “He was a modern day hero, a humanitarian, an author, a role model, a mentor, a teacher and most of all a great family man.
“The country would be different if it weren’t for him – for what was right, for diversity, for First Amendment issues. When he died, he was still speaking up for what was right. He was still fighting the fight.”
While working at The Tennessean, Seigenthaler was known for taking on and assigning investigative stories that went undercover in areas such as strip mines, state medical institutions and public housing.
Frank Sutherland, the first reporter Seigenthaler hired at The Tennessean in 1962, went on to succeed Seigenthaler as editor in 1989 and remembers his former colleague as an inspiration through promoting standards of ethics, fairness and justice.
“He saw journalism as a public service,” Sutherland said. “He taught all of us who worked for him how valuable we were in making our city and our world a better place to live.”
Even after he retired, Sutherland said Seigenthaler was frequently consulted for advice, citing the six most powerful words reporters would use when soliciting an interview as, “John Seigenthaler said I should call.”
“I could speak for hours about whom he influenced and mentored,” Sutherland said. “There was a whole list. We had a gathering of 60 or 70 who came to the funeral. We sat around and told stories about him. Some were funny, some were emotional; we all shared them.
“There were former editors of Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando. There were protégés. Al Gore was there, reporters from Time, Newsweek, all over the country, deans of journalism schools. His legacy is going to be extended.”
Jim Stovall, the Edward J. Meeman Distinguished Professor in Journalism and Electronic Media, met Seigenthaler as a teenager, and described Seigenthaler as a leader in the field of journalism.
“I think he, particularly in Tennessee, really elevated the field,” Stovall said, “He was exemplary. He was somebody who other people looked to to provide an example of how things should be done. In Nashville, Tennessee during the time he was editor, (The Tennessean) was known for its good solid reporting and integrity. He held very high standards.
“I think it’s a loss to everyone, and I think we’re fortunate that he lived as long as he did.”
