Gil Spencer dies at age 85

PHINJ · Jun 24, 2011

Pulitzer winner and beloved editor who left his mark in New York, Philadelphia, Trenton and Denver.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/nyregion/f-gilman-spencer-ny-daily-news-editor-in-the-80s-dies-at-85.html

He had an amazing instinct for what people were good at and letting them do it, and knowing how much leash to give them,” said Richard Aregood, who was an editorial writer and rock critic at the Philadelphia paper when Mr. Spencer put him in charge of the editorial page. “

qualities severely lacking at the NYDN currently.

Frank_Ridgeway · Jun 24, 2011

Met him only once, in a social/newspapering setting, and he was far different than what I had envisioned, much more smooth with people, although profane enough in a joking way. I was hoping to extract some useful newspapering nuggets from the legend, but he was more interested in telling a few amusing stories. A friend who worked for Spencer's wife described them as "the nicest rich people I've ever met." If true, that's not a bad mark to leave.

Michael_ Gee · Jun 26, 2011

I read this man's obit in the Times yesterday. He was a high school dropout! OK, he was also from Swarthmore, Pa., meaning he came from money, but he went straight into newspapering as a copy boy after WW2 and rose through the ranks because he was good at it. Here is someone (whom I never knew) who was a phenomenal success at this business, and he wouldn't have been able to enter it for about the last 40 years. It's a little story of how credentialism has replaced the idea of apprenticeship in our society. Of course, there's nobody left in newspapers to train apprentices.

SF_Express · Jun 26, 2011

Michael_ Gee said:
I read this man's obit in the Times yesterday. He was a high school dropout! OK, he was also from Swarthmore, Pa., meaning he came from money, but he went straight into newspapering as a copy boy after WW2 and rose through the ranks because he was good at it. Here is someone (whom I never knew) who was a phenomenal success at this business, and he wouldn't have been able to enter it for about the last 40 years. It's a little story of how credentialism has replaced the idea of apprenticeship in our society. Of course, there's nobody left in newspapers to train apprentices.

Not nitpicking, Mike, because you're generally right, but I personally know at least one Big Time Metro Sports Columnist who at least never graduated from college (didn't come that close, actually) and moved up from the smallest paper you could think of to his current job. It doesn't happen much anymore, but it still has happened.