Chuck Oxley was one of the genuine people
Kevin Richert
October 8, 2009
Idaho Statesman
Journalism and politics are itinerant worlds in Idaho. Paths cross time and again. Titles change. People don't change much.
Chuck Oxley was always smart and opinionated, good-natured and sharp-witted. It didn't matter whether he was a fellow newspaper editor, a candidate for state Legislature or a spokesman for the Idaho Democratic Party - and I got to know Chuck in all of these roles. At his core, he was always the same person.
And he will be missed. Chuck died Saturday afternoon in a rollover accident about 20 miles west of Blackfoot.
A former editor and reporter with the Statesman, the Idaho State Journal and the Associated Press, Chuck had moved to Blackfoot in June to take over the managing editor's job at the Blackfoot Morning News. I didn't envy him as he tried to make a tough professional transition, from partisan politics to overseeing news coverage. I figured it would take someone truly genuine to make the switch - and in that sense, I thought Chuck was qualified.
And he seemed to be enjoying the new job. In an e-mail a few days back, sent to "close friends, family and colleagues," Chuck wrote with a sense of purpose about an editor's responsibilities - of having a say in what readers saw about their community every day. He wrote with joy about his newest pursuit: learning to fly. He wrote with determination about other things he vowed to do in his life.
This is, obviously, now a painful e-mail to re-read.
We get to meet a lot of people in this trade - which gives us all some experience in telling the real people from the phonies. I don't profess to knowing Chuck too well, just well enough to know he was one of the genuine people.
Originally posted at http://www.idahostatesman.com/1357/story/928807.html
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