Funeral for a friend…

Tampa, FL – Last Friday an old friend passed away. That friend was the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, CO.

As a youngster in the 1950s I remember my grandfather reading the “funnies” to me from the back pages The News. As I got older and became interested in the world around me The Rocky Mountain News became my paper of choice with breakfast, lunch or even dinner.

When I set out to start shooting news as a freelancer, a couple dozen of my pictures made it into their pages over the years. Two made the front page and one of those went around the world.

Rob Reuteman and the staff at the Rocky Mountain News encouraged me and gave me my first steps in toward photojournalism. Those basics kept me out of trouble and made me a better shooter.

The Rocky Mountain News was Colorado's first newspaper. Just short of 150 years after the first edition hit the dirt streets of Denver in 1859, "The News" went to bed for the last time Friday morning.

My last trip to Denver for the Democratic National Convention showcased the many changes Denver went through since I moved away in the 1990s. To me a big part of my home town was The Rocky Mountain News. Now even that is gone.

All things change over time. I know this. A newspaper is a business. Businesses, start up, get sold, merge and many eventually fail.

Knowing all this, why do I feel like a good friend just died?

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It's the people who make a newspaper.
- John Temple, Rocky Mountain News