Overview
- He died Wednesday after a four-year battle with esophageal cancer, the Tribune confirmed.
- He joined the paper in 1978, moved to the editorial board in 1990, and won the 1994 Pulitzer for editorials that spurred Illinois child-welfare reforms.
- He became editor-in-chief in 2016 and later publisher, with the Tribune winning a Pulitzer for feature photography and earning multiple finalists in his first year.
- He wrote the 2008 endorsement of Barack Obama, the paper’s first backing of a Democratic presidential nominee, and led a 2007 shift opposing the death penalty.
- A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 12, as former colleagues publicly remember him as a principled and collaborative leader.