A Death in the Extended Family

One of the people I have admired most, for his work and for who he was, died yesterday in a skiing accident in Colorado. Jack McWethy, who became justly renowned for his work as a corespondent (covering the State and Defense departments, and, more generally, national security issues) for ABC, was one of the best, maybe the best network news correspondent I ever saw.

Jack was a friend, dating back to our time as students in the late 1960s at DePauw University. Smart, committed, driven. Deeply ethical and totally honest. Consumed by his work, and driven to mentor others. He became a legend at DePauw not just for his work, but for his dedication to the journalism students there.

And a wicked, somewhat oblique sense of humor. My thoughts go out to his wife, Laurie Duncan McWethy (whom I've also known for what seems like forever). I'll miss him.

Read more about Jack's life and career at the Poynter Center, on DePauw's web site, in the New York Times, and, of course, in great detail, with video, at ABC.