News - Columnists - Stan Tiner

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Jack, Andrew and Mike

South Mississippi was an intersection through which the lives of three good men passed on the roads of their significant lives.

n Biloxi was the long-time home of Jack Nelson, whose 62-year career began at the Daily Herald and was distinguished by its coverage of the Civil Rights era, political corruption and national politics. His leadership of the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau was highly acclaimed, and he was a Pulitzer Prize winner, among an array of top honors given for his reporting. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

n Monsignor Andrew Murray was a son of Ireland whose service to the Catholic community of our region spanned 36 years, most recently as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Gulfport. He was vicar general of the Biloxi Diocese.

n Mike McQueen was a newspaperman of extraordinary talent who came to the Sun Herald on the day that Katrina struck and worked in our newsroom for many days, helping to see that the news was reported without interruption to the world. Afterward he became bureau chief for the Associated Press in Louisiana and Mississippi.

We lost them all in the span of this past week, and many, here and in distant places, are left to reflect on their most worthy lives, and on personal thoughts of their humanity, and of friendship.

I was privileged to know each, and my thoughts now recall the quality of their service to others, the depth of their intellect, and how each enriched this place we call home.

Jack climbed to the mountaintop of American journalism, and was revered in its top ranks as a courageous reporter and editor who would not be deterred from exposing wrong wherever it existed. But he never forgot where he came from, and his love for family, friends, and Biloxi was at his core.

When he came home he would often return to the Sun Herald to talk about the principles of journalism and to hear what was going on at the newspaper. Wherever he went he was a cheerleader for his hometown and the Sun Herald.

A week or so before his death we visited by phone and he was enjoying the opportunity to recall his life with friends and colleagues and he appreciated the gift of that opportunity, he said.

Msgr. Murray was among the army of Catholic priests from Carlow, Ireland, who have served South Mississippi for so long. There was no mistaking his Irish heritage; his speech and affection for an occasional Guinness were evidence of that.

He was a man of great and unwavering faith whose sermons were weighty, yet accessible. “Thanks be to God” was a constant punctuation to all of the good that he observed.