Jack Martin, former City Editor and editorial page editor of the Erie Morning News, died today. Jack was 71 and had been in poor health, but I can think of more than a dozen reporters and editors who owe their careers to this man. We'll miss him a lot.

In many ways, Jack was manic. Sometimes things would get so stressful in the newsroom that he'd have two cigarettes going at the same time. Yet, when it mattered, Jack would be a steady hand -- the person you could count on for good, solid journalistic performance and advice.

I'll never forget the night I covered my first fire. About a week out of college, I raced to the scene and ran around interviewing the fire chief, family members whose house was in flames, and just about anybody else who might have useful information for the story. I was just about ready to wrap things up and head back to the newsroom when Jack stepped forward. At managing editor Larie Pintea's request, he'd been lurking in the shadows, keeping watch over me.

"You did pretty good, kid," he said kindly. "Now, did you find out...." His questions revealed about four flaws in my reporting, and I was able to go back and get the answers -- before we returned to the newsroom and I would revealed, before all, as an ignorant rookie, which is what I was.

In retrospect, Jack's way was a great way to teach a young reporter. Journalism is both art and science, and Jack would explain the nuts and bolts to you in great detail. But he was also skilled at inspiring you in the craft. He convinced us -- my young colleagues and me -- that what we were doing really mattered. It was important work, for the community, the newspaper and ourselves.

Jack, who was came from Oil City, never lost his feel for small-town people or "regular folks," as he called them. They teach sensitivity to today's students in journalism school, but to Jack Martin it all came naturally.

He was a good writer with a nice, light touch, which made him an effective columnist. Jack had a hand in the creation of the Good Morning columns, which are still featured daily in the Erie Times-News. He also wrote a breezy column on Wednesdays called "The Last Straw."

The older I get, the more some things seem to remain frozen in time. That's good in some ways, because good people like Jack Martin and the things we taught us will always be a part of us.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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