Legendary journalist Chuck Stone once commanded such trust that more than 75 criminal suspects surrendered to him rather than to law enforcement officials.
According to his biography on the National Association of Black Journalists website, “Because of his reputation for integrity, Stone became a trusted middleman between Philadelphia police and murder suspects, more than 75 of whom ‘surrendered’ to Stone rather than to the cops.”
Stone, a former Philadelphia Daily News columnist, founding member, first president of the National Association of Black Journalist and former Tuskegee Airman, died in his sleep early Sunday morning at an assisted-living home in Farmington, N.C., relatives said. He was 89.
Stone was a columnist for the Daily News from 1972 to 1991, one of the few early African-Americans with a column in a mainstream newspaper.
During his time as a columnists with the Daily News, Stone was known for his trademark bow ties and bright smile yet many Philadelphia public figures were the targets of Stone’s biting wit and stinging commentary.
Before coming to the Daily News, Stone served as editor for several African-American newspapers: the New York Age, the Chicago Defender, and the Washington Afro-American. As editor, he was strongly associated with the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
In the 1960s Stone served as a special assistant and speechwriter to Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, one of the most powerful African-American politicians of the 20th century.
In 1991, Stone left the Daily News for a career in academe. Stone became a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught censorship and magazine writing while at UNC and won Excellence in Teaching on more than one occasion. He retired in 2004.
Over his storied career, Stone received six honorary doctorates and several awards, including the Distinguished Service in Journalism Award, the National Association of Black Journalists’ Lifetime Achievement Award and The Freedom Forum’s Al Neuharth Free Spirit Award.
In 2004, NABJ inducted Stone into its Hall of Fame. In 2007, Stone and other Tuskegee Airmen or their widows were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in recognition of the Airmen’s service during World War II.
Few men have achieved so much in a lifetime. This legend in journalism will be missed.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
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