"That's a stupid idea."

After all these years, I still remember the exchange very well. It was a little over 45 years ago during my freshman year of college. I was a journalism major at the University of Tennessee (UT) and very proud to be a reporter on the institution's student newspaper, The Daily Beacon. My goal was to gain experience, but, more than that, make my mark in a big way. The only question was how I was going to do that. Finally, what I immediately perceived as my opportunity came along. By chance, I stumbled into a conversation with several upper classmen who said they had heard the local police had a reputation for abusing their prisoners. On the heels of that information, I decided to pursue the story.


Right away, I went to the editor of the school newspaper to share what I had been told as well as outline my plan for breaking this story "wide open." Rather than simply talk to the police about this, I said I would get myself arrested , spend a night in jail and, as a result, see first-hand just how corrupt the police were. Following that, I would do a powerful expose that would right this terrible wrong and propel me to..........who knows where? The editor listened to my story pitch and then suggested before I do anything, I see Professor Kelly Leiter of the university's communication department for his feedback.


My meeting with this former journalist, teacher, scholar, syndicated columnist, and military veteran was brief.. Upon hearing my pitch, Leiter sat back in his chair and said, "That's a stupid idea." He then went onto explain the foolishness of getting a police record on the basis of what was, at best, flimsy hearsay information. Looking back, I am thankful for his wisdom. It was, in fact, a dumb idea. Had I tried to carry it out, I would have no-doubt done great harm to my-so called budding professional career, status as a student, and future efforts to become an active citizen. Leiter knew this. He saw I lacked the maturity and experience to jump into such deep water and come even close to staying afloat. (For the record, I later learned there was no truth to the rumor about the local police.)


I mention this not-so-proud incident in my life because recently I learned Prof Leiter passed away. He had been retired for nearly 15 years. Among the many highlights of his most distinguished career was being honored twice for extraordinary service to the university, serving as a commentator for UT's National Public Radio member station, and being the principal co-author of "The Complete Reporter," a highly successful textbook. Following my encounter with him, I ended up taking several journalism and writing classes with Prof. Leiter. I quickly found him to be a man of good humor, great patience, striking talent, and an unshakeable streak of kindness. Thank you, Prof. Leiter.