Ed Pope

Ed Pope

Resident of San Jose

Ed Pope, an award-winning journalist who lived his generous life on his own terms and believed in family, friends, justice and hard work, lost his second battle with cancer and died at his San Jose home on Oct. 3. He was 78.

A tough-minded man, fond of trout fishing, crossword puzzles and family gatherings, Ed survived colon cancer 25 years ago, taking chemotherapy like other people take cough syrup and keeping up his newspaper reporting during treatments. He died of complications from bladder cancer.

His 41-year career as a reporter and editor at the San Jose Mercury News, from 1960 until his retirement in 2001, spanned the growing pains of Santa Clara County and the birth of Silicon Valley. It has been said that journalism is the first draft of history. Ed helped document the story of the region's growth, strengths and weaknesses, and was never afraid to challenge those in high places, or to make a little history himself by exposing injustices in the nursing home industry.

Sharing the Pulitzer Prize won by the entire Mercury news staff for its coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Ed earned numerous other awards that reflected his passion for justice. "He never shied from speaking truth to power," said his son, Todd Pope. "He deftly practiced his craft in ways that could, and often did, hold people in authority accountable." His nursing home industry investigations won him the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform Advocacy in Media Award of 2002 - "In recognition of his courageous and inspiring journalism on behalf of California's nursing home residents." His work on the Mercury News series in 1986 called "No Place to Die" reported on the state's shoddy nursing homes and the deaths of 126 patients, winning Ed and fellow reporters Bill Romano and Fran Smith citations for best consumer journalism that year from the National Press Club in Washington.

In one stretch of three years, Ed's reporting about various scandals and abuses sparked the resignations of executive directors of two major charity organizations and the Agnews Developmental Center. He covered everything from the Medfly scourge in the 1970s to the 1984 Olympics to California water politics, earning a second place award for a water feature story from the Associated Press. In a stint as city editor, he mentored many reporters. He had an amazing reporter's knack for winning the confidence of cops and government officials who became sources for his news stories that helped people, said his daughter, Tracy Pope. "He had an investigative nature. And he wanted to use his writing and researching talents to give people a voice who might not otherwise have had one. He had a strong sense of ethics, and believed others should too."

Edward Nelson Shaw Pope was born July 18, 1932 in Hamden, Conn., and moved with his family to South El Monte in Southern California in 1945. A product of the public schools, he graduated from El Monte High and then from Orange Coast Junior College in Costa Mesa. He earned his bachelor's in journalism from San Jose State University, where he was editor of the Spartan Daily his senior year, in 1953-54. During college, he was drafted into the Navy, but obtained an education deferral. Upon graduation, he immediately fulfilled his duty by joining the Navy. He was stationed on Guam, where he served for two years as a journalist and staff administrator.

He met coed Donna Shaw while they both worked as dishwashers in a dorm at SJSU, and he always said it was love at first sight. Their courtship included picnics in the local parks where they would study and talk for hours. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2008, the year Donna died after a long battle with lung cancer. For nearly 50 years they lived in the same San Jose house across from an elementary school, a home they took pride in remodeling off and on over three decades, eventually nearly doubling the living space. They bought a second home in Boulder Creek to enjoy in their retirement years amid the redwood trees. Per their wishes, they were both cremated and their ashes comingled for what will be one last outing together, a spreading of their remains somewhere in nature.

Before Donna's late career as an arts education coordinator for the city of San Jose, the family lived on Ed's reporter salary for decades. Sacrificing and cutting corners, the Popes managed to put their children through three top universities - UCLA (Tracy); Stanford (Todd); and UC-Berkeley (Valerie). Today, Tracy is in her 21st year as a public school teacher in Santa Clara Unified, Todd is an entrepreneur and engineer with a talent for business, and Valerie thrives on working in the technical side of the theater profession.

Ed collected books and was proud of his first edition copy of Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls." In its preface, Hemingway quotes from the famous passage by poet John Donne about the value in seeing that "no man is an island," that we are all connected, and that each person's death diminishes each of us, "because I am involved in mankind."

How involved was Ed? He coached Little League baseball and the soccer teams of his children and grandchildren (daughter Valerie was named an All-American in soccer at Cal). In the days when the Mercury News provided free frozen Thanksgiving turkeys to employees, Ed started an annual tradition of gathering the unwanted turkeys and donating them to Second Harvest, Sacred Heart and the Emergency Housing Consortium - sometimes 150 turkeys a year. In retirement, he volunteered with friend and former reporting colleague Lou Calvert for Rebuilding Together, providing free home repairs to the elderly. He remained active in Democratic politics, supporting progressive causes and candidates.

A sportsman and fitness buff, he had a 25-year passion for running and working out. Ed liked to hunt in his younger days and fished throughout his life, always using a very small hook to give the trout a fair chance, he said. He made camping a family trait, especially passing down the tradition of going to San Jose Family Camp near Yosemite for more than 30 summers. His love of local pro and college teams was legendary. He was a knowledgeable fan of the San Jose Sharks and the San Francisco Giants and was following the Giants' thrilling run for glory this year into the final month of his life. He died on the day the Giants beat the San Diego Padres 3-0 in the last game of the season to win the National League West title.

Ed is survived by his children Tracy Pope and her husband, Mike Myslinski, of San Jose; son Todd Pope and his wife, Terri Shreve Pope, of Napa; daughter Valerie Pope and her partner, Jessica Fisher, of El Cerrito; and four grandchildren: Madeleine Myslinski, Jamie Pope and Michael Katrenak, and Carmina Pulliam. He is also survived by a step-sister, Annette Freligh of Palmdale; niece Finesse Lapins of Colorado Springs, Colo; nephews Kim and Drake Jansson of Southern California; and by numerous sisters- and brothers-in-law and their families.

Ed believed in the power of labor unions and their role in raising the standard of living for working people. He was active in the Newspaper Guild, so it is fitting that a celebration of his life will be held at the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Labor Temple complex. The celebration starts at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, and will be held in the IBEW union's brick hall at the back of the Labor Temple, 2125 Canoas Garden Ave., San Jose, 95125. The hall is called The Terrace at Willow Glen.

The family prefers donations be made in Ed Pope's memory to: American Cancer Society, Santa Clara County Unit, 747 Camden Ave., Suite B, Campbell, CA 95008