Neale lived and breathed journalistic ideals
Roger Boye, a member of the faculty at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a 1970 graduate of the Nebraska J school, paid tribute to Dean Emeritus Neale Copple at Copple's funeral service on March 21.
A famous line of literature reads: "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." So apropos, so fitting are those words to this occasion that you almost get the idea that by some strange osmosis, Henry Adams had R. Neale Copple in mind when he wrote them nearly a century ago.
Neale's legacy shines all the more brilliantly at a time like this, with the country at war. As we meet here, legions of journalists - Neale's Army for the Cause of Public Enlightenment - are on the front lines of history, doing their work so vital to our democracy. These are people who were either taught directly by Neale or taught by the writers, reporters and editors who were taught by Neale.
They are imbued with the journalistic ideals that Neale preached nearly every day: integrity and truthfulness; devotion to accuracy, balance and fairness; adherence to principles; and persistence coupled with an understanding of and empathy for others. Neale embodied the belief that journalism is a noble and honorable calling, worthy of a person's best years and most dedicated work, in part because - as he often would paraphrase an inscription on the Nebraska capitol - the salvation of the state truly is in the watchfulness of the citizen.
A few hours after Neale died, I heard from one of his former students - a man in the midst of a distinguished career as an author and educator - and we began swapping Neale Copple stories. The caller mentioned that at almost every key point in his professional life, Neale was there to give advice and on occasion, to write letters of recommendation. As students, we knew that Neale was an inspiration in both word and deed, that he was demanding yet compassionate and that he showed more zeal and zest and vigor than people half his age. As adults, we would come to know all the more how extraordinarily generous this man was with his time and counsel.
Philosopher William James once said that "the greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." Here again, Neale Copple must have been the prototype - the model of a life truly worth living.
