Terry Devine, SDSU Alum, Managing editor of Fargo Forums loses battle of life.

[Nidaros]

When I first gain access to the internet, one of the first sites I viewed on a regular basis was the Fargo Forum. I believe I read one of Terry's columns and he made refererence to stories he had covered in South Dakota, such as Wounded Knee. He published his email address and I was curious to find out if he was an SDSU grad. Terry replied and told me he was indeed a native of Watertown and a grad of SDSU. I guess if you worked at the Fargo Forum, you got to know him. Last Friday, on KFGO talk radio, Joel Hietkamp had the editor, Jack Zaleski on his show and they talked a great deal about Terry. He was indeed an alum we can be very proud of and I dont think we wore green and gold that much even though he was in Fargo for over 30 years.

Here is the column that was in today Fargo forum
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...Jack%20Zaleski


Also here is the obituary that appear in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...265&Selected=5

[JimmyJack]

Re: Terry Devine, SDSU Alum, Managing editor of Fargo Forums loses battle of life.

When I first gain access to the internet, one of the first sites I viewed on a regular basis was the Fargo Forum. I believe I read one of Terry's columns and he made refererence to stories in covered in South Dakota, such as Wounded Knee. He published his email address and I was curious to find out if he was an SDSU grad. Terry replied and told me he was indeed a native of Watertown and a grad of SDSU. I guess if you worked at the Fargo Forum, you got to know him. Last Friday, on KFGO talk radio, Joel Hietkamp had the editor, Jack Zaleski on his show and they talked a great deal about Terry. He was indeed an alum we can be very proud of and I dont think we wore green and gold that much even though he was in Fargo for over 30 years.

Here is the column that was in today Fargo forum
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...Jack%20Zaleski


Also here is the obituary that appear in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...265&Selected=5

My Dad hired Terry to his first newspaper job at the Watertown Public Opinion when Terry was just 15 or 16. And many years later Terry hired me away from the Argus Leader to be capitol reporter for the Fargo Forum.

Terry was the classic, old-time newspaper man. At Fargo, he hired many SDSU alums who helped make The Forum an outstanding newspaper. Terry was very much a Bison football fan (during all those years when SDSU wasn't very competitive with the Bison) and each of the twice-daily news meetings he held in the Forum newsroom was called a "News Huddle". He was more like a coach than an editor. Terry figured out how to motivate each member of his staff and used a combination of criticism and praise to get the most out of everybody who worked for him. He was always fair and took an interest in his employees' lives outside of the newsroom. When I left after the longest legislative session in North Dakota history, some of the editors were angry with me for leaving them in the lurch. Terry, however, encouraged me to go off to graduate school. When I started my first job on the faculty at Purdue, he called me just to tell me he was proud of me. His interest in his reporters didn't stop when they left The Forum. In 2002, he attended my wedding and that's the last time I saw him. Earlier this year, we honored three Fargo Forum reporters as distinguished SDSU journalism alumni and all of them mentioned Terry as a mentor and friend. We were all sorry he couldn't be there to see it.

I'll be attending his funeral tomorrow in Fargo. Terry will be missed and everybody associated with SDSU can be proud that he was one of ours.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Terry Devine, SDSU Alum, Managing editor of Fargo Forums loses battle of life.

Can't say it any better than that JJ...Terry was, indeed, a great journalist, a downright nice guy...and extremely capable, all at the same time. I was sports editor at the Public Opinion when your dad hired Terry, who was just 14 at the time. It was a privilege to know him and to watch his success as his career unfolded. He had a tough fight with cancer, but he is at peace now.

[Nidaros]

Re: Terry Devine, SDSU Alum, Managing editor of Fargo Forums loses battle of life.

Thanks JJ and Jack#1 for your additional comments. When I emailed Terry and its been a while back he was a stranger to me and I did not expect a reply, but got a very cheerful one that expressed pride in his ties with SDSU. That reply got him a reader of his columns, namely myself.


The reason I put this out here was I was sure that others on this board who knew him well.