Long-time Hartford Courant editorial page editor Bob Schrepf died last Friday at the age of 83.
He died in Lincoln, Nebraska, the town where he was born and where he began his journalism career in 1964 at the Lincoln Star.
In 1982 he was recruited by John Zakarian to the Courant where he worked until his retirement; beginning as an editorial writer until succeeding Zakarian as editorial page editor. During the course of Schrepf’s time at the Courant, the paper’s editorial page carried significant weight in the public policy community and could easily sway debate over public issues at the local and state level.
Schrepf’s editorials also had an important influence on wayward politicians and government employees. His editorials titled “Come Clean _____” or “_____Resign!” were often the last thing a corrupt official read on the morning the decision was made to step down from public office.
According to Schrepf’s obituary, he remained a news junkie until the end:
“He was in love with news up to the end, always watching CNN and reading the New Yorker magazine, Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. He could recall precise details of political races in Connecticut, Nebraska and Washington dating back decades.”
Schrempf was tough, fair, and at times immovable once he took a stand.
