Former 'IDS' publisher dead at 80

Pat Siddons began and ended his journalistic career at the Indiana Daily Student, where he went from cub reporter to publisher. At Ernie Pyle Hall, his legacy remains that of a friendly, grandfatherly mentor to an entire generation of IDSers from the 1980s, said Kevin Corcoran, an IU alum and former IDS reporter.\n"He never meddled in the students' stories," Corcoran said. "But when all hell broke loose, he stood behind us."\nSiddons died early Tuesday morning at an Ellettsville nursing home after a long illness. He was 80. \nAs publisher, Siddons gently cajoled the students in his charge toward setting higher goals and meeting them. In his coaching, Siddons drew on his experiences as reporter and head of the Bloomington bureau of the Louisville Courier-Journal. And the IDS publisher's chair presented Siddons with a perfect opportunity to pass on his skills and educate a new generation of journalists. \n"During his tenure as IDS publisher, Pat was constantly urging the student editors to put out the best newspaper possible," said Don Cross, former IDS business manager. \nHis love for the IDS was all-encompassing: During his time at the IDS, Siddons' licence plate read "IDS," and when he retired in 1989, he changed it to read "EX-IDS." \nFormer IDS staff members remember Siddons as a man who would grab a bag of fresh popcorn and walk around the newsroom getting to know the students. His door was always open to anyone, and many took advantage of that availability to talk to him about stories, reporting and career choices, said Mark Skertic, who was IDS editor in chief in 1986. Just like Corcoran, Skertic recognized Siddons' ability to walk the fine line between teaching and preaching. \n"His input would come once the paper came out," Skertic said in an e-mail interview. "In a few words scrawled across the columns of copy, he would celebrate great reporting and writing and highlight sloppy work by reporters, designers and editors. The criticism was constructive; it wasn't always easy to take, but it made many of us strive to write the story that Pat would praise in his markup."\nIn the years since both Corcoran and Skertic graduated, Siddons' legacy has remained with them. \n"He was the first big-city newspaperman I ever met, so the things he said about the business carried weight," Skertic said. \nFor Corcoran, Siddons was not only an IDS mentor, but a professional one as well. Corcoran drew on Siddons' experiences as a statehouse reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal to solidify his own choice of careers.\n"He was someone I looked up to and respected for his professional achievements," said Corcoran, who is the statehouse reporter for The Indianapolis Star. "He took an interest in me and everyone else who worked at the IDS in the mid-1980s. "\nBorn in Ellettsville July 31, 1924, Siddons was a Hoosier at heart and remained in Indiana for most of his life. After a stint in the army as a signal corpsman with an anti-aircraft artillery unit during World War II, he tried Purdue. But engineering didn't agree with him, and a friend suggested IU's journalism program. After graduating in 1950, Siddons worked for the Crawfordsville Journal-Review and the Michigan City News-Dispatch. Before working for the Louisville Courier-Journal, he picked up a public relations job with the Indiana Republican Party. \nSiddons' last years were spent in an Ellettsville nursing home, where he kept up his great sense of humor, Cross said.\n"He enjoyed a good laugh," Cross said. "Even when he was in the nursing home, he was always cracking jokes and trying to divert attention from himself."\nAmong other awards, Siddons was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana's highest honor.\nCalling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Allen Funeral Home, 300 E. Third St., in Bloomington. The funeral will take place at 1:30 Thursday at Allen Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the G. Patrick Siddons IDS Scholarship at the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. \n-- Contact editor in chief Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.