UTC West Chair of Excellence and communications professor Dr. Dave Sachsman could be a bit on the sandpapery side at times. Especially about stories involving the environment. And especially about environmental stories and their political and historical context.
But that sandpapering — like a fine finishing technique — was always meant with good intent and most often brought a better result for students and their eventual readers or viewers.
A pillar scholar of environmental journalism both here and nationally with 23 published books, he spent three decades at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga peppering student and reporter discussions with question after question. He might look over his glasses and down his nose if he thought some research was lacking, but he always then offered a quick and approving smile with a gentle coax for us all to think a little broader and deeper about the intricacies of any story and its multifaceted impact on our lives.
And make no mistake: All environmental stories are tightly woven in complexity: No one likes pollution and climate change, but neither do we like to be too hot, too cold, too hungry or too thirsty.
Sachsman did the same with journalism history, founding here in 1993 a yearly Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War and Free Expression. One couldn’t leave those entertaining sessions without learning more about that era and how its news, opinion and satire continue to shape both the country and today’s journalism.
Sachsman’s unending curiosity made him a superior journalist and an even better teacher and leader. He will be greatly missed.