'A Champion Of Those On The Outside': Jim Klobuchar, Who Spent Decades As Star Tribune Columnist, Has Died At 93
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Jim Klobuchar, a Minnesota journalist who spent over three decades as a columnist with the Star Tribune, died Wednesday. He was 93 years old.
According to the Star Tribune, Jim Klobuchar died at the Emerald Crest care facility in Burnsville after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Son of an iron ore minor, Jim Klobuchar attended community college in northern Minnesota before graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota. He worked as a reporter in North Dakota and then the Associated Press in Minnesota. In 1961, he began working with the Star Tribune, covering sports and writing a general public interest column for years. He retired in 1995 with 8,400 columns.
Jim Klobuchar's daughter, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, released a statement Wednesday.
"Throughout his life my dad was a champion of those on the outside. Through his writing he gave voice to the struggles and triumphs of countless Minnesotans," Amy Klobuchar said. "Through his columns my dad told stories of the 'heroes among us,'—ordinary people doing extraordinary things. He used his words to stand up for people. But he also stood up for me, from urging me on to finish a father/daughter ten-day 1100-mile bike trip from Minneapolis to Jackson Hole, to believing that a woman could actually win a Minnesota U.S. Senate seat."
Amy Klobuchar said her father's struggles with alcoholism were very public and helped others by sharing those stories.
"Even to the end, as he lived the final chapter of his life with Alzheimer's, he was still singing songs and telling incredible stories to my sister Meagan and me. He loved our state. He loved journalism. He loved sports and adventure. And we loved him," Amy Klobuchar said.
Jim Klobuchar, a veteran, will be buried at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis. A public celebration of his life will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in honor of Jim Klobuchar's life can be directed to the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where a scholarship will be established in his name.
