The situation turned bleak for an Air Force pilot on that overcast night of May 4, 1956. His plane’s radar signal suddenly went dead and he lost his bearing. He sent out an emergency signal. From a nearby control tower, a young Air Force lieutenant, Donald W. Carson, made contact with the pilot and calmly guided him toward Griffiss Air Force Base, N.Y., the intended landing site. Shortly after, the pilot touched down safely with only three minutes of fuel left.
Years later, employing rigorous course requirements and that same calm demeanor, Carson served for 30 years as a beloved journalism professor at the University of Arizona. He left behind a profound imprint on the lives of thousands of us when he died Feb. 1 at age 85 in his native Tucson.
Like the best teachers anywhere, he not only taught the coursework exceedingly well, but he also guided and inspired students, many toward their career landing spots. Don’s wife, Helen, who predeceased Don, was a school librarian, and both of them dedicated their professional lives to helping students. In that spirit, I also pay tribute here to educators everywhere.
Shortly after Don’s death, testimonials from his former students poured in. A few examples:
Bobbie Jo Buel, retired Arizona Daily Star editor-in-chief: “He was the best professor I had and an even better person.”
Photographer Jose Galvez: “Don’s faith in me from an early age helped me become the first in my family to go to college.”
Nancy Cleeland, a Pulitzer-winning reporter: “He believed in me and encouraged me when I thought I didn’t have what it takes.”
Another former student, Nann Novinski Durando, recalls “Don was always smiling, always happy.” That demeanor, it seems to me, came from enjoying a balanced lifestyle of family (his wife and three children), faith, work, playing an impressive game of tennis and owning that prized Tucson possession: Wildcats basketball season tickets.
When his students wrote articles in his newswriting class, he demanded 100 percent accuracy and fairness. He quickly adapted his Associated Press experience to a new course on Reporting Public Affairs. Now, decades later, alums remember it as their toughest — and most rewarding — course.
In 1994, Carson was stunned by UA Provost Paul Sypherd’s plan to abolish the Journalism Department. Carson and his faculty colleagues mobilized journalism alums and community supporters to successfully block the move. With excellent work by faculty through the years, the School of Journalism thrives today in teaching the reporting skills and ethical values so important in informing the public and maintaining the health of our democracy.
Don arrived at the UA in 1966 during my last semester there, and we became lifelong friends. It’s easy for some people to pay lip service to ending inequity, but Don “did the work” to improve conditions. We traveled similar paths to bring gender and ethnic diversity to news staffs nationally, which up to the 1980s, had been almost exclusively male and about 95 percent white.
He successfully took actions to increase minority enrollment in the Journalism Department and organized a high school diversity workshop, which is still conducted each summer. For 20 years, he hosted the prestigious Editing Program, bringing hundreds of journalists to the UA for professional development
In 1974, Don recommended me to teach in a Columbia University program that trained journalists of color. I benefited greatly from working with a multiracial, all-star team of journalists. That experience proved of assistance as I co-led L.A. Times journalists in producing a Pulitzer-winning series on Latinos
In similar ways, Don impacted many lives. As an instructor and mentor, Don was one of the best within that profession that we must continue to honor — teaching. His legacy lives on.
