Illinois journalism has lost an iconic friend.

Not just scholastic journalism.

Not just collegiate journalism.

The entire journalism community as a whole.

James Tidwell, Chairman of the Department of Journalism at Eastern Illinois and former Executive Director of the Illinois Journalism Education Association (IJEA), died April 12 after battling pancreatic cancer.  He was 65.

“James worked with high school journalism from his earliest years as a professional, but the fact is that his love of high school journalism started with his experiences as a high school journalist in Oklahoma,” said Sally Renaud, IJEA Executive Director and professor of Journalism at EIU.

Mr. Tidwell joined EIU in 1987, becoming department chair in 2005.  Prior to joining EIU, he taught journalism at Indiana University Southeast from 1978-87 and at Tulsa (Okla.) Junior College from 1973-78. From 1969-73 he was a reporter and editor for several daily newspapers in Oklahoma.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in journalism and government from Oklahoma Baptist University a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Tidwell held a juris doctor degree from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

“He always talked fondly of his own high school adviser and her tremendous influence on his career, which included work on his campus newspaper and for professional newspapers. He used his respect for his adviser and the passion she helped instill in him at an early age as motivating forces in his career in regards to high school journalism,” Renaud said.

Mr. Tidwell was executive secretary of the Illinois Journalism Education Association from 1989-2005 when he stepped down because of his additional duties as department chair.

“He always made those of us who had the privilege of serving on the IJEA board as though we were a part of his family;  this is a very difficult time for us  “long-time” board members,” IJEA President Sarah Doerner said.  “It will be difficult to imagine IJEA without him.”

The IJEA has renamed its annual Educator of the Year in Mr. Tidwell’s honor as the “Dr. James Tidwell IJEA Educator of the Year” Award.

“James was often called upon to offer his expertise and advice in such areas as prior review, copyright and libel. I often heard him on the phone with high school advisers who sought his counsel, who asked his advice on a concern or problem in their school,” Renaud said.

Longtime Journalism educator and IJEA Board member Randy Swikle said “In the mid-1990s, no one worked harder on state legislation defining scholastic press rights in Illinois than James.”

“I know,” Swikle said, “because I was at his side as he lobbied from office-to-office in the Capitol building. Hundreds of hours were spent devising strategy and campaigning for HB 156. At day’s end, the House passed the legislation 109-4, and the Senate approved 57-0. Unfortunately, the governor unexpectedly vetoed the bill.

Swikle calls Mr. Tidwell “a First Amendment expert” whose book on Press Law in Illinois is considered a standard reference for professional journalists.