Tom Dunning, the only journalist to serve as managing editor of both the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post, shaped news coverage in Greater Cincinnati for 16 years.

Quick-minded and quick-witted, he knew the region's issues and players and never lost his curiosity over a breaking story or his love for good writing.

The Mount Lookout resident died Thursday at his home of complications of lung cancer and Alzheimer's disease. He was 65.

"Tom was smart, funny and dry, with good news sense and a low tolerance for BS," says Thomas Kunkel, president of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., and former dean of the University of Maryland's College of Journalism, who worked as an intern at the Evansville (Ind.) Courier, where Mr. Dunning was the city editor.

"Working with Tom was like getting a real-life seminar in daily journalism right there on the spot."

After graduation from Evansville University in Evansville, Ind., and a stint in the U.S. Coast Guard, Mr. Dunning began his journalism career at the Courier, then moved to the Knoxville News-Sentinel and the Cincinnati Post, where he was named managing editor in 1982.
A rising star in the E.W. Scripps chain, he was named assistant managing editor for Scripps Howard News Service in Washington, D.C., in 1985.

But Cincinnati had become home and in 1988, Mr. Dunning liked the idea of returning with his family. When the then-managing editor of the Enquirer, Marcie Ersoff, received a blind letter of introduction from him, she knew he was the right choice for assistant managing editor.

"He brought to the table all the skills I was looking for - he was a great line editor, had a great nose for news and a great sense of history of the community, which was a real advantage and hard to find," she said. "He was an old-school journalist in terms of being a stickler for good writing and getting all the facts right, but at the same time he was never embittered or cynical."
Well-dressed and charming, he brought energy and humor to the newsroom.

When former Cincinnati Post editor William Burleigh was promoted to vice president of Scripps Howard, Mr. Dunning gave him a framed copy of the front page announcing the promotion, emblazoned with the words "Avoid unnecessary words."

He had a particularly good eye for talent and advanced the careers of many reporters and editors, giving invaluable - and characteristically pithy - advice along the way.

"Dad and I had only a short time to know each other as one journalist to another, but right after I landed my first staff position at a newspaper, he gave me the most salient piece of advice I'll ever get, professionally or otherwise," said his son Matt Dunning, associate editor of Tribeca Trib, which covers lower Manhattan.

"It was four years of journalism classes, condensed magnificently into one sentence. 'At the end of it all,' he said, 'the only thing you have to ask yourself is, 'Did I get it right?'"

Former Enquirer editor George Blake remembers Mr. Dunning's passion for a balanced news presentation and his eye for the memorable story.

"Every day one of us was trying to sell some story that was not the top-of-the-line story," he said. "Tom would take a big view of the whole picture and figure out, besides what was impactful, what was interesting. He had the personality to work with everyone in the newsroom, and his opinion was always respected."

He loved the outdoors and was an avid runner, golf and tennis player. He was devoted to his family and always up for a good time with friends.

Bob Kraft of Mount Lookout, a friend of 30 years and former managing editor of the Cincinnati Post, said, "We became friends and tennis pals and single men about town, and he had some skills in that area, too. We attended each other's weddings and watched each other's children grow up, and what blossomed was a rare four-way friendship with Tom's wife, Judy, and my wife, Joy. The four of us built a treasure box of memories."

In addition to his son and wife, survivors include another son, Will Dunning of New York City; and four sisters, Rosie Griffith, Ann Baker and Pat Dunning, all of Evansville, Ind., and Jo Guyer of Kansas City, Mo.

Family, friends and co-workers are invited to gather 4-6 p.m. Sunday at Arnold's Bar and Grill, 210 E. Eighth St., Cincinnati to share stories of his life.

Memorials: Alzheimer's Association, 644 Linn St., Cincinnati, OH 45203-1742.

August 08, 2010
Pat, I am so sorry to hear of your brother's passing. My thoughts & prayers are with you & your family at this time. My God bless you & keep you. I remember all of those special times we had together.
Sandra Thornburg-Elpers, The Villages, Florida

August 08, 2010
Sharon Porter Bastnagel, Newburgh, Indiana

August 09, 2010
Tom will be missed by all. Your family is in our prayers.
Judy Gray Prielipp
Bosse Class of 62

August 09, 2010
My old friend Tom Dunning was a great editor and colleague, a reliable drinking buddy and a decent golfer for a lefty. I so regret that we lost touch once he moved to Cincinnati and I to Memphis. I was saddened to learn of his troubles some weeks ago, and his death has shocked me. I will continue to miss him.
Scott Hill (Bosse 1964; Evansville Courier 1965-66, 1970-1979)