Enoch Needham, who died of cancer at age 58 on Friday, served as The Denver Post’s chief telegraph editor, an archaic job title that suited his firm view that newspapers should educate readers about how the world affects their lives.
A native of Stillwater, Okla., he graduated from Oklahoma State University and earned a master’s degree in Afro-American studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In 1975, Needham and his friend Doug Vaughan engineered one of the first parodies of Rolling Stone Magazine, featuring Needham’s caustic lampoon of the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. The result was so accomplished that the High Times corporation bought the national rights, a decision he later regretted.
Discerning eye for news
At heart, Needham was equal parts academician – he taught at Metropolitan State College before joining The Denver Post in 1988 – and journalist. It pained him to see headlines about Steven Spielberg or MTV elbowing aside stories of turmoil in Soviet Georgia or an election in the Congo, and he never hesitated to air his opinion to supervisors.
“He said he got fired at some small papers he worked for in Oklahoma,” recalled Denver Post colleague Andy Rogers. “He was proud of that. He told me the firings were because he argued with the editor about what stories should run, and the conversation would end with Enoch saying, ‘Screw you.’ He’d argue with any boss because he had very strong opinions on how stories should be played.”
Otherwise, he remained aloof from the deadline skirmishes that arrested everyone else’s attention. After one loud fight, assistant city editor John Davidson asked Needham, “What was that about?”
“Just another dark night in the human soul,” Needham replied.
As news editor Jim Bates observed, Needham thrived when he was on deadline with history-altering stories.
“He was in his element back when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the Berlin Wall was coming down,” Bates said. “What got him excited was an Iraq story that was more than the daily death toll. He liked stories that gave some insight into the situation.”
Prompt for his shift on the national news desk, Needham was efficient and discerning as he sifted through the daily assortment of stories from throughout the world.
“He could scan the hundreds of wire stories that come flooding in from around the world every day and zero in on the most compelling, vivid reads – the pieces that best reflect the strangeness and variety of the world,” assistant city editor Mark Harden said.
When he wasn’t at work, people usually found Needham at his favorite bar, the Skylark Lounge, an easy walk from his home. His drink was Rolling Rock beer, chased with cinnamon schnapps.
At the Skylark and neighboring establishments, Needham established himself, in Denver Post editor Greg Moore’s phrase, as “the sage of South Broadway.”
Needham, whose drinking buddies ranged from the well-heeled to the tapped-out, preferred the catholic atmosphere of bars where honky- tonk and rockabilly music are not considered retro-chic.
Well-read cinephile
Well-read, with a devoted cinephile’s appreciation for movies and a historian’s encompassing view on world events, Needham was erudite – a reputation exceeded only by his legendary annual parties.
Each party had a different theme, with appropriate props, including a functioning 9-foot papier-mâché volcano for the tropical paradise party, and an enormous kangaroo for his Down Under fete.
At his Decadent Rome party last July, Needham presided in a toga and what looked like a laurel wreath.
While he never married, his relationship with girlfriend Joyce Crowley spanned 31 years.
Survivors include sister Barbara Butcher of Grand Junction. His parents predeceased him.
No services are planned, but a celebration of Needham’s life is being organized.
Memorials may be sent to the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending the rights of American Indian tribes, organizations and individuals.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
