Medill Barnes embodied both sides of the same coin — a lover and a fighter. On the fighter side, he portrayed the characteristics of an archetypal man of the Old West: curious, fearless and a proven speculator. On the lover side, he was a man deeply loyal and dedicated to people and ideas.
“He would fight like hell for something he really believed in, but it wasn’t in a mean sense. He cared very, very deeply for his family and friends,” said Morgan Smith, a childhood friend and former co-owner with Barnes of the Straight Creek Journal newspaper.
Barnes, 73, died March 1 from complications of an emergency surgery. He leaves a legacy ranging from newspaper reporter to casino representative, and from a fiercely opinionated public figure to a humorous and loving husband, father and friend.
“He was a bombastic, passionate individual. He was the kind of guy you want as your advocate because he’s the type of guy who will go in and fight for what you need,” said Wendell Pickett, who worked with Barnes on the development of the historic mining town of Black Hawk into a mecca of limited-stakes gambling.
Though Barnes’ tireless advocacy in developing Black Hawk’s Main Street may have made him a hero to some and a villain to others, no one questions his contribution and commitment.
“If you go back and look at that town, it was a cast of characters. It went from literally nothing to what it is now in 20 years,” Pickett said. “Personally, he went from an adversary, to mentor, to just a deep, personal friend.”
His persistence and political spirit made him a thorn in the side of his opponents, but his loyalty and care brought ceaseless adoration from his allies.
“Medill was a great ball of fun. He was well read, he was a traveler,” Pickett said. “He’d come into your office and flop down … and you would talk about a lot of things, and you never failed to learn something. You never walked away feeling your time was wasted.”
Barnes was born Nov. 18, 1938, in New York City. He moved to Aspen at the age of 12 and graduated from Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale. He had a brief term serving in the army and attempted college in two incomplete stints at Yale before beginning his journalism career in 1960.
He was a journalist for 17 years, which included time as a producer at KCNC-Channel 4 and at 850-AM KOA before launching the Straight Creek Journal with Smith. The two men published the paper for 10 years before closing it in 1981.
“He was famous in some quarters for being from a Chicago newspaper family, but he really was his own man, he was a Western man, he came to Colorado at age 12 and he never looked back,” said Barnes’ wife, Susan Barnes. “He made his own way, and that’s what we all loved about him. He was first, and foremost, and always a journalist.”
His wife, Susan, who was blind-sided by his death, said their life together was the type of marriage that she “wishes for everyone.”
“Honor, and integrity and truthfulness,” she said, “those were the kind of qualities that I loved the most. With that type of man, it can only get better.”
Kristen Leigh Painter: 303-954-1638 or kpainter@denverpost.com
