Gary Gerhardt, a reporter who produced award-winning coverage of the environment and local news and was a mainstay of the Rocky Mountain News for 40 years, died Friday. He was 73.
Gerhardt, who lived in Westminster, began working at the now-defunct News in 1967 and retired in 2007.
“He was a man of extraordinary grace and integrity — a fine journalist who not only informed his readers but painted wonderful stories that engaged and entertained,” former News reporter Shelley Gonzales said in an Internet post. “Nothing ever ruffled him. Ever. He was zen before it was cool.”
Gerhardt grew up in Wheat Ridge and attended Regis University before graduating from Western State College of Colorado — now Western State Colorado University — in Gunnison.
His intimate knowledge of the metro area and the state gave him a rare insight into the issues he covered, said Kevin Flynn, a former News reporter who is now a member of the Denver City Council, representing District 2.
“Gary represented something that is really very rare in big-city journalism, and that is a local kid who grows up and covers his hometown,” Flynn said.
Flynn and Gerhardt were members of a reporting team that covered the murder of local radio talk show host Alan Berg, who was gunned down in his Denver driveway in 1984 by members of the white nationalist group The Order.
Berg, who broadcast on 850 KOA radio, was an outspoken and, at times, abrasive personality. He clashed with callers on a wide range of issues, including politics, religion and race.
After the slaying, Gerhardt, who was on the police beat at the time, asked a Denver detective whether police had any suspects. The detective “reached out and picked up the big Denver white pages book, and said, ‘Yeah, all of these,’ ” Flynn said.
The pair interviewed members of far-right extremist groups and chronicled the development of The Order in the book “The Silent Brotherhood: Inside America’s Racist Underground.”
Gerhardt was a big man, well over 6 feet tall, a height that gave Flynn some comfort when the two were meeting with the subjects of their book.
“He towered over me, which always felt good” when confronting extremists, Flynn said.
Gerhardt went on to write about the environment, chronicling the reintroduction of lynx to Colorado, the impact of chronic wasting disease on elk and deer, and other issues.
In 2002, the newspaper was a runner-up for the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism for “Killer in the Herds,” a 20-page special report on chronic wasting disease, reported and written by Gerhardt, Todd Hartman and Lou Kilzer.
“He loved nature. When he wrote about it, he wrote about it from the perspective of someone who respected the land,” Flynn said.
It was one of many awards he won during his years in journalism. He was also a recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship at the University of Michigan in 1982.
He was well liked by colleagues, said former News reporter Kevin Vaughan.
“He was a big guy with a big, barrel chest and a big boomy voice,” Vaughan said. “He could tell these fantastic stories about being a reporter in Denver, and they always ended with everybody roaring with laughter. I am thankful I had the chance to work with him. He was one of those characters who was great to have in a newsroom.”
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, sons James and Jerry, his daughters, Barbara DuBé and Kim Perigo, and six grandchildren.
Services are 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community, 7400 W. 80th Ave. in Arvada.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or @dpmcghee
