Reader: Ed Quillen had humor and common sense in equal amounts

The tributes continue to roll in for Salida's Ed Quillen, a veteran contributor to the Denver Post who died of a heart attack on Sunday. Here's a sample -- a salute to a specific column that demonstrated the qualities that set Quillen apart from the lion's share of his peers...

By Michael Roberts

June 6, 2012

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The tributes continue to roll in for Salida's Ed Quillen, a veteran contributor to the Denver Post who died of a heart attack on Sunday.

Here's a sample -- a salute to a specific column that demonstrated the qualities that set Quillen apart from the lion's share of his peers.

Brian Martinez writes:

Same here. I loved his columns on the state's history. One of my favorites (here) was where he pointed out (during another flare-up of the "official English" debate) that the state's constitution was originally published in English, Spanish, *and* German, and it required all new laws to be published in those languages until 1890. It was nonsense, therefore, to think that having multiple "official" languages was some hindrance to societal cohesion. As he observed, "note that when we had a Civil War, both sides spoke the same language."

He had ample humor and common sense in equal amounts, and applied them to every story he wrote about. How many journalists can we say that about these days?

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For more memorable takes, visit our Comment of the Day archive.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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